"General" Larry Platt (born August 27, 1947) is an American
civil and political rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...
activist and rapper who gained fame with his performance of "
Pants on the Ground" on
the ninth season of ''
American Idol
''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...
''. The song was released on iTunes and received over 150,000 hits. As of June 2023, the video has received over 11 million views on YouTube.
Nickname
Platt earned his nickname during the
American Civil Rights Movement in which he was an active participant.
Rev. Hosea Williams coined the nickname on behalf of his heroic efforts in support of the movement.
''American Idol''
During auditions for the
ninth season of ''American Idol'' in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
, Platt appeared and performed his own original song, "Pants on the Ground". Platt, who at the time was 62, was ineligible to continue due to being over the show's age limit of 28. However, his audition has since become a
viral hit, with over 11 million views on
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
. He was invited to perform the song during the season finale.
On the original series finale in 2016, Platt again returned to perform a few lines of "Pants on the Ground" as part of the show's pop medley.
Discography
Singles
See also
*
Sagging (fashion)
Sagging is a manner of wearing trousers that sag so that the top of the trousers or jeans is significantly below the waist, sometimes revealing much of the wearer's underpants.
Sagging is predominantly a male fashion. Women's wearing of low- ...
References
1947 births
African-American activists
American Idol participants
American Internet celebrities
American activists
Living people
Musicians from Atlanta
21st-century African-American musicians
20th-century African-American people
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