March 31, 2004
IF YOU'RE GOING TO GROVEL, AT LEAST GROVEL TO THE WORTHY:
'I'm fascinated by Hip-Hop," says Prez Candidate John Kerry (Rich Rock, Mar. 31, 2004, The Wire / Daily Hip-Hop News)
"I'm fascinated by Rap and Hip-Hop" said Democratic presidential candidate, John Kerry during an MTV Choose or Loose forum. Offering up a heavy dose of street credibility, Kerry defended gangsta rap, freedom of speech and the realities of street life.Kerry spoke with MTV's Gideon Yago and took questions from the audience last night in MTV's annual Choose or Loose forum. The youth voting movement this year endeavors to get 20 million new voters to the polls and impact what is projected to be a tight presidential race.
The Boston-born heir by marraige to the Heinz Ketchup fortune, offered his perspective on rap music as the voice of the streets. [...]
Calling rap a "reflection of life", Kerry empathized with the struggles reflected in the music.
"I'm still listening because I know that it's a reflection of the street and it's a reflection of life, and I understand all that. I'm not for the government censoring or stepping in. But I don't think it's inappropriate occasionally to talk about what you think is a standard or what you think is a value that is worth trying to live up to."
Today on NPR they were talking to some author who has a book out on the relationship between the presidents and Hollywood. He said, quite accurately, that George W. Bush seems the least interested in popular entertainment and noted that during the 2000 campaign had never even heard of the movie Titanic. He's certainly never listened to a single rap tune. Of course, neither has John Kerry. One of them though is honest. Posted by Orrin Judd at March 31, 2004 5:05 PM
"The Boston-born heir by marraige to the Heinz Ketchup fortune"???? RUKiddinme? I gotta believe that Ms. Heinz made the Cabana Boy sign the longest, most restrictive pre-nup since Barry Bonds' convinced his non-English speaking first wife to take a max of $50,000 per year in the event of divorce.
Posted by: Foos at March 31, 2004 5:11 PMPerhaps the honorable Senator would bust a few lines of "Pimp Juice" for us?
Posted by: John Resnick at March 31, 2004 5:19 PMHow many "Bulworth" references must we now be subjected to by the talking heads in the next few days?
Is Kerry really as inept a politician as he has appeared recently? What a joke.
Posted by: brian at March 31, 2004 5:25 PMI'm still listening because I know that it's a reflection of the street
At least MC Paul Barman is funny.
Posted by: Brian (MN) at March 31, 2004 5:33 PMBush has never seen the Titanic?? Just when I thought I couldn't admire him more he gives me one more reason.
Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, you got this all wrong, you're supposed to rebuke the contemptible part of your base to establish your integrity, weren't you paying attention during Slick Willie's "Sister Souljah" moment?? How can a guy this pollitically incompetent win a Senate election three times?
MarkD
Heh - you're talking about the state that has kept Ted Kennedy in office since the late jurassic period.
Posted by: andrew at March 31, 2004 7:34 PMAnd he was unopposed last time.
Posted by: Timothy at March 31, 2004 7:42 PMI guess I'm missing Kerry's master "strategery" here. In the 2000 election, Bush was attacked by everyone on the left for lacking in gravitas. (It became such a predictable sound bite that Rush Limbaugh even had a goofy parody of Jose Feliciano's "Felice Navidad", replacing the chorus with the lyrics, "he lacks gravitas".
Flash-forward four years later, and Kerry is competing against a popular president, seasoned by three years of war, and trying to say, "vote for me because I'm a 60 year old man into snowboarding and 'fascinated by Rap and Hip-Hop'"?
As one of Kerry's fellow Democrats used to say, "Beam me up, Scotty"!
Posted by: Ed Driscoll at March 31, 2004 7:45 PMRaps Rap and craps ... oh well.
Posted by: genecis at March 31, 2004 7:57 PMBush's lack of interest in the entertainment industry, especially in contrast to his predacessor, is also the reason why Maureen Dowd has developed her psychotic hatred of the president, since her stock in trade was tying together pop culture refrences with politics while at the same time hobnobing with the Hollywood stars as they passed through Washington -- something Clinton made a simple task, but one that Bush has made impossible to replicate. He's made Washington-based reporters actually cover Washington-centric issues and she'll never forgive him for that.
As for Kerry, he obviously was looking at the great success Howard Dean had last year when he delcared himself Wyclef Jean's biggest fan, and figured a surefire strategy like that to relate to the kiddos should be a vital part of his own presidential campaign.
Posted by: John at March 31, 2004 8:54 PMIt's curious, in the matter that rap, traffics in
ultraviolent, often misogynistic, anti-establish
ment militarism, seeing as it's more popular purveyors, have links to the American version of the 'technical' the drive by street gang. salted
with the pidgin marxism (proferred by the Senator
with his witchhunt into intelligence operations in Central America) and the pidgin Islamic separatist nationalism of groups like Public Enemy
and their link to Farrakhan, and thru him Libya
i wonder if he can tell the difference between rap from the 80's and early 90's, arguably what he is referring to when he says it 'tells a story', and the hip-pop that floods stations today under the guise of 'rap'. not fukking likely, and any true fan of hip-hop/rap/r&b/jazz should understand his inept attempt to grab votes from black voters. if i were black, i'd hate the democratic party for marginalizing me, mocking me, and then getting my vote.
Posted by: a at April 1, 2004 11:12 AMWish they had asked Theresa about rap. She would have said that she never listens to the shjt, and neither does her husband. Whatever else you say about The Heiress, she doesn't kiss up to an audience.
Posted by: Casey Abell at April 1, 2004 11:53 AMHarsh but forthright. And people said they had a problem with HILLARY in the White House...
Posted by: John Barrett Jr. at April 1, 2004 1:20 PM