We all have responsibilities. For example, I consider it my duty to help my fellow Republicans who also enjoy the boom-bap.
No disrespect to Rep. Trey Radel (R., Fl.) but saying Public Enemy’s "Fight The Power" best describes Washington today just—doesn't—work.
Now I’m not hating on Radel’s taste in music. A man is entitled to have Do The Right Thing on his iPod. But Public Enemy and Chuck D are some of the most anti-Republican artists around. Saying you read conservative messages in "Fight the Power" looks like pandering.
Especially when your favorite rappers are the same rappers every single Republican always comes up with. Has Southern rap not yet been played in GOP offices on Capitol Hill?
In one sense hip-hop is conservative. It’s about coming from nothing and making it on your own initiative. Let one of Radel's favorite rappers explain:
Yeah, this album is dedicated to all the teachers that told me
I'd never amount to nothin', to all the people that lived above the
buildings that I was hustlin' in front of that called the police on
me when I was just tryin' to make some money to feed my daughters,
and all the niggaz in the struggle, you know what I'm sayin'?
Christopher "Biggie Smalls" Wallace built that, Mr. President. From Outkast to Common to Bone Thugs, hip-hop is often about staying off the streets and making something of yourself by telling stories through music.
The next album Congressman Radel needs to spin is Raekwon’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, which at its core is about social mobility. The silence will be deafening when the next time HuffPo asks a Republican about hip-hop, he drops Ghostface Killah.