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Rappers or Republicans?

In May, we posited that southern hip-hop and Fox News share much in common. Possessing both an anti-intellectual streak and a populist one, they’re beloved by red-staters and hated on by the coastal elites, be they liberals, hipsters, Ghostface or Nas. The piece concluded:

If you're still not convinced that Southern rap and Fox News are one and the same, consider the countless Southern rap odes to big cars and the wasteful misuse of fossil fuel, an indulgence the global-warming deniers on Fox News certainly endorse.

Lo and behold, seven weeks later who should jump on the bandwagon but The Daily Show, via this report from “senior political image consultant” Wyatt Cenac. Cenac responds to a clip of Virginia Republican congressman Virgil Goode riding in a Hummer at a parade by showing a clip from Lil Wayne’s “Lollipop” video, in which the emcee rides around in a limousine semi. “It’s got a Hummer limo inside of it where they’re shooting a Jay-Z video,” he says.

“Rappers, Republicans, what’s the difference?” he goes on. “They both love money, they both love guns, gay people scare the sh-t out of them, every other word out of their mouth is n-gger!”

When we see John McCain in Timbalands, we’ll know this trend has legs.

- Ben Westhoff

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Jose D. Duran has been the associate web editor of Miami New Times since 2008. He's the voice and strategist behind the publication's eyebrow-raising Facebook and Twitter feeds. He has also been reporting on Miami's music, entertainment, and cultural scenes since 2006, previously through sites such as MiamiNights.com and OnBeat.com. He earned his BS in journalism with a minor in art history from the University of Florida. He's a South Florida native and will be a Miami resident as long as climate change permits and the temperature doesn't drop below 60 degrees.
Contact: Jose D. Duran

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