This Obama row really is Ludi-crous

US rapper Ludacris has many talents, but tact is not one of them, apparently. This sudden discovery has unleashed a spasmodic outrage among US media and political bods, scandalised by the revelation that a - rappers don't like politicians all that much and b - they are a tad over-fond of offensive and misogynistic language. Barack Obama - the one politician who escaped the rapper's ire in his latest recording Politics as usual, which heaps bile on Hillary Clinton, John McCain and George Bush - too appears to share in the collective indignation, despite having admitted in a recent interview with Rolling Stone that while he likes Ludacris as a musician, he worried about his daughters listening to his misogynistic lyrics.

Of course, now he's the Democratic nominee, he is forced to pander to those who are unable or unwilling to distinguish between a candidate's campaign and anything said by those who support him, to whom he has once made a passing reference or who he might have even gone so far as to say hello to, once upon a time. Privately, I imagine, he thinks the whole hoohah is rather ridiculous.

And so should we all. Unless we want to actually start banning all rap, hip-hop and other types of music that may offend our tender ears, along with political satire in all its forms (some of which has been just as cruel to the presidential and primary candidates as Ludacris's latest effort - which, of course, no one is obliged to actually listen to), perhaps we should remind ourselves of those halcyon times before we all had a collective sense of humour bypass.

Read the Ludacris lyrics in question, then continue for my list of a sample of five politically offensive songs that might also need to be retrospectively condemned:

Ludacris - Politics as usual

"Hillary hated on you so that (bleep) is irrelevant...
Paint the White House black, I'm sure it's got them terrified
McCain don't belong in any chair unless he's paralysed
Yeah I said it cos Bush is mentally handicapped
Ball up all his speeches and throw em like candy wraps"

1. Eminem - Mosh against Bush

"Let the president answer a high anarchy
Strap him with a AK-47, let him go fight his own war
Let him impress daddy that way
No more blood for oil, we got our own battles to fight on our own soil
No more psychological warfare to trick us to thinking that we ain’t loyal
If we don’t serve our own country, we’re patronizing a hero
Look in his eyes, its all lies
The stars and stripes, have been swiped
Washed out and wiped and replaced with his own face"

2. Public Enemy - Son of a Bush

"Who voted for that a**hole of your nation? ...
Stuck in a three headed bucket, a trilateral Bush-shit
Sorry ain't no better way of puttin it ...
Hiding inside certified genocide
Ain't that a Bush, repeat ain't that a Bush?
Out of nowhere headed to the hot house
Killed 135 at the last count ... Serial killer kid
Coke is the real thing
Used to make you swing"

3. Eminem - White America

"I am... the ringleader of this circus of worthless pawns
Sent to lead the march right up to the steps of Congress
and piss on the lawns of the White House
To burn the flag and replace it with a Parental Advisory sticker
To spit liquor in the faces of this democracy of hypocrisy
F*** you Ms. Cheney! F*** you Tipper Gore!
F*** you with the free-est of speech
this Divided States of Embarassment will allow me to have
F*** you!"

4. Laquan - Imprison the President

"A Senate cheat, what a feat to beat
Four mill until you buy the seat
Illicit contributions
Political prostritution
Looking for that fix
Peddle influence until it sticks
Are they funds or are they bribes?
I'm talkin about the Keating Five...

"You know Reagan can break the law
Live another day to make a score
Phony cronies steal from HUD
Iran-Contra, political mud
Who can respect the legal system
When any Senator can put the fix in
Every Congressman gets his licks in
And in the White House still sits Dick Nixon
False prophets and demagogues
Living large while the people starve"

And of course...

5. Sex Pistols - God save the Queen

"God save the queen
The fascist regime
They made you a moron
Potential H-bomb

God save the queen
She ain't no human being..

God save the queen
'Cause tourists are money
And our figurehead
Is not what she seems"

Comments

[R Singh]

McCain's assertion that obama is all about personality than substance is exonerated by these crude so called 'lyrics'. They are mere political messages disguised as 'rap'.

These singers have little respect for the many who have died on both sides in the war on terror.

It is so easy to target your own, they even did this to Jesus. Let them target the real enemies of freedom and justice for once. Then I will say they are courageous otherwise they are just rich kids making a lot of money without any integrity at other peoples expense.

[Mr Motown]

Hip-hop is so so-so. See Marvin Gaye's work for decent tunes with political bite...

[Bob Evans]

Why wasn't this column written when the newsprint was all about Bush liking religious music. Oh, there were shrieks and hollers about that, but none came to his defense.

Even so, as you pointed out, Obama said he "likes Ludacris as a musician". That is far, far different than the way you reframed the issue as being about "anything said by those who support him".

[matthew copen]

just beacuse someone sent these lyrics to you to defend friends potty mouths yes we have freedom of speech here but i dont think our founding fathers expected this.understand i am not racist but eminem shouldnt spew hatred either.black or white there is no diff this country was founded on freedom&religon not of religon.

[Marty Price]

AS someone who works daily with high schoolers, none of them take a dude like Ludicris to heart. Public Enemy I enjoy, but he is to old school for most kids today, and they have moved on. This will get to the same old farts who think the music is immoraly, but rap actually started as protest music, and I would rather see an expose on a Bush then some of the sexist, materialistic crap a dude like 50cent expouses

[Josie]

I think there is more to this story than rap lyrics. Yes, they are offensive to a lot of people, however, Ludicris did host a lucrative fund raiser for Obama last year. Plus Obama is on record years ago of boasting that his then 3 year old daughter sang along with Ludicris rap. A couple of weeks ago, Obama loved Ludicris, had him on his iPod, today, now that his latest rap has gone public......well Obama isn't so keen on him anymore!

[e skelton]

Mmmm...Do you find white supremacist skinhead band lyrics as inoffesive as you find rap lyrics? Thought not.

[Audacity of Liberal Idiocy]

Except Obama was recently pictured a cote de Ludicris and bragging about how he had all his songs on his ipod.

Obama needs to pick better friends.

[Chris]

I'm spookily impressed by Eminem's lyrics now that I see them written down. I need a cold bath.

[dave, cheam]

hmmm, more nu-labour-pains.

[Andrew]

How about some real political song.

Immortal Technique - Cause Of Death

"Now here's the truth about the system that'll f**k up your mind
They gave Al Queda 6 billion dollars in 1989 to 1992
And now the last chapters of Revelations are coming true
And I know a lot of people find it hard to swallow this
Because subliminal bigotry makes you hate my politics
But you act like America wouldn't destroy two buildings
In a country that was sponsoring bombs dropped on our children
I was watching the Towers, and though I wasn't the closest
I saw them crumble to the Earth like they was full of explosives
And they thought nobody noticed the news report that they did
About the bombs planted on the George Washington bridge
Four Non-Arabs arrested during the emergency
And then it disappeared from the news permanently
They dubbed a tape of Osama, and they said it was proof
"Jealous of our freedom," I can't believe you bought that excuse
Rockin a motherf*****g flag don't make you a hero
Word to Ground Zero
The Devil crept into Heaven, God overslept on the 7th
The New World Order was born on September 11"

"And just so Conservatives don't take it to heart
I don't think Bush did it, 'cuz he isn't that smart
He's just a stupid puppet taking orders on his cell phone
From the same people that sabotaged Senator Wellstone
The military industry got it poppin' and lockin'
Looking for a way to justify the Wolfowitz Doctrine
And as a matter of fact, Rumsfeld, now that I think back
Without 9/11, you couldn't have a war in Iraq
Or a Defense budget of world conquest proportions
Kill freedom of speech and revoke the right to abortions
Tax cut extortion, a blessing to the wealthy and wicked
But you still have to answer to the Armageddon you scripted
And Dick Cheney, you f****n leech, tell them your plans
About building your pipelines through Afghanistan
And how Israeli troops trained the Taliban in Pakistan
You might have some house n****z fooled, but I understand
Colonialism is sponsored by corporations
That's why Halliburton gets paid to rebuild nations
Tell me the truth, I don't scare into paralysis
I know the CIA saw Bin Laden on dialysis
In '98 when he was Top Ten for the FBI
Government ties is really why the Government lies
Read it yourself instead of asking the Government why
'Cuz then the Cause of Death will cause the propaganda to die.."

[Santanu Roy]

Pop isn't as clever as it used to be or is that just the audience ? How very CRASS!!! preaching to the converted.

Sex Pistols rule OK.

[Adam]

The funny thing is, the only people who really care about what rappers say in their music are the ones who shouldn't be voting. I mean look at Eminem, he's a fine upstanding member of the community isn't he? Its easy to simply rail on the political parties because it sells albums.

[JOHN CHUCKMAN, TORONTO]

Indeed.

American politics simply cannot avoid rolling downhill through the dust in childish delight. Flag pins. Preachers' words. Song lyrics.

I do have a problem identifying rap as music. The lyrics are all in doggerel form whatever the subject. The "music" is only rhythm.

When the lyrics aren't hate-speech and lewdness, they are bathetic bromides about not using hate-speech and lewdness.

I doubt that a man of Obama's intelligence spends much time listening.

But if he is a Baccherini fan, he won't be advertising it. He's already been called "elitist," and in America that's not a term taken lightly.

[Steven]

What a retarded argument! Your editor should relegate you down to covering whacky animal stories. Do you not see the difference? Angst has long been a part of the "music" scene, but never has it echoed like a childish political add. Find some positive lyrics about a republican politician, that has equally vile lyrics in the same song about a liberal socialist democrat, and then find the republican who endorsed the artist. Good luck, and enjoy the back section of the rag you write for. Say hi to Toby the Tiger on your next assignment.

[Hugh]

Either you have wholly missed the salient feature of the story, or you are quietly campaigning for Obama. Far from Obama having "escaped the rapper's ire," as you write, the song is an open endorsement of Obama. Here are a few of the lyrics you appear to have missed:

"Said I handle my biz and I'm one of his favorite rappers
Well give Luda a special pardon if I'm ever in the slammer
Better yet put me in office, make me your vice president...
You can't stop what's bout to happen, we bout to make history
The first black president is destined and it's meant to be...
Get out and vote or the end'll be near
The world is ready for change because Obama is here,
'cause Obama is here
The world is ready for change because Obama is here, yeah
'cause Obama is here"

I trust you will agree, this is not typical "political satire." Perhaps Obama need not answer for every media personality he may have met through the years, but he seems to have thought it prudent to issue a statement relating to this particular endorsement.

I genuinely hope this is simply sloppy reporting, as opposed to intentional deception, on your part. Either way, it is strange, Hannah.

[Katherine, London]

I think some of the people commenting here have missed the point of the piece. The writer's not saying that the song isn't offensive, she's saying that rap has always been offensive and it shouldn't be such as shock to everyone now. Obama has listed a lot of musicians in interviews as people he likes, is he going to be held accountable for everything they say for ever more? He also said before that he often disagrees with Ludacris's lyrics. Ok so the song was in support of Obama - but it wasn't done at Obama's behest - it's caused him far more problems than he would ever want!
As someone who has listened to rap music for a while, there have been many more offensive songs than this one - I'd say Eminem for example has outstripped Ludacris in almost all of his offerings. Laquan too have always been pretty political - and they are an old band
And to the poster who said few rap songs praise republicans - true, but most republicans hate rappers and everything they stand for, so why would they?

[JOHN CHUCKMAN, TORONTO]

Steven,

You throw around the word "retarded," but the only thing here qualifying with certainty for that adjective is your own posting.

[FreeHipHop, USA]

I think it's interesting that the media seems to invest its time in only reporting on negative political rap songs, while ignoring a plethora of intelligent, insightful songs that, while perhaps raising uncomfortable truths, do make a concrete statement. For example, Nas' recent release, "Black President" says:

I think Obama provides Hope - and challenges minds
Of all races and colors to erase the hate
And try and love one another, so many political snakes
We in need of a break

People seem to feel that rappers unjustly target Republicans. However, this shouldn't be shocking seeing as rappers are predominantly black, and historically, recipients of programs like healthcare--programs Republicans consistently urge cutbacks on.

[Alexandria, New York]

Why are we only picking on rap here? Why wasnt Neil Young sited in this article? He wrote an entire album denouncing the Bush presidency. I happen to agree with every single one of the lyrics posted above - I share their opinion. I listen to hip hop all the time. But it doesnt form my views. I dont talk using expletives at all times, I dont share rappers views on a lot of things, and on a lot of issues I flat-out disagree with what they say. But it's music and it's got a message. Would you rather they sing about sex, women and drugs? At least they're saying something about the world. So what if they're not using the language of a Sunday school teacher. So dont listen to it!!!!!!! And as for the whole controversy about Obama - get over it. Can we move on to the real issues please??

[John Kaufmann]

Stipulated: much rap is vulgar, stupid, ignorant, lewd and destructive to the very subculture it purports to represent. That is also beside the present point. In a silly [disingenuous?] attempt to lump in this vulgar/ignorant piece with others of the genre, you miss what is so obvious that it's even the subtitle of the song: this particular vileness is embedded in the oft-repeated theme of "Obama is here". How many of your other examples cast their excrement in support of a political candidate?

It's inadequate for a campaign spokesperson [not even the candidate in his own words] to "share in the collective indignation." Obama is condemned by his failure to quickly, publicly and unequivocally express his disgust and dissociate himself from it. How do you so completely miss that central point?

[David Gwilliam]

I agree with the article except for the comment about us not being forced to listen to rap music. Fans of rap music delight in having it at full volume in their cars to force it on passers by. Strangely I never hear anyone playing Mozart at fullblast with the windows open.

[Andrew Towell]

Some of you are so uneducated!

Making statements like "are the ones who shouldn't be voting", you obviously know what Democracy is then eh? Who say's who should and shouldn't vote?

People saying things like "rap is bad", it's like saying all rock is satanic or all classical is boring, it's tarring all the artists with the same brush. If you've never took the time to sit and listen to rap music (NOT MTV), then you are making a uninformed statement. Educate and inform your self about the origins and lyrical content of some rappers that are positive and don't rap about guns, woman, money and drugs.

What's wrong with Obama liking a rapper's (ARTIST) work? You wouldn't slate him for liking a painting artist who displayed a negitive piece of work or subject matter?

What's wrong with a rapper being stating his point of view on a political matter, they are entitled to do so just as much as anyone else, politishion, president, public or rapper!

It's almost funny how some of your are trying to limit Free Speech by saying things long the lines of "our forefarthers didn't mean free speech in that sence"... your forefarthers meant free speech in the only sence of the world, freedom of speech for EVERYONE!

As long as your not braking laws and spewing racial hatred, then what's wrong with stating your point of view in the public forum?

And as Immortal Technique said "You may have a black president but it's useless, cos he doesn't control the economy, Stupid"

Or what about Eminem's lyric "I'd rather see the President dead, yeah it's never been said but I set presidents"? Nothing wrong with that?

[Diogenes]

It does appear that the neo-cons are desperate to find anything to discredit Obama. This is nothing new, politics is the dirtiest business there is.

It's just more noticeable now because Omaba is grey (that's what you get when you mix black and white isn't it?) and so everything contains at least an undertone on racism.

[Josh Hoe]

Oh Goody,

Wouldnt the world be better if we all just went back to where music was safe and polite and you could dance a polka with Lawrence Welk?

We need more safe (old/white) music...and our dangerous artists should be no more dangerous than Liberace.

All political protests should be in the Queens best english. All political protests should be safe.

Sanitized protest music mmmm mmmm good....goes down like one of those commercials where they take a song that was great and make it into a commercial anthem.

Josh

By the way, that old chestnut about how profanity is an easy way out or is a sign of low intellect obviously never listened to a certain villified song by NWA