Rapper Common has been invited to the White House, which means it's time to cue up some conservative outrage over rap music. Jason Linkins explains:
Even though it's 2011, we're still litigating whether rap music in and of itself is a societal corrosive or an artistic expression that channels raw experience and expurgates emotions in the form of a catharsis. It's really the old Plato versus Aristotle rap battles over the artistic merits of tragedy -- at least we can dance to it, so there's that.
But the news today is that Michelle Obama is having some poets over to the White House to read some poetry, and that one of those poets is Chicago rapper Common, and OH MY GOD did you know he's rapped about violence? It's true, and the Daily Caller is beefing about it.
Rappers are often conflated with the content of their material in a way other artists aren't because the narratives almost always take place in first person as part of an emcees' effort to create a literary persona. That's part of why William Shakespeare has never been accused of endorsing rape or domestic violence. Mix that with a black president whose spent the last few years facing accusations of covert black militancy from Republicans, and you've got yourself a faux-scandal.
I'm pretty sure Common isn't the most radical musical artist to get invited to the White House. That honor, I think, goes to Steel Pulse, who performed at Bill Clinton's first inaugural in 1992. Conservatives have more access to black culture than they used to, but there was no scandal because conservatives don't listen to reggae and Clinton wasn't black.
Let's face it, though, Steele Pulse's invitation also reflects better taste in music:
Anyway, I'm looking forward to President Marco Rubio inviting Akon to sing Sexy Bitch at the White House during his first term. Ever notice that listening to rap music makes a Democrat into a closet thug, but with Republicans, it just shows how down and masculine they are? It's almost like some of the most regressive elements in rap music really reflect a lot of conservative principles.
