Politicians eager to share stage with rap duo (Columbus Mayor Coleman)

NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF BLACK MAYORS
Politicians eager to share stage with rap duo
Thursday, April 28, 2005

Sherri Williams
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Dead Prez - Stic.man, left, and M1 (actual name) will address about 5,000 Columbus Public Schools students today.

Much as the beat and bass of hip-hop move a crowd at parties, politicians increasingly use the music to attract young voters to political parties.

The appearance of rap duo Dead Prez at the National Conference of Black Mayors today underscores the potential sway of a genre that influences youths’ choices in records, clothes and more.

The rappers will address 5,000 students from Columbus Public Schools at ‘‘Generation Next: A Call to Greatness Empowering a New Era of Leadership." The forum will take place at the Hyatt Regency, 350 N. High St.

‘‘Politicians are seeking younger voters in urban areas, and that’s the hip-hop generation," said Dean Lacy, associate professor of political science at Ohio State University. ‘‘There is also increasing competition for the black vote among Democrats and Republicans."

Hip-hop’s political profile was raised with the voter-registration campaigns last year of Sean ‘‘P. Diddy" Combs (Vote or Die) and Russell Simmons (Hip-Hop Summit Action Network).

On Friday, the mayoral group will present Simmons with the Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom Award — named after a Mississippi sharecropper who fought for voting rights for blacks in the 1960s.

The involvement of hip-hop artists is important in engaging young people in politics, said Noel Williams, president of the Columbus chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

‘‘It’s a different age group and a different time," she said. ‘‘The NAACP and other political organizations can no longer rely on that ‘remember when?’ — because they cannot ‘remember when.’ There are so many gains that have been made."

Last year, the Columbus NAACP teamed with the city’s hip-hop and R &B station WCKX (107.5 FM) for voter-registration drives citywide.

Because registration doesn’t always translate into votes, the influence of hiphop is difficult to measure, said Yvonne Bynoe, author of Stand and Deliver: Political Activism, Leadership and Hip-Hop Culture.

"It’s more than just talking about signing your name on a registration form," said Bynoe, co-founder of the Urban Think Tank Institute in New York. "It has to be a process of educating them (voters) on the issues."

Because hip-hop has helped sell everything from soft drinks to cars, using the genre to gain political support can seem shallow, Bynoe said.

Weak alliances between politicians and hip-hop artists don’t fool voters, said Marwan L. Miller, 29, an administrative assistant with Columbus Public Schools.

"I think some of it is fake — like some politician shaking Puffy’s hand," he said, referring to Combs. "I don’t think they can name one song he has been on."

Yet rappers who value political involvement can help a candidate or cause as well as their own careers, OSU’s Lacy said.

"They care deeply about the issues," he said. "And it’s not bad business; it gives them exposure."

When a respected hip-hop artist such as rapper/actor Mos Def backs an issue or politician, the hip-hop community tends to take notice, Miller said.

"He’s an artist you can stand behind; you can trust what he says," Miller said. "If he endorsed a politician, I’m sure he would have done his homework," Miller said. "It makes the politician more credible."

For the hip-hop generation, Bynoe said, genuine political influence depends on effective initiatives and alliances.

"We have to do a better analysis of what these initiatives are actually doing," Bynoe said. "Some are legitimate, and some are just smoke and mirrors. That’s a real mistake, especially for black communities."

sherri.williams@dispatch.com

I think this is part of what Glenn Beck was talking about this morning concerning mayor coleman. I wonder when Mr. Prez chose his stage name? Somehow, I don't think it was before Nov 2000. If you care to review some of his lyrics, check out this

By the way, I only had to check one set of song lyrics to prove my point. I'd be willing to bet the others are on a similar vein. I apologize for the profanity, but I thought you should see in the raw the representation our mayor chose to bring to Columbus. By the way, I bet Randi Rhodes would enjoy his music See the lyrics below and you'll see what I mean.

Here are the lyrics of just one of Mr. Prez's songs ...

Assassination Lyrics

100% Legal MP3 Downloads

Send Dead Prez polyphonic ringtone to your cell phone

Our people are poor, and you know damn
well nobody wants to be poor
This play is gonna show how the pigs
react when the people start
To take community, control over what
belongs to them
And liberate it back (echoes)

Sometimes I just don't care

[Verse 1]
Murderation, modern hanging education
Price of your life is goin up it aint inflation
Incrimination, they got my picture at the station
Elimination, state to state we eatin by this nation
Them belly full, my trigger finger got pulled
To cut the bull shots'll warm your flesh like wool
These tools for survival make fools out of rivals
Fuck the Bible, get on your knees and praise my rifle
Your life is done there aint another place to run
Eat your own gun, scared because my people never known fun

[Verse 2]
Cops drive down the streets and blow my friends away
I try to smoke enough lah to take my sins away
This E&J be freein us in it's own special way son
We live for the day, the only way dunn
The violence in me, reflect the violence that surround me
???? Mr. Charley keep his eye on me
To figure my head, but them ass kissin niggas is dead
We learn the chokeholds with fishermen's thread
I read The Art of Sun-Tzu in a couple of fuckin days
Used to practice Kung-Fu with this nigga that's like, double my age
And you can put this on the government's grave
Somebody payin for the way we have to suffer and slave
Assassination, word up

I hope they get the assassins, I hope that something is done to them
Problem is they're killing them, it reminds me of something like what
Happened to Lincoln

You aint even safe wit a full clip
I swear on the president's grave
I'm sick of livin in this bullshit
We down to take it to the full length
Meet us up on Capitol Hill, and we can
get up in some real shit (repeat)

Assassination, *gunshot* yeah

The "Hip Hop" culture is a celbration of "Me, Me, Me." With guns and baseball bats.

Kids without strong fathers, or no fathers at all. Subculture infiltrating our kids. PC run amoke.

Ten-year-olds raping seven-year-olds. Prison culture is now considered "cool." It all filters down.

Baggy pants, underwear outside the shorts, are the first signs. If you see it on your kid, smack him upside the head.

Now girls are doing it. They talk ebonics, even white girls.

Get your kids out of government schools, no matter what the cost.

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