Hip-Hop For Prez: Does Rap Have A Chance At Running America?
Hip-Hop For President: Could Rap Be Running America In 2024? - Page 4
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We live in a very different political climate in comparison to a decade ago, when former President Barack Obama was just beginning his second term and Donald Trump was simply NYC’s most popular finance bro that happened to host an entertaining season of All-Star Celebrity Apprentice — Claudia! Omarosa! La Toya Jackson! Jump to 2023, and both men are in entirely different places in life. Obama is sadly president no more, opting to embrace his soft era as a simple American citizen and loving family man who occasionally gives a speech or two across the globe. You know, here and there.
Trump on the other hand, after managing to somehow succeed Obama as president in 2016 for one gruesome term, isn’t fairing too well on his end of the spectrum.
With all the turmoil that came as a result of Trump’s presidency, both for America and himself as made apparent by his now-infamous mugshot (seen above), one unbiased fact was made evidently clear: any 35-and-over citizen with at least 14 years of life experience in America can very well be a U.S. President with the right influence. The upcoming list of presidential hopefuls in the 2024 election will even see a few rappers in the race, which unfortunately won’t include DMC of legendary rap duo Run-DMC contrary to recent reports. However, even if just a mere misquote, the slight spark of hope we got from envisioning the “King Of Rock” hitmaker as a political leader with lyrical prowess got us wondering if America could in fact ever handle such a dichotomy.
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As confusing as that misinformation may have been, the thought of a rap pioneer like DMC becoming President of the United States Of America felt like a 24-hour fever dream that many weren’t all that keen to wake up from. Given all that we’ve seen in 2023 alone when it comes to the yearlong celebration of “Hip-Hop 50,” one can argue that rap culture has enough influence, public support and at this point financial backing to produce a powerful mind strong enough to lead the country.
Currently, two emcees are entering the 2024 election in hopes of occupying the White House. Back in April, “Because I Got High” rapper Afroman filed documents to run as an independent with an emphasis on criminal justice reform and — you guessed it! — the legalization of marijuana. Of course, he might want to resolve that pending lawsuit first after officers in Ohio claimed to be suffering from “humiliation, ridicule, mental distress, embarrassment, and loss of reputation” after an accidental raid on his home led the Sell Your Dope emcee to hilariously include footage from the incident in a handful of his music videos.
Then there’s Kanye West, who has for many years now expressed his desire to run for president. Beginning officially on Independence Day 2020, the artist now known as Ye launched a presidential campaign that’s been, well, entertaining to say the least. Not considering his current state of mental health, at one point Yeezy would’ve ironically enough been a top choice to stand in as a ‘hip-hop president.’ However, from his infamous “slavery was a choice” statement to aligning with Trump in all the wrong ways, let’s just say we’re far-removed from the “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people” version of Kanye that many of us so very much miss.
Overall, whether or not a lyricist ever actually sits in The Oval Office, the idea itself is one that will always be intriguing and hopefully influence someone who has the bars and can also pass the bar to maybe try and lead America in the foreseeable future.
Keep scrolling to see how some have been reacting to the idea of a hip-hop president, and let us know how you feel on the subject as well:
Hip-Hop For President: Could Rap Be Running America In 2024? - Page 4 was originally published on blackamericaweb.com
