January 29, 2008, - 2:43 pm

“Black Republican”: Your Day in Award-Winning Rap “Political Treatise”

By Debbie Schlussel
Well, it didn’t win an award yet, but hit rap “song”, “Black Republican,” is one of the tracks nominated for a Grammy in the upcoming music awards show extravaganza.
The hip-hop screed, by Muslim rapper Nas and Beyonce boyfriend Jay-Z, is called “Black Republican,” because Jay-Z–as a record company executive–compares his life as a “corporate thug” (that’s how hip-hoppers see Black corporate execs, apparently) to being a “Black Republican”–selling out, while knowing better. I didn’t get that from this unintelligible piece of “wit”–it was explained on a hip-hop site. USA Today music “critic” Steve Jones calls the “song” an “incendiary political treatise.” I’d call this a lot of things, but “treatise” isn’t one of them. I’m not sure they know that word.

nasjayz.jpg

Hip-hop’s “Genius” Laureates Nas & Jay-Z

Wax Anti-Lyrical on “Black Republican”

Read this and ask yourself if this was what Dinesh D’Souza was talking about when he wrote his book saying evangelical Christians and Muslims have a lot in common. Again, Nas is a devout Muslim, who is touted by CAIR, et al. Gotta wonder how this backs up D’Souza’s claim that Muslims have a right to hate America because of its course pop culture offerings, since here a Muslim is the one purveying the courseness. Reading these lyrics is a hilarious exercise in the same old absurdity that passes for “culture” in the ever declining America. Idiocracy is alive and well:

Black Republican
[Jay-Z]
I know you could feel the magic baby
Turn the muthaf**kin’ lights down
Esco, what up?
[Nas]
What up, homie?
[Jay-Z]
I mean
This is what you expected ain’t it?
Let’s Go
Turn the music up in the headphones
Yeah, that’s perfect
You gotta take your time make a nigga wait on this muthaf**ka
Make a nigga mad and sh*t like
Niggas usually start rapping after 4 bars nigga go in
I could start dancin’ in this muthaf**ka
Yeah
[Nas]
Yeah
[Jay-Z]
We just come out of nowhere
[Jay-Z]
I feel like a black republican, money I got comin’ in
Can’t turn my back on the hood, I got love for them
Can’t clean my act up for good, too much thug in ’em
Probably end up back in the hood, like f**k it then
[Jay-Z]
Huddlin’ over the oven, we were like brothers then
Though you were nothin’ other then the son of my mother’s friend
We had governin’ who would have thought the love would end
Like ice cold albums, all good things
Never thought we’d sing the same song that all hoods sing
Thought it was all wood grain, all good brain
We wouldn’t bicker like the other fools, talk good game
Never imagine all the disaster that one could reign
Could bring, should blame the game and I could
It’s kill or be killed, how could I refrain
Forever be in debt and that’s never a good thing
so the pressure for success can put a good strain
on the friend you call best, and yes it could bring
Out of the worst in every person, even the good saint’
and though we rehearsed it, it just ain’t the same
When you put in the game at age sixteen
Then you mix things like cars, jewelry, and Miss Thing
Jealously, ego and pride and this brings
It all to a head like a coin, cha-ching
The route of evil strike again, this could sting
Now the team got beef between the post and the point
This puts the ring in jeopardy
Indefinitely
[Jay-Z]
I feel like a black republican, money I got comin’ in
Can’t turn my back on the hood, I got love for them
Can’t clean my act up for good, too much thug in ’em
Probably end up back in the hood, like f**k it then
[Nas]
I feel like a black militant takin’ over the government
Can’t turn my back on the hood, too much love for them
Can’t clean my act up for good, too much thug in ’em
Probably end up back in the hood, I’m like f**k it then
[Nas]
I’m back in the hood, they like ‘Hey Nas’
Blowin’ on purp, reflecting on they lives
Couple of fat cats, couple of AI’s
Dreamin’ of fly shit, instead of them grey skies
gray 5’s, hate guy, wishin’ our reign dies
Pitch sling pies and niggas they sing ‘Why?’
Guess they ain’t strong enough to handle their jail time
Weak minds keep tryin’ follow the street signs
I’m standing on the roof of my building, I’m feelin’
The whirlwind of beef I inhale it just like an acrobat
Ready to hurl myself through the hoops of fire
Sippin’ 80 proof, bulletproof under my attire
Could be the forces of darkness
Against hood angels of good that form street politics
Makes a sweet honest kid turn illegal for commerce
To get his feet out of them Converse
That’s my word!
[Jay-Z]
I feel like a black republican, money keep comin’ in
Can’t turn my back on the hood, I got love for them
Can’t clean my act up for good, too much thug in ’em
Probably in the back in the hood, I f**k it then
[Nas]
I feel like a black militant takin’ over the government
Can’t turn my back on the hood, too much love for them
Can’t clean my act up for good, too much thug in ’em
Probably end up back in the hood, I’m like f**k it then

Ironically, this screed comes from a rap album, also nominated for a Grammy, entitled “Hip-Hop is Dead.”
If only.




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15 Responses

What a bunch of crap. What is more pathetic is that this is considered “mainstream” black music. Why do so many blacks and whites alike promote this life-destroying garbage?

RepublicanPatriot on January 29, 2008 at 3:30 pm

Wasn’t “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp” nominated last year? Sounds like da hood rats is all singin about bizzneess acumen these days. Next year itíll be a song about how returns on their mutual funds are being kept down by da man.

dm60462 on January 29, 2008 at 3:55 pm

Great article Deb! How many times did you have to listen to that garbage to get all the “lyrics.” Does anyone watch the Grammy’s since they have been taken over by these thugs? Keep it up gorgeous!

gregoryp on January 29, 2008 at 4:05 pm

Nas actually has one lyric where he disparages the shallow aims of much of hip-hop
“The Jewish stick together, friends in high places/we on some low level shit.”
I think what is amazing is that the inability to critically analyze written English is what passes for discourse nowadays. There are a lot of idiots who spout off garbage in hip-hop, as well as the Republican party. That doesn’t make either of them completely evil and irrelevant.
If any of you took it upon yourself to analyze the lyrics (Nas’ verse especially), you’ll see that it’s about the corrupting influences within hip-hop, rather than glamorizing the criminal lifestyle.
[DK: OH, YES, IT’S SO DEEP. HOW COULD I HAVE MISSED IT? YES, I SHOULD ANALYZE THIS “DEEP THOUGHT.” HILARIOUS. DS]

Derek Kreindler on January 29, 2008 at 5:12 pm

Then again, anyone who considers “National Treasure” to be one of the cinematic triumphs of 2007 probably has questionable taste to begin with.
[DK: HMM . . . YOU HATE “NATIONAL TREASURE,” ONE OF THE BEST MOVIES OF THE YEAR, YET DEFEND RAP CRAP. YOU PROBABLY JUST CAN’T APPRECIATE AMERICAN HISTORY AND A GREAT ADVENTURE MOVIE THE WAY YOU CAN APPRECIATE A “GOOD” MUSLIM RAP SONG LIKE THIS. YUP, MY TASTE IS OUT OF WHACK B/C I LIKED THAT MOVIE BUT HATE THIS TRIPE. TALK ABOUT “QUESTIONABLE TASTE.” DS]

Derek Kreindler on January 29, 2008 at 5:18 pm

It didn’t take long for ice tea to sell out and pay a cop on t.v. or the other piece of s–t ice cube to turn to playing loser comedies. If ice cube can untwist that ugly face of his long enough to say a line in a movie without sneering then maybe this jayzee jerk can do it too. I won’t go down to Fairlane movie theater and watch all the moron copy cats and wannabees talk, text message, fight, stab or shoot each other, but somebody else might. If they’re so against republican ideals then why don’t they take the profits from they own damn pockets and donate it to at risk inner city teens. I can hear them now, AWW HAAAAOOOL NAW!

samurai on January 29, 2008 at 5:20 pm

Hey Derek, it’s ok. You don’t have to feel so guilty about being you. I suppose that the song “Cop Killa” didn’t encourage young gang members togo out and shoot at the po-po. The whole genre is corrupt with the glamorizing of outlaw lifestyles. Just listen to the lyrics. You go ahead and tell us what it means. Better yet go down to a dance club in Detroit and listen to it. Tell us what you see.

samurai on January 29, 2008 at 5:28 pm

You know Derek, it’s blacks like you….that makes blacks like me feel disrespected. I understand you repersent one segment of our race who is only “relevant” if they listen to rap, hip hop, and goes to anything that celebrates the extremly negative black stereotypes.
You wanna know the reason blacks are still held back in some areas of american life? BLACKS LIKE YOU who condem anything whites do, yet don’t get off your ass to do something REAL and TRULY progressive to move us forward. That’s what the great MLK Jr did. But I know you probably hate him too.

Squirrel3D on January 29, 2008 at 6:30 pm

Debbie, you didn’t do a thing to address anything I said. I actually read your blog regularly and have it on my RSS feed, and I expected better. Typing in ALL CAPS and resorting to ad hominem attacks? How juvenile…and I’m only 19.
For the record, my #1 pick for 2007 is No Country for Old Men and I’m Jewish, the furthest thing from black, just like the Beastie Boys, Rick Rubin etc.
Samurai, I never said hip-hop was a wholesale beacon of good morals and that rappers were model citizens. Most aren’t, but some are.
Squirrel3D, the only thing to be embarassed about is your command of the written English. Your post reads like something out of the mouth of Al Sharpton or Sonny Carson.
[DK: CLEARLY, YOU ARE NOT A REGULAR READER OF THIS SITE AS YOU CLAIM, OR YOU’D KNOW THAT ALL RESPONSES I MAKE TO COMMENTS ARE IN CAPS–AS WITH THIS PROGRAM, IT IS THE ONLY WAY I CAN DIFFERENTIATE MY RESPONSE WITH THAT OF THE COMMENTER. I DO NOT YELL AT COMMENTERS, AS CAPS NORMALLY INDICATE. ALSO, I DO NOT RESPOND TO ALL COMMENTS, NOR IS IT MY RESPONSIBILITY TO “ADDRESS” WHAT THEY SAY. THIS IS A BENEVOLENT DICTATORSHIP OPERATED ON WHIM. NOT SURE WHERE THE “AD HOMINEM” ATTACK IS. “AD HOMINEM” ROUGHLY MEANS “OF THE MAN” OR, RATHER, A PERSONAL INSULT. IN THIS CASE, HOWEVER, I DID, IN FACT, ADDRESS WHAT YOU WROTE IN YOUR SECOND COMMENT ABOUT MY HAVING “QUESTIONABLE TASTE” BECAUSE I LIKED “NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS.” I DID NOT INSULT YOU PERSONALLY, UNLESS, AGAIN, YOU ARE COUNTING MY RESPONSE TO YOUR CLAIM THAT I HAVE “QUESTIONABLE TASTE” BECAUSE I DON’T LIKE NAS’ STUPID RAP. MY LATE FATHER ALWAYS TOLD ME I SHOULD NOT RESPOND TO COMMENTERS, AND THIS IS ONE OF THOSE CASES WHERE I REGRET NOT HAVING LISTENED TO HIM. I KNEW I WOULD REGRET IT THE MINUTE I RESPONDED.
FYI, I DID GO TO YOUR SITE AND FOUND YOUR ARTICLE ON CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS AND RELIGION VERY INTERESTING AND WELL WRITTEN. GIVEN YOUR SURNAME, YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF JUDAISM, AND THE NAME OF YOUR WEBSITE, ARE YOU BOTH JEWISH AND BLACK? CURIOUS. DS]

Derek Kreindler on January 29, 2008 at 8:05 pm

Derek: You are a product of today’s “education”–you were taught moral relativism. These gangstas are making a fool of you. You’re only 19. You have a lot to learn.

lexi on January 29, 2008 at 9:38 pm

At 19 you are just dumb enough to put your real name on a post that a lot of people would find objectionable. Keep trying to be down with your bad self.

samurai on January 29, 2008 at 9:44 pm

Me and Al Shafton?? That piece of crap is another reason blacks are still held back in some areas of america!! I’m as conservative as it gets (no not Bush’s version of it).
And for the record I’m 25, so I’m right in there with your generation…which makes us young black guys. Everything I said was in english, and not in that stupid hip hop shit that you and your “homies” speak. If you can’t understand these words ether, then your a damn hypocrite.

Squirrel3D on January 29, 2008 at 10:16 pm

Debbie, I stated in one of my comments that I’m white and happen to come from a long line or Rabbis on my mum’s side. I do read your site but on my RSS feed, so I only see your postings, not the comments page. And the name of my website actually comes from the song you blogged about. I thought it was fitting considering my political stance, and the current ultra-left-wing climate at my University.
Squirrel, please, please, please learn to write.
Samurai, why should I be ashamed of what I write on the internet. Evidently even Debbie herself was impressed with it. All it means is more Google hits for me.
I want to know what music you all listen to. Pretty much everything I listen to save for classical has some lyrical content I disagree with. I don’t advocate dropping acid or overthrowing “the system”, but I love all manner of classic/modren rock, just like I respect women, the police and our justice system but I listen to hip-hop. Is some of it reprehnsible garbage that a two-year old could churn out? Yes. Does that automatically make every piece within the genre bad? I think not.
If you think that is moral relativism then you could not be further from the truth. Humans have the capacity to judge, analyze and determine things. There are still grey areas even within moral absolutes. If there were no such thing, why would we have Rabbis and biblical scholars?
If you’re dumb enough to start standing on a corner selling drugs because of the music you listen to, you have much bigger issues to resolve than your music choices.

Derek Kreindler on January 30, 2008 at 12:58 am

Why should I bother writing agian when it’s odvoius you’ll just attack me for not writing the way you want me to. I guess your too perfect for me.
But what the hell…
I listen to classic rock, some techno, anime music, and videogame music. I also like alot of instrumental(spelling?) music too. Whenever I’m in my program, I have to hear that garbage you call rap alot. Luckly I have my laptop with me.
[S3D: I THINK YOU WRITE JUST FINE. YOUR COMMENTS ARE ALWAYS WELL SAID AND WELCOME HERE. DS]

Squirrel3D on January 30, 2008 at 11:51 am

[Nas]
I feel like a black militant takin’ over the government
Are you missing their point?

MarcAurelio on January 31, 2008 at 3:36 am

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