You know the type. You see him every Saturday night in the back of the club; expensive trench coat, dark aviator sun glasses and a $500 fedora pulled down slightly above eye level. He is a man on the prowl, propositioning any woman in a mini skirt and pumps who looks like she might be down for a little play for pay. No, I'm not talking about Snoop Dog or some other rapper, I'm referring to Republican Senator Dan "Big Daddy" Donaldson.
With all the hot scandals coming out of Washington, including the recent accusation of prosti...excuse me "call girl" solicitation by Louisiana Senator David Vitter, it is a wonder how the Right can open their mouths to say one bad thing about Hip Hop.
Now I’m not denying that to the chagrin of Hip Hop purists, like myself, the most popular music on the radio, right now, is the mysogynistic "Strip Club Music." For those who have lived sheltered lives and don't know what a Hip Hop strip club is, let me hip you to the facts. If you wander into a dimly lit room with loud, fast music playing and find yourself surrounded by a bunch of sharply dressed men with gold teeth throwing money at a naked, overly developed woman sliding down a flag pole... you're in a strip club. Strip clubs are so popular in Hip Hop right now that some of the hottest producers boast of test marketing their music there to see if it will make the dancers drop it like it's hot or not.
While some may point to this as evidence that Hip Hop is contributing to the moral decay of this country, is this really any different than what goes on in those seedy little spots in DC ?
Since the Don Imus scandal, rap music has been blamed for everything from juvenile delinquency to global warming. But can we really blame Hip Hop when the whole nation seems to be headed for hell in a handbasket?
I wouldn’t be surprised if my morning paper reports that Sen. Vitter is blaming the "serious sin" he committed in the 90's on Luke Campbell and the 2 Live Crew.
"Well, I was in my room listening to ‘Me So Horny’ and all of a sudden..."
In reality, there is not one thing going on in the world of Hip Hop that is not going on in the world of politics. And when the rappers say that their vile degrading lyrics are a reflection of a vile, degrading society, they are not too far off the mark.
This country is suffering from a severe case of selective morality.
Don't get me wrong, I don't want my little daughter going around the house singing Lil Kim lyrics and I do keep a Louisville Slugger handy just in case some knuckle head even thinks about calling her a "ho." But at the same time, I don't want my son to grow up being a "ho hoppin' hypocrite" politician either.
Is there a difference between Deborah Jean Palfrey (the DC Madame) providing a "special massage " for a joh...excuse me a "client," and Snoop Dog's side kick Bishop Don Juan hookin’ a Brotha up?
The reason why those on the Left high five each other in the checkout line of the grocery store when they see one of the Right Wing moral crusaders on the cover of one of those tabloids caught with his hand in the cookie jar is not that they are gloating over misfortune, but the Moral Majority front, like they are just so darn...well, moral.
As we say on tha block, "they act like their....um.... "feet" don't stink."
For those of us involved with steering our youth away from violence and misogyny and at the same time telling them the truth about "the system," the catch 22 is how do we expose the hypocrisy of politicians without green lighting some of the behavior of the rappers.
It’s simple...
We have to be consistent with our criticisms. If it's wrong in "tha hood" then it's wrong on "tha Hill. "
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