Funny: Rap and right-wing talk radio are more similar than you might think

What Jay-Z and Glenn Beck Have in Common

After listening to hours of Michael Savage, Rush Limbaugh, and Mark Levin on the radio while driving the Nebraska countryside, a peculiar thought occurred to David Segal: conservative talk-show hosts are surprisingly similar to gangsta rappers, he writes for the New York Times. Consider the parallels:

* Huge egos. Both groups praise themselves relentlessly—both Jay-Z and Rush Limbaugh have referred to themselves as “living legends.”
* Denouncing haters. Despite their enormous popularity, both rappers and talk-show firebrands commonly portray themselves as underdogs, beset by critics.

* Feuds. Just as 50 Cent and Ja Rule, or Jay-Z and Nas have their spats, so do Bill O’Reilly and Rush Limbaugh—O’Reilly has called Limbaugh a “right-wing liar.”
* Verbal skills. Talk-show hosts free-associate on topics for hours, using the same precision wordplay required for free-style rapping.
* Politics. Rappers and rightwing radio hosts are unabashed, die-hard capitalists, and both claim to represent a demographic which has been ignored. Recently, critics have questioned whether radio hosts' rhetoric might inspire violence—a charge rappers should find very familiar.

Rap is among the most conservative genres of pop music. It exalts capitalism and entrepreneurship with a brio that is typically considered Republican. (Admiring references to Bill Gates are common in hip-hop.)

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/20/weekinreview/20segal.html?_r=1&hpw%27

Funny: Rap and right-wing talk radio are more similar than you might think

Funny: Rap and right-wing talk radio are more similar than you might think

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