After last night’s State Of The Union stand-in, the anchors on CNN got into a little discussion of the hip-hop horseraces of 18 months ago, and how they paralleled the bickering between the Democrats and the Republicans over Barack Obama‘s various initiatives. Yes, that’s right: The 50 Cent/Kanye West beef made it to Anderson Cooper 360, with Kanye taking on the role of Barack Obama and 50 Cent serving as a stand-in for the Republicans. While Curtis has claimed allegiance with the GOP in the past, he may not be too happy with the reason Cooper gave for lumping the two parties together. (Hint: It’s not because of their shared affinity for Vitamin Water and/or unfettered capitalism.) The excerpted transcript after the jump.
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Look, what he’s doing, he’s laying down: Here are the markers in terms of my presidency.
I guess, if I had to use an example, sort of when like (INAUDIBLE) Kanye West had his new album, and he said, I want to make it as bad as Stevie Wonder’s…
(CROSSTALK)
MARTIN: He said, if it doesn’t get to that, it’s still a great album.
This is a guy who is saying, a president who’s saying: Look, I want to raise the stakes. And, so, isn’t it amazing that we’re sitting here, saying, wow, an ambitious president?
Well, shouldn’t we have an ambitious president? Shouldn’t we have a president saying, we can do more? He said during the campaign: I can do more things at one time.
And, so, look, if he’s able to achieve even half of what he said, frankly, a lot of folks will be pleased because of the last eight years.
COOPER: In your Kanye West analogy, I guess the Republicans, then, are 50 Cent?
MARTIN: Yes, because…
COOPER: Because they lost…
I’d ask how Rick Ross fits into that analogy, but that would imply that I care about that rancid little slice of beef beyond it being a source for a throwaway joke.
That’s not fair. Fiddy at least has a Mid East strategy.
I legitimately liked the T-Pain track R. Ross did, “The Boss”.
@janine: I’ll stop dose terrurists!
…or die tryin!
So I guess the Senate campaign = The College Dropout: out-of-nowhere success, instant celebrity, the guy shows a precocious charm and near-innocence.
The presidential campaign = Late Registration: cultural/media dominance, blockbuster returns.
The presidency = Graduation: culmination of earlier work, launches with even bigger cultural noise and a quick hit single, but a bit of faltering after a few weeks. Ages decently.
Man, I hope the midterm elections don’t go all 808s and Heartbreak on us.
@Chris Molanphy: yeah, but even if the democrats in the midterms are pummeled by the pundits (critics), they’ll still perform well (808s is no. 8 this week) while the republicans further consume themselves with their infighting (when is before i self-destruct coming out again?)
@Maura Johnston: Ooh, infighting: maybe the Republicans are G-Unit, and Bobby Jindal wants to be 50 Cent, but he’s really Tony Yayo. (Which makes Sarah Palin Fitty: hyped early on, with a hyperbolic gangsta past, quick falloff.)
G-G-G-G-G-G-G.O.P.!!
@lempha:
That was one of my favorite jams of last year. I legitimately downloaded it from Itunes. It’s a good song to play while preparing for a night out (I can’t believe I just admitted that to the masses).
@Maura Johnston: @Chris Molanphy: Can we have more of these political / rapper analogies, please? These are the best comments in awhile.
This was hilarious. Last night when we were watching CNN and heard this, my boyfriend and and I turned to each other and said, “Oh Anderson Cooper!” I really enjoy Anderson’s desire to intertwine pop culture and politics.