Ludacris raps politicians with his rap

Ludacris has a crush on Obama, and all would be well today if he had created a song as inviting as some other musically...

Ludacris has a crush on Obama, and all would be well today if he had created a song as inviting as some other musically-inclined supporters. Instead, in the song, Politics, he did what he does best — rapping without regard for anyone who might be offended.

Offended, as it turns out, is precisely how many people should feel, according to a wide range of commentators — including Obama’s spokesman. “This song is not only outrageously offensive to Senator Clinton, Reverend Jackson, Senator McCain, and President Bush,” said spokesman Bill Burton. “It is offensive to all of us trying to raise our children with the values we hold dear.”

At a time in the presidential campaign when both sides stand accused of going too negative, Ludacris — who once bragged in a song that he was “from the school of hard knocks, sneak peeks and low blows”— most certainly did.

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Hillary was called “irrelevant” and also a nasty name common in hip-hop lyrics but not in the remarks of presidential candidates. McCain was the recipient of something that could be a schoolyard joke or an especially repulsive malediction, depending on the audience: “McCain don’t belong in any chair unless he’s paralysed.” Bush was also declared irrelevant, as well as “the worst of all 43 presidents” and “mentally handicapped”.

Of course, this is precisely the kind of performance that won Ludacris fans around the world, three Grammy awards and Hollywood appeal. It also earned him a place on Obama’s iPod, a detail reported in June that Ludacris bragged about in the song: “With a slot in the president’s iPod Obama shouted ‘em / Said I handle my biz and I’m one of his favorite rappers.” He was referring to a Rolling Stone interview in which Obama mentioned Ludacris, Jay-Z and Russell Simmons as “great talents and great businessmen.”