Politics is a manipulative game, and although I am aware it is important to see through it, I have never liked it. France has just elected a new president, socialist candidate François Hollande, and I know America doesn’t care much about this, but did you know that Hollande used Jay-Z and Kayne West’s hit, ‘Niggas in Paris’ as part of soundtrack for his campaign ad???
When I saw this, my reaction was a big 'WTF'?
First of all, shouldn’t he have used some French rap song instead? Or have French people progressed that much in English profanities to get the song?I don't think so, as a matter of fact, most of them even probably don't get that the word niggas is a racial slur!
And what message did he want to pass exactly? Oh look at me, I am so cool and edgy, I am embracing black people’s music, I am so in touch with all ethnic groups! Yeah sure, except that the song has nothing to do with being in touch. In the video, you can see him surrounded with black voters, and reaching out disadvantaged people who are probably only earning the minimum wage, while you hear Kayne and Jay-Z rapping about their life of luxury in Paris with lines like: ‘Let's get faded, Le Meurice for like 6 days Gold bottles, scold models, Spillin' Ace on my sick J's Ball so hard’.
It is just plain weird, or may be they couldn't care less about the song meaning at all, they just used it because it’s the black public’s popular hit of the moment, and in this case it is exploitative and demagogic,…but what else is new in politics?
All these people are asking for social change, what do they think it is? a protest song? I find it offensive that his campaign used some gangster rap to promote social reforms. Jay-Z and Kayne are these royalty-types so disconected from the every-day realities of the people shown in the video, that the ad should have done a disservice to its message. But what do I know, Hollande won the French elections this past weekend.