Hip-Hop for Conservatives

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Ari Melber (and a couple commenters) point out that the interesting thing about Common being attacked, is that one of his best known songs is about as pro-Life as it gets. "Retrospect for Life" always struck me as being of that variety of pop art as "Knocked Up." People end up in situations where abortion is often the outcome, but the art gives us a bundle of joy because it's a result we find a lot more pleasing. Or, to be less cynical, its art which reflects the world as we wish it was, as opposed to how it is.


Of course social conservatism isn't particularly original for hip-hop. "Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth" has the obvious nod toward Pro-Lifers. Goodie Mob "Beautiful Skin" is a rather obnoxious lecture on black female modesty (Though that's a sick track.) And Lifesava's "What If It's True" is chastisement for nonbelievers. But I like "Selector" better, so I think I'll embed that.






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Ta-Nehisi Coates is a senior editor at The Atlantic, where he writes about culture, politics, and social issues. He is the author of the memoir The Beautiful Struggle. More

Born in 1975, the product of two beautiful parents. Raised in West Baltimore -- not quite The Wire, but sometimes ill all the same. Studied at the Mecca for some years in the mid-'90s. Emerged with a purpose, if not a degree. Slowly migrated up the East Coast with a baby and my beloved, until I reached the shores of Harlem. Wrote some stuff along the way.

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