It’s Just An Unfriendly Game»

Courtesy of Mix Tape Kings, I just got a 2004-vintage effort at voter registration and turnout hosted by Jadakiss and Whoo Kid called Rap The Vote. Mixtapes place a premium on immediacy, but a lot of this stuff really is timeless. The Talib Kweli remix of Jadakiss’s “Why”? Come on. (One of my favorites is the Streetsweeper tape from 2001 that has the Nas/Jay-Z beef.)

But especially timeless is the following sentiment from the liner notes — which happens to hit this blog’s core interests! It’s answering the question why you should vote:

For the Troops Overseas: The military is running out of troops. What will happen if we suddenly go to war with another country? Will there be a military draft? Will you be called on to go fight in a war? Better to have your say before the election — not afterwards.

As they say on the tape: Don’t hate the game. Get in it and vote.

Dey Know Yayo»

I have a particular weakness for mixtapes — Mix Tape Kings is this blog’s official mixtape headquarters — and an odd fascination with G-Unit rapper Tony Yayo. (More on that later.) What I’m saying is that it was inevitable that I picked up the new Whoo Kid/Tony mixtape Drug Users Handbook. What I wasn’t prepared for was the political content.

You get your standard fare: the Unit sells some drugs, raps about selling drugs, passes on some over-the-phone code for the contents of the re-up (”four t-shirts and a pair of flip-flops”), etc. But you probably weren’t expecting the Barack Obama and Ron Paul cameos. No, no, neither the Democratic nor Libertarian candidates lace the mixtape — Whoo Kid just samples some debate moments. But I’m not sure they thought the Ron Paul stuff through:

MODERATOR: Alcohol prohibition led to more crime. You argue that even heroin could be legal if some state decided?

PAUL: I think under our system of government that could be the case. But if you ask some of the people who are against it, if the state did that would you use it, “Oh no, I wouldn’t use it! It’s always those other people that might use it, so I have to take care of them, prevent them from doing harm to themselves.”

A fine statement against parochialism. But look: if Tony Yayo was selling drugs, shouldn’t he want drugs to remain illegal? I know that 50 made him rich and he surely doesn’t need to sell any more drugs. But it’s just bad form to want to kick the ladder away for others after you’ve climbed it. Judge for yourself, as the mixtape is available here.

By the way, and very seriously, this blog does not endorse drugs, as drugs ruin lives.