Ben Carson’s new rap-based campaign ad is wiggity, wiggity, wiggity wack
Ben Carson may be a former neurosurgeon, hater of “stupid” average Americans, and current Republican candidate for president, but what he’s not is down with urban youth. In an effort to rectify that, Carson’s campaign has released a new urban radio ad, “Freedom,” that will air in minority-heavy cities like Miami, Birmingham, Jackson, Memphis, Little Rock, Houston, and Detroit. Featuring both archived Carson speeches and a wack-ass rap from an MC called Aspiring Mogul, “Freedom” is 90 seconds of pure bullshit hip-hop, and not just because it rhymes “Carson” with “Awesome.” As Jezebel mentions, the track is “a minute-long argument against ears and brains working together,” especially considering Aspiring Mogul bills himself as a “CHRISTIAN REPUBLICAN RAP ENIGMA.”
What’s perhaps most egregious about the track—besides its very existence—is that it’s specifically meant to target black voters, a group Carson hasn’t really been all that supportive of before. ABC says the Carson campaign believes rap music is the best way to reach black voters, saying that “reaching out and talking to them in a language that they prefer and… in a cultural format that they appreciate” should help the incredibly square Carson nab voters who are “ready and prepared” to start working on his behalf. And maybe the pyramids were just meant to hold grain.