This has been the scariest and funniest election season.
There are numerous ways you can mock and praise both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
For decades there have been references towards the two by numerous rappers, both positively and negatively.
During this election, the number of references towards Clinton and Trump have increased significantly.
The two candidates make it too easy to mock them, considering their backgrounds are full of scandals and affairs. But there are times when they could be praised as a businessman and politician.
The massive scandal of Bill Clinton’s affair made not only Bill, but also Hillary an easy target for pop culture. Famous rapper, Ludacris, spoke about how Hillary stayed with Bill after the whole world knew about the affair in his song, “Stay Together."
G-Eazy said Hillary is ‘wife material’ compared to Monica Lewinsky, Bill's mistress, in his song, “A Thing for Me.”
Several other rappers like Kanye West and Big Sean, praise Hillary and her status of as a female leader, though not every reference of her is positive. Ice Cube speaks his mind in his song, “Stand Tall,” with the lyric, “Never put your trust in Hillary Rodham, cause I can tell you now it’s going to turn out rotten.”
Mentions of Hillary in music were mostly negative up until around 2013.
Before Trump announced his campaign, his brand in hip-hop mainly focused on his success as a rich businessman, like the notorious Mac Miller song, “Donald Trump.”
Artist, Kanye West, raps about Trump’s success and appearance in the lyric, “I’m so appalled, Spalding ball/balding, Donald Trump taking dollars from y’all,” from his song called “So Appalled.”
Once Trump’s title shifted from business man to politician, speeches were made and artists were triggered. That’s when he finally became a negative figure in hip-hop. Explicit anti-Trump lyrics were released like, “Donald Trump, yeah. I like white folks but I don’t like you.”
Something more than just a reference in a song was made during this election season and seemed more like an attempt at a political movement. Just a little over a month before election day, an author named David Eggers had launched a project to release anti-Trump protest songs by several artists for 30 days, called “30 Days, 30 Songs.” Indie rock band, Death Cab for Cutie, begins the project with their song, “Million Dollar Loan.” This track talks about how Trump called himself a self made man by claiming he built his fortune with just a ‘small loan of a million dollars’ from his father. Several other bands and artists like, Andrew Bird, Cold War Kids, and Local Natives, had volunteered to be a part of this project to reveal the truth about Trump and speak out against his campaign through lyrics and songs, as well as poke fun at his pumpkin like appearance. These actions of this project lead to further prove that when you speak out, you shape our democracy.
Hillary and Donald have left quite an imprint on pop culture to have been not only referenced in songs, but to have songs named after them. Hip-hop music has always been a genre that infuses politics and music. Every mention of Clinton and Trump in hip-hop has increased greatly each year after 1990. Due to the results of the election, there surely will be more shots at the two to come.
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