Rep. Trey Radel’s, R-Fla., exploration of hip-hop started with a busted cassette tape. He was getting off the schoolbus in his small Ohio town back in 1989 when he saw the broken tape, reeling it back up with a No. 2 pencil.
“Of course, as a young, rebellious kid, I felt a thrill listening to this music,” he said, acknowledging that this first taste came from the group NWA.
Radel shared this story in an op-ed Thursday penned for Buzzfeed. The Republican made waves earlier this week when he tweeted a review of Jay-Z’s new album. Now, he wanted to explain to the masses what made him a self-described, “Hip Hop Conservative.”
“My goal as a Member of Congress is to connect and communicate the conservative message to people, cutting across cultural, generational and ethnic lines,” he explained. “My love for music has helped me do this, and as much as we may disagree philosophically, Public Enemy and NWA have helped me do this.”
Radel said he has found a conservative message in Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power.” “[B]ecause I believe when government expands it becomes a political tool meant to oppress,” Radel noted. When rappers like Chuck D and NWA talk about oppression and harassment from law enforcement, that should strike a familiar chord too, Radel argued. “Targeting and oppression is happening today, from the IRS going after political groups, to the government spying on journalists and everyday American citizens.”
The Florida Republican isn’t the first to gush over the genre.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is a big 2pac fan, explaining back in February that “rappers are like reporters.” Though Rubio didn’t find a bigger meaning in the music like Radel.
The two lawmakers are also in good company with NBC “Meet the Press” host David Gregory, a Los Angeles native who loves ‘90s hip-hop. “A lot of suburban white kids like me were into that stuff,” Gregory told Yeas & Nays in an interview back during the GOP primaries. He made it very clear, however, that he wasn’t into the “nasty stuff.”
