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| Ben Carson rapper Aspiring Mogul explains how candidate inspired him | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| When Ben Carson’s campaign cancelled two weeks of campaign events in October so the candidate could attend signings for his book A More Perfect Union, pundits wondered whether his presidential run might merely be a publicity stunt to sell books. | When Ben Carson’s campaign cancelled two weeks of campaign events in October so the candidate could attend signings for his book A More Perfect Union, pundits wondered whether his presidential run might merely be a publicity stunt to sell books. |
| Now that the Carson campaign has released two songs in one week – one country and the other hip-hop – it seems fair to ask whether the campaign is in fact a thinly veiled excuse to launch a record label instead. | Now that the Carson campaign has released two songs in one week – one country and the other hip-hop – it seems fair to ask whether the campaign is in fact a thinly veiled excuse to launch a record label instead. |
| On Thursday, Carson made waves with a hip-hop radio ad featuring the MC stylings of Aspiring Mogul, an Atlanta-based rapper and self described “Christian Republican enigma”. According to his website, Mogul, whose given name is Rob Donaldson, also doubles as a youth minister and as chairman of the Savannah Black Republican Council. | On Thursday, Carson made waves with a hip-hop radio ad featuring the MC stylings of Aspiring Mogul, an Atlanta-based rapper and self described “Christian Republican enigma”. According to his website, Mogul, whose given name is Rob Donaldson, also doubles as a youth minister and as chairman of the Savannah Black Republican Council. |
| The ad, scheduled to start airing Friday in eight areas, features clips from Ben Carson speeches bookended by Aspiring Mogul rapping lines such as: “Vote and support Ben Carson / For our next president and be awesome.” | The ad, scheduled to start airing Friday in eight areas, features clips from Ben Carson speeches bookended by Aspiring Mogul rapping lines such as: “Vote and support Ben Carson / For our next president and be awesome.” |
| Aspiring Mogul describes himself as possessing “tremendous lyrical ability and flows unmatched in the music industry”, but he told the Guardian that proving his skills was not the point of the Carson ad. | |
| “The Carson song was structured for an easy listening, radio-friendly experience so everybody can comprehend the idea of what I’m trying to say,” he said. “So if people were looking at it for this hot new MC coming on the scene, that wasn’t the intention behind that song.” | |
| Aspiring Mogul said he was trying to be a part of a new Republican party, and that he believes black people need a seat “at every table”, even the GOP’s. | |
| “I’m in the GOP leadership,” he said. “I’ve been to the Republican governors’ dinners three years in a row and there hasn’t been more than 20 black people in a room full of 500 people. But I feel that if it’s going change we need a seat at every table. Black people need a seat at Silicon Valley, black people need a seat in the Republican party, black people need a seat on Wall Street ... | |
| “Everybody in Hollywood and in music who raps is a Democrat. Can we not even get one brother who doesn’t identify under that umbrella to even suggest a different way of looking at things?” he asked. | “Everybody in Hollywood and in music who raps is a Democrat. Can we not even get one brother who doesn’t identify under that umbrella to even suggest a different way of looking at things?” he asked. |
| And he explained why he supported Carson: “He really inspired me from the perspective that here is a positive African American role model – we’ve got a lot of rappers, we’ve got a lot of athletes, we got a lot of movies stars but where are the educators, where are the lawyers where are the journalists? I wrote that song on that premise.” | |
| In early September, Carson’s Facebook page posted a link to Aspiring Mogul’s song Black Republican with a caption expressing the candidate’s general unease with the genre of hip hop, although he considered Mogul an exception. | In early September, Carson’s Facebook page posted a link to Aspiring Mogul’s song Black Republican with a caption expressing the candidate’s general unease with the genre of hip hop, although he considered Mogul an exception. |
| The song includes allusions to the Bible, pro-life politics and anti-marriage equality rhetoric: “One woman, one man marriage, it just seem right.” But Aspiring Mogul said that he was not homophobic, noting that the lyrics go on to say: “I can’t legislate your life, do what you gotta do / ’Cause when you die I ain’t the one you’ve got to answer to.” | |
| The Aspiring Mogul ad comes just a few days after country singer Justin Tranchita released a special version of his country song This Is America for the Carson campaign. In the song, Tranchita replaces his original lyrics “This is America, and hell yeah that’s me” with “it’s Ben Carson for me”. | The Aspiring Mogul ad comes just a few days after country singer Justin Tranchita released a special version of his country song This Is America for the Carson campaign. In the song, Tranchita replaces his original lyrics “This is America, and hell yeah that’s me” with “it’s Ben Carson for me”. |
| Carson’s Twitter account launched the song with a video of Tranchita lending his support to the candidate. “I think he’s a great candidate for president, and I’m going to vote for him,” Tranchita said in the clip. The song is currently posted at the official Carson campaign webpage. | Carson’s Twitter account launched the song with a video of Tranchita lending his support to the candidate. “I think he’s a great candidate for president, and I’m going to vote for him,” Tranchita said in the clip. The song is currently posted at the official Carson campaign webpage. |
| Tranchita wasn’t always such a fervent Ben Carson fan though, tweeting in August that all the presidential candidates besides Donald Trump were “bought off and liars”. | Tranchita wasn’t always such a fervent Ben Carson fan though, tweeting in August that all the presidential candidates besides Donald Trump were “bought off and liars”. |
| “When I started to look into Ben Carson and what he stood for,” Tranchita told the Guardian, “people who have a faith – I identify with them because it does separate from people who do not.” | “When I started to look into Ben Carson and what he stood for,” Tranchita told the Guardian, “people who have a faith – I identify with them because it does separate from people who do not.” |
| Asked about Tranchita’s early Trump endorsement a spokesman for the Carson campaign said that “obviously Mr Tranchita changed his mind”. | Asked about Tranchita’s early Trump endorsement a spokesman for the Carson campaign said that “obviously Mr Tranchita changed his mind”. |