Hannity vs. KRS-One

Hip hop music is a popular goat to whip for the media, and the clearest examples of the massive divide between the culture of rap and the culture of conservatism come when MCs visit talk shows. From Cam'ron and Dame Dash yakking with Bill O'Reilly, to Shyne on Politically Incorrect (ah, Bill Maher, I can't hate you; you were in DC Cab, after all, the greatest film to ever star Mr. T and Gary Busey) to, just recently, KRS-One on Hannity America (what the hell name is that for a show? Next up, the Ann Coulter Christian Family Gun Hour).

Many hip hop fans bemoan that when someone like Bill O'Reilly attacks the music they love, he goes after people so entrenched in the life (or just not incredibly well-spoken) that they cannot help but come off as what he says they are: barely literate, loud, corruptive, offering vacuous half-excuses for "deplorable non-music".

"If O'Reilly ever went after someone like KRS or Chuck D, he'd get told!" they cry. "He won't go after rappers notorious for their intellect and have them on his show. He couldn't shout those two down."

Well, we can at least get KRS-One vs. the poor man's O'Reilly:



I thought KRS would wilt under the pressure of constant questions about his 9/11 statements
but went out on a strong note when Hannity "called him out" for his "cop killa" lyrics. It is a very cogent argument to make, that MCs intend to act much the same way authors of fiction or film directors do, to present reality in such a mannered way that it becomes a hyperreality. Perhaps talking heads, no matter their political slant, would be more willing to cut the genre of hip hop slack if there weren't such a pronounced premium on, "This is keeping it real. We live this." Whereas when you watch movies or TV shows that feature gratuitous violence and profanity, everyone knows these are just actors bringing a script to vibrant life. In all honesty, hip hop songs are just as full of fantasy as The Sopranos; next time you come across a hip hop song where the MC is telling you how "it ain't nothin'" for him to pull out his gun and blast a muh'fuh...yeah, it literally "ain't nothin'", 'cause he's never done it.

KRS One Hannity