In another bizarre example of Europeans somewhat questionably co-opting American hip-hop culture, French presidential candidate François Hollande -- who beat President Nicolas Sarkozy in the first round of voting over the weekend -- has a campaign video that uses Jay-Z and Kanye West's Watch the Throne track, "N*ggas in Paris," in the background. Much has been made of the fact that Hollande's campaign has attempted to replicate some of the successful tactics that Obama used in 2008 and...maybe that prompted him to sample a song by one of POTUS' favorite artists (and some "jackass")?
The video shows Hollande on the campaign trail, particularly during his visits to some of the poorer suburbs or banlieues known for their high concentration of immigrants and ethnic minorities (some have associated the footage with a dig at Sarkozy's own history of racial insensitivity), as well as shots of a diverse group of voters holding up their electoral cards. The real bonus points for creativity, however, come during clips of Hollande in a suburb called Creil, whose pronunciation, Slate points out, leads to a very pun-ny "That shit Creil" moment.
Funny or not, you know this wouldn't fly if Mitt Romney or any other Caucasian politician used a rap song with the N-word in it (or N*gga, as the case may be) in one of their campaign videos. And, say what you will about 'Ye and Jay, there's something simultaneously hilarious and cringeworthy watching wealthy white politicians getting into town cars or schmoozing with constituents while the swag-heavy song plays in the background.
Now that shit Creil.
[via Slate/Pitchfork]
The video shows Hollande on the campaign trail, particularly during his visits to some of the poorer suburbs or banlieues known for their high concentration of immigrants and ethnic minorities (some have associated the footage with a dig at Sarkozy's own history of racial insensitivity), as well as shots of a diverse group of voters holding up their electoral cards. The real bonus points for creativity, however, come during clips of Hollande in a suburb called Creil, whose pronunciation, Slate points out, leads to a very pun-ny "That shit Creil" moment.
Funny or not, you know this wouldn't fly if Mitt Romney or any other Caucasian politician used a rap song with the N-word in it (or N*gga, as the case may be) in one of their campaign videos. And, say what you will about 'Ye and Jay, there's something simultaneously hilarious and cringeworthy watching wealthy white politicians getting into town cars or schmoozing with constituents while the swag-heavy song plays in the background.
Now that shit Creil.
[via Slate/Pitchfork]