Hillary Clinton certainly picks some unlikely allies. This week, in a bid to drive people to register to vote, her campaign website is offering the chance to meet one of her supporters from the music world. And it’s not one of the baby boomer heroes or jazz musicians her husband, former president Bill Clinton, goes for.
Instead it’s Pusha T, who came to prominence as half of Clipse, the Virginia rap siblings who built a career on rapping about dealing cocaine. Though his lyrics have been a little less starkly criminal-minded since he went solo, it’s still not exactly what you’d expect from an ally of the potential next president.
On Numbers on the Boards, from his album My Name Is My Name, Pusha T described himself thus: “King Push, kingpin, overlord / Coastguard come a hundred going overboard / I got money with the best of ’em / Go blow for blow with any Mexican / Don’t let your side bitches settle in / Might have to headbutt your Evelyn.” Clinton’s view of lyrics referencing drug dealing, evading justice and violence against women is unknown.
However, it should be noted that baby boomer rock heroes are no less exempt from glorifying drugs. Fleetwood Mac, who played Bill Clinton’s inauguration ball in 1993, were famed for their appetite for cocaine in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
One person who registers to vote via Clinton’s website will get the chance to meet Pusha T backstage, with travel and accommodation covered.
Clinton’s electoral strategy has involved maximising the potential vote in the African American and Hispanic communities, and she has been reaching out to black Americans via music.
On Friday, her appearance on Mary J Blige’s Apple Music video show The 411 will be broadcast. The trailer was launched earlier this week, to widespread mockery online, as Blige sang Bruce Springsteen’s American Skin (41 Shots) to the candidate, reaching over to hold her hand as she concluded.
Like you’ve never seen them before.@MaryJBlige sits down with @HillaryClinton.#The411
— Apple Music (@AppleMusic) September 27, 2016
Coming September 30th.https://t.co/hbaWqfjJcp pic.twitter.com/P2qpm3h3Pm
