The sound of a politician's words put to a "dance" beat is rarely the most musically satisfying of experiences. As eloquent as the speaker may be, he or she is not a Jay-Z or Dizzee Rascal, or even a Will Smith. Witness these lines from Arnaud Fleurent-Didier's Un Monde Meilleur, sampling Dominique de Villepin at the UN: "France cannot remain silent in certain circumstances if it is to remain true to itself and the universal principles which it has always defended." Technically speaking, the lines lack a rhythmical metre. In hip-hop parlance, De Villepin lacks "flow".
So it is to the credit of DJ Moniker's rework of Island in the Sun that the political sample clips he uses are short enough to match the beat. Mr Moniker has taken Harry Belafonte's calypso classic and added clips from Blair, Howard and others on immigration and asylum. On this evidence, Michael Howard should not give up the day job (though it may not be too long before he has to give this some thought anyway). But both he and the PM, and the other clips in this Public Enemy-esque montage, hold together surprisingly well. The problem is we are not quite feeling the intended satirical punch. In short, Will Smith: yes. Jonathan Swift: no.
