Last summer, Kanye West and his comrade, Jay-Z monopolized the musical scene with their joint album, Watch the Throne. This year, West is appearing in an entirely different context: the political spectrum.
West was mentioned briefly in Tuesday night’s episode of “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” on the NBC network in a skit featuring President Barack Obama. The President began the skit in a familiar way, “I’m President Barack Obama, and I too want to slow jam the news.” He proceeded to “slow jam” about his stance on educational reform. Between Obama’s somber demeanor and Fallon’s intermittent comical bits, the show’s band, The Roots, belted out the lyrics, “If congress doesn’t act, it’s the students who pay. The right and left should join on this like Kim and Kanye” – an allusion to recent tabloid claims that Kim Kardashian and West are dating.
But the United States is not the only country using West in political propaganda. French politician François Hollande recently launched a fitting ad campaign, featuring “Niggas in Paris” – one of Watch the Throne’s most notorious hits.
It features clips of the candidate’s campaign, his supporters and their “Carte Électorale” and even a clip of the “Creil” stop of the Parisian metro – perhaps a clever comparison to the anthem’s lyrics, “That shit cray.”
Hats off to Kanye West, newest member of the French “#2H12CREW” and Fallon’s “slow jam” posse.