Conservative rappers

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Pastor Sean Moon is a conservative rapper living in Tennessee.

And yet, your point is still demonstrated. Nor did your lack of investment prevent you from attempting to drop some knowledge about them.

People will happily consume art, but still don't overly concern themselves with "the details" most of the time.

People who want the art, but don't want to be burdened by "the details", will often attempt to "steer" art towards "safer" topics.

As for conservative rap, it reminds me of the lame PSA announcements they used to aim at kids that had beats from a cheap Casio keyboard, with forced and contrived lyrics, telling kids how school is cool and drugs are bad, yo. Except now it seems to be all about how awful gays liberals minorities and PoC are.

I'm referring to "fans", I've never been a fan. Rage have always had a predominantly white metal fan base. So not surprisingly it drew in young republican types whose basic diet is either metal or country and they probably liked the aggressive style RATM displays.

I haven't watched or listened to them since 1999 so in the intervening 26 years my memory of which performer (La Rocha or Morello) had the dreadlocks was a little hazy. But that's not really the same as being a life long fan and yet not having a clue what their music is about. Hence my comment (insert La Rocha's) the dreadlocks should have given that away.

when I first heard "Killing in the name" it took me about 30 seconds to work out they are 100% anti-white supremacy. So no, your rush to tag me with MAGA RATM fans is completely off point and not relevant.

Last edited by Cornflake on 18 Nov 2025, 12:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.: Removed some snark

"Conservative rappers"

Sounds like an oxymoron

MAGA rap is real
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_MacDonald_(rapper)

Oh yeah I can imagine in that context

I'm just having fun trying to imagine a load of Tory supporters spitting bars

*sigh*

It doesn't matter if someone is a hyper-fan, a regular fan, or not-even-a-fan. The point is, people will consume media, and fail to be aware of various aspects of it. Whether it's a hyper-fan who fails to notice lyrics, or a non-fan who can't get their names right, there's no shortage of people who espouse opinions, without bothering to check first.

Equally so, and to that same end, people will happily be selective with what information they know or don't know. Sorta like vivid recollection of lyrics heard 25 years ago, but being fuzzy about names.

I was never tagging you with anything, other than implying that a behavior you exhibited could also be exhibited by other different people - not that "you're just like them!" - like how hard working people and lazy people can both forget things, and noting that both are capable of said act (forgetting things) doesn't mean the two categories are equivalent.

To then follow that parallel, it stands to reason that people who consume "conservative rap" are also unaware of various aspects of the media they consume.

Regardless of super-fan or non-fan, you were confident, and wrong - which probably applies to the super-fans who confidently listen to the music, but don't know what it's about, as well. Regardless of any difference in fandom status, there's still a noteworthy parallel in behavior.

You do realize that even the hardest of hard-core fans still might not know as much about their favorite band as you're assuming they should.

You also raise another interesting point - when you first heard RATM, you were likely an adult, which would have granted you an adult perspective of things. However, a lot of people are introduced to music when they're much younger, and don't have that perspective yet. As such, there's a good chance of them interpreting things from a teenager's perspective, rather than an adult's. If they're sufficiently sheltered that they don't even know what white-supremacy is, then they're not likely to associate a topic as being about white supremacy, or anti-white supremacy.

Also, given that lots of bands from that era had dreadlocks, from P.O.D. to Sevendust to Korn, I'm not so sure that they'd assume that dreads imply things the way you're assuming they do. It wouldn't be construed as a "clue" - it would merely be a "fashion choice" or "hairstyle", with no significant meaning attached.

This equally applies to the "conservative rap" being discussed - teens and young adults who don't really know the world yet, listening to questionable lyrics and thinking it's just normal stuff. It's a thing that happens.

In school it was apparent how popular music was consumed. You listen to one song, like the groove/cadence and then check if it's cool with your peers (because you don't want to fit in and not stand out) and then buy their album, get the poster and merchandise and go to their concert.

I'm quite sure that's how popular music "goes viral". whether Elvis/Beatles or Post Malone/Taylor Swift.

Popular music like RATM was just a vibe/experience/aesthetic for white fans (much like popular rap). Biggest consumers of popular rap or hiphop music should therefore not be a surprise, In terms of volume it's young white males. I have a conservative neighbour who is a retired lawyer (corporate suit/tie) who lives in a mansion and drives a Mercedes and a BMW. On weekends he tinkers in his workshop and blasts Biggie Smalls an Tupac. I asked him one day if he was into the rap culture/scene? he laughed and said "hell no", I just liked the music.

Last edited by cyberdora on 18 Nov 2025, 5:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Fair point.

Agreed.

Depends. I also make a distinction between popular music Vs underground. Popular music is like water, everyone drinks it, so importantly you could be a fan but not think twice or too deeply about it.
Underground music usually has an independent music label and being a fan is more a big deal and is more tied to your core identity. You seek this music out and take more of a deep dive into the culture, art and poetry/meaning behind the music.

Reminds me of this satire from last year.

Was that the manifesto

Gah my ears, my ears!

This distinction is often less relevant than you'd think. On the one hand, not "everyone" listens to pop music. Even the most ubiquitous artists aren't listened to by "everyone". You might be able to stretch that, and claim that most people are exposed to some degree of pop music - but anything further would be a bit too complex to say with certainty. Per your distinction, often times people who indulge in underground music will also shun "pop" music as being too mainstream.

From there it can flip yet again, as there is a such thing as a "Swiftie", who would be obsessed with everything about a specific artist, despite them being mainstream - but equally, even with underground music, sometimes you didn't seek it out and fall down the rabbit hole, but it's just what the people around you listened to, and so you did too. Just cos it's underground music doesn't mean it can't still be prolific in your peer group and environment.

It's not even like one's more likely to be one way or the other - it's all just sort of random and mixed. All kinds of fans exist in all kinds of genres. It's really hard to make truly accurate generalizations.

Anyways, now you're starting to contradict yourself a little bit, or at least illustrate my point. You've recently said that RATM was a popular band, and that popular bands are more about a vibe, but earlier were talking about the hardcore fans that knew everything RATM, but that's supposed to be how underground fans act, and RATM is popular music. It's not quite so set-in-stone.

Side note - that Tory Rap is exactly the forced and stiff PSA grade "rap" I was talking about. Canned beats on loop, and cumbersome lyrics that more fall-down-the-stairs than flow.

I specifically picked Rage because at least one MAGA republican (Paul Ryan) said he's a Rage fan but today defends trump's racism. I also picked Rage because their fanbase back in the 90s was the same as all metal bands (predominantly white male). they had mosh pits and the usual traditional markers of metal type merchandise. Ok lets say Ryan and other conservative white/frat boys blasted Rage in college. I'll even be generous and say they picked up what the lyrics were about. I guess it boils down to "I like the vibe/music (cool to play at Frat parties) but I couldn't care less about the message".

I noticed the same thing at university dorm parties in Australia in the late 80s and early 90s. Rap groups Public enemy and Salt'n'peppa were blasting across dorm rooms. I knew the kids blasting the music, they had zero interest in social activism or civil rights. In a similar vein, the 70s/80s generation loved Elton John and queen, but that generation were also horribly homophobic especially during AIDs era (80s version of COVID blamed on gay men). Marilyn Manson and Dead or Alive were super popular in the late 80s and 90s but the same young men who listened to their music probably hated trans and cross dressing. Beautiful examples of dissonance and sociocultural cherry-picking.

Fast forward to 2025, hiphop and rap are huge genres. But now Americans can also be emboldened to be card carrying MAGAs. Problem is, how do you proudly wear a MAGA hat but secretly like rap music? One solution is to be an Eminem or Jack Harlow fan. Eminem filled a void bringing hardcore black street music into white spaces. It's not rocket science, now you can appropriate black culture/music without leaving the comfort of an all-white space.

And so now we come to ultraconservatives. Can you use a black genre (like rap) as a platform for pushing a white supremacist ideology? of course you can. Kid rock and tom Mcdonald are super popular. Heck its like minstrel shows in the early 20th century. You can wear your MAGA hat with pride and still get down to rap.