Dick Gephardt, Mayor of Nellyville

Fun interview in the New York Times Magazine yesterday with Dick "Richard" Gephardt in which he discusses, among other things, his love of rap music. Seriously. And I quote:

What else have you been buying?

I did get an iPod. Oh, I love it. It's the best thing that ever happened to me.

What are you listening to -- political speeches?

The collected speeches of Newt Gingrich. That would be NO. I like Josh Groban. I like Tony Bennett. I like Nelly. He's from St. Louis. He's a very good rapper. I like Eminem. I have his album.

Some of the lyrics are a little hard to take.

Oh, I don't listen to the lyrics. I just like the music. I like the beat.

I don't know what's more amusing...The idea that Gephardt felt he could realistically co-opt Nelly to make himself seem cool, or the idea that maybe, just maybe, Dick Gephardt, possibly the largest dork in Congress, actually enjoys Nelly, known to many of his fans as "the most iced-out rapper of all time".

If true, I think this signals, among other things, the death of hip hop. How can you profess to provide a voice for the disgruntled masses of the inner city when one of your biggest fans looks like Skeletor and worked for Tip O'Neill. It's like a contradiction in terms.