Ben Carson Releases Rap Music Based Campaign Ad

Like Donald Trump, Ben Carson is debuting a radio ad this week, but his is a bit more, well, unconventional for a Republican:

Ben Carson is stepping up his rap game — sort of.

In an appeal to younger black voters in urban markets, the Republican presidential candidate will run a 60-second ad featuring the rap stylings of Aspiring Mogul, his campaign told ABC News in a report published Thursday.

“Heal … (vote, vote) … inspire … (vote, vote) … revive … (vote, vote) … Ben Carson 2016, vote and support Ben Carson, for our next president, it’d be awesome,” Aspiring Mogul raps in the 60-second spot, which will air Friday in the Miami; Atlanta; Houston; Detroit’ Birmingham, Alabama; Jackson, Mississippi; Memphis, Tennessee; and Little Rock, Arkansas, markets, according to the report.

Carson’s standard stump speech is interspersed with Aspiring Mogul’s beats throughout the ad.

You can listen to the ad here, and while it’s not exactly of the unique character of the ad that Herman Cain’s campaign released four years ago, it’s certainly in the same odd category.

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Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. An Interested Party says:

    Poor Ben Carson…releasing an ad appealing to people that his political party is trying to make sure can’t vote…I guess he didn’t get the memo…

  2. michael reynolds says:

    This is Carson being scammed.

    There is precisely zero point in running ads in expensive media markets like Houston when we haven’t even done Iowa. Zero point that is unless you’re the media consultant being paid to place ads, taking a piece off the top, and probably a little somethin’-somethin’ on the back end from the stations.

  3. Gromitt Gunn says:

    He seems more like the Slow Jam type.

  4. Gromitt Gunn says:

    Also, Aspiring Mogul is pretty much the worst rap name ever. It screams “Ain’t ever gonna happen, kid.”

    The whole thing sounds like an overly elaborate troll.

  5. walt moffett says:

    tween this and the Trump ad, a good time to stock up on audio books for the car.

  6. Mr. Prosser says:

    As Wayne Bennett, writer of The Field Negro Blog wrote, “Rapping commercials to appeal to African American constituents? (Why don’t you just give out free fried chicken while you are at it?)” By the way, if folks here haven’t read TFN, they should start. http://field-negro.blogspot.com/