Rap music is responsible for a lot of things, a lot of it positive and some of it negative, such as the public’s exposure to Vanilla Ice. One man in particular is not a fan of rap music, and that is Bill O’Reilly.
Shockingly, the FOX News talking head has it out for a genre of music generally populated by young, black people. People like O’Reilly blame rap music for a lot of stuff, mostly for perpetuating violence and other scary things like swearing and baggy jeans. O’Reilly’s new bugaboo, though, is that rap is to blame for the falling popularity of religion among young people. By religion, of course, he means Christianity.
“The rap industry often glorifies depraved behavior, and that sinks into the minds of some young people, the group that is most likely to reject religion,” said O’Reilly during the Talking Points segment of his television program. This overlooks the fact that a lot of rappers actually identify as Christians, including Kendrick Lamar, who was baptized shortly after the release of good kid m.A.A.d. city. Presumably O’Reilly has never heard of Lamar.
Tonight, O’Reilly will be on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Also joining the show that evening? A gentleman named Snoop Dogg, who made his bones (and the movie Bones) through rap music. Maybe he will have a thing or two to say to O’Reilly about rap’s “role” in the waning popularity of religion. It wouldn’t be the first conversation O’Reilly ever had with a rapper.
(Via MTV)
