The NYTimes wrote a fairly unremarkable piece on hip hop beefs in 2009.  The focus of the article was on some simmering beef between Joe Budden and half the Wu-Tang nation.  The story goes that Joe Budden wasn’t too happy when Method Man beat him on a poll by the defunct-and-reborn Vibe Magazine.  He made a couple of brash statements, and the Wu responded.
It seems like Raekwon took it the most personally, and tensions simmered between Joe and Rae, culminating in an alleged assault on Joe Budden.  Budden made the …

A couple of weeks ago we posted about Erykah Badu’s new album and linked to her newest video.  The video, for a track called Window Seat was a teeny bit more controversial than I expected.
In the video, Badu walks through downtown Dallas and strips her clothes off in slow motion.  Now, most people would figure that this was either a) Fake and done on a soundstage somewhere or b) Staffed with extras and cleared with the locals.  It was neither.
Badu just guerilla filmed this video, strolling through Dallas while stripping …

Last week, Sarah Palin made an appearance on Bill O’Reilly’s show ‘The O’Reilly Factor‘ as part of her Going Rogue promotional tour.  Although I didn’t catch it live – fortunately (or maybe unfortunately) I don’t get Fox News – I did have a chance to read a ‘rush’ transcript of the interview.
Surprisingly, Palin wasn’t completely terrible.  She demonstrated a modest grasp of a variety of topical issues, from health care reform to Russia’s involvement in suppressing Iran’s nuclear ambitions.  I don’t necessarily agree with her views, but at least she …

Here at 4080, we’re known for occasionally exploring the relationship between hip-hop and social change.  Normally, the intersection of those things lies on the left side of the political spectrum.  The list of emcees rapping about eradicating poverty, combating racism and even revolution is long and distinguished.  It’s a tradition that stems back to hip-hop’s earliest days, and is the source of some of the genre’s most critically-acclaimed (if not always best-selling) releases.
So it was interesting to read about Hi Caliber, a rapper from New Jersey, who raps from a …

Yes, it is true.  Lou Dobbs, CNN Anchor, hero of the birther movement and, generally speaking, an anti-immigrant toolbag, has quit CNN.
I can’t even begin to say how much of a relief it is to see him gone, and not because he’s conservative.  I think a major news network on CNN deserves and requires a responsible conservative viewpoint.  I think MSNBC sucks precisely because it’s so openly liberal, and Fox sucks for many other reasons.
I have my problems with CNN, sure, but many of them are being addressed precisely because …

I love it when far-right demagogue hypocrites like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are proven wrong or, even better, lose at something. It’s just awesome.
The latest victory of reason over sheer ridiculousness comes courtesy of Isaac Eiland-Hall, a gentleman from Panama City, Florida. In an obvious parody of Beck’s over-the-top, completely unfounded fear-mongering, Eiland-Hall created a website called http://www.GlennBeckRapedAndMurderedAYoungGirlIn1990.com (I’d link to it, but it’s since been taken down); the point being that Beck never denied taking part in the (non-existent) attack, so it must be …

On November 8, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, by a razor-thin 220-215 margin.  It sounds good, but what does it actually mean?  Has free, universal health-care finally arrived in the States?  Have Obama and his cabal of socialist advisers pulled the wool over the eyes of an unsuspecting public and converted America into a full-fledged worker’s paradise?  Well, not really.  In fact, despite what you may have heard from any number of teabaggers (whose scare tactics seem increasingly desperate), comprehensive health …

I know “Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld” on Fox is supposed to be entertaining.  It’s a talk show that covers a variety of topics.  Everything from awful celebrity gossip to things that may sometimes pass as news.
But this is a disgrace.  Fox, and Gutfeld in particular, cowardly mocks the planned Canadian withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2011.  Now, I understand he may be ‘mad’ that Canada is withdrawing, but to denigrate the sacrifice that 108 Canadians have made in that country is both obscene and offensive.
For someone who claims to support …

We’ve talked this over and over, but now it honestly seems like something good is happening in Zimbabwe.  I know it’s been a minute since we did a politics post, but this needed to be said.
Zimbabwe is one of the worst economic situations in history.  It’s inflation rate is so high that most retailers don’t even take the local currency anymore.  In fact, Zimbabwe recently cut 12 zeros off the end of their currency just to make it reasonable.
Months ago, when it seemed clear that the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangrai …

Rod Blagojevich, formerly the Governor of Illinois, has finally been impeached and removed from office.
It may not come as much of a surprise, because the evidence was heavily against him.  Blagojevich has taken the stupid move of trying to boycott the process.  He basically went on a PR offensive, lining up a whole lot of nationally televised interviews in an effort to win public support.
But it was a farce.  Far from making him seem more human, Blagojevich somehow managed to alienate more people.  Perhaps it was by comparing himself to …