Compare And Contrast Afrika Bambaataa And George Washington

Here's some crazy shit. Whilst pondering the idea of Hip-Hop's 'Mount Rushmore', it dawned on me that there can be some pretty wild comparisons made between plenty of U.S. presidents and rappers throughout history. So why not compare all of them?

George Washington / Afrika Bambaataa:

George Washington was, of course, our very first pres. Afrika Bambaataa is one of the most well-known 'Founding Fathers' of Hip-Hop. Planet Rock is one of the absolute best and most monumental hip-hop records of all time, and George Washington was a flat-out beast. Planet Rock also got the hip-hop engine rolling in 1982 and soon enough, it was a global force in music, culture, style and mindset. Similarly, Washington established precedents for the president's
role that are still followed to this day, like the 2-term limit and the establishment of the Cabinet. Overall, both of these historically mystifying human beings deserve to be enshrined in their own respective history books.

2. John Adams / Chuck D

Our second president, John Adams, can best be described as an under-appreciated genius.
Chuck D of Public Enemy fame is very similar in this respect. Although Chuck D made his mark by speaking out against the system and John Adams may very well have sold his soul to the devil, their current places in history are definitely what makes this comparison work.

3. Thomas Jefferson / Jay-Z

Thomas Jefferson's two terms as President had two very different stories. The first, great strides with the negotiation of the Louisiana Purchase, and the second, a great economic crisis following the Embargo Act in 1807. Similarly, Jay-Z was clearly the best rapper in the game from around 2001-2008, give or take a few years. Recently, Jay has been making moves on the business end, but musically, his craft has suffered. Despite all of this, both of these men are undoubtedly deserving of being one of the four faces on their respective Mount Rushmore.

4. James Madison / Grandmaster Flash

Another comparison of two Founding Fathers. Grandmaster Flash was one of Hip-Hop's first MCs and provided fans with classics such as 'The Message' and 'It's Nasty' in the early days of Hip-Hop's popularity. And, quite similarly, James Madison wrote the fucking Constitution. However, I don't believe many would put either on their own respective Mount
Rushmore.

5. James Monroe / 2Pac

James Monroe's presidency most notably provided us with the Monroe Doctrine, separating the East and West Hemispheres of the Earth to essentially discourage British incursions in American interests. As we all know, 2Pac essentially divided the entire country's worth of rap fanatics with his Biggie feud. Also, 2Pac owes a lot of his success in the mid-90s to Dr. Dre and several other generally forgotten producers working around the Death Row label, and similarly, John Quincy Adams, Monroe's Secretary of State was mainly responsible for the doctrine that keeps his presidency relevant in history books.

6. John Quincy Adams / Dr. Dre

John Quincy Adams' presidency is fairly forgettable, which can be sorta compared to Dr. Dre's career as a rapper, but when one glances at their previous endeavors, the impact they had on their respective fields are undeniable. Many presidential documentaries call John Quincy Adams one of the most qualified men to ever run for the presidency. Before his only term, he served as Secretary of State, U.S. Senator, U.S. Representative, and 4 different times as a U.S. minister. Dr. Dre has one of the absolute best discographies of all-time between production and lyrics, including but not limited to The Chronic, 2001, All Eyez on Me, Doggystyle, all of N.W.A.'s work, etc., etc. Eminem, etc.

7. Andrew Jackson / NWA

Andrew Jackson is the most beast President ever. No debate. Aside from the obviously atrocious things he did like the Trail of Tears, this guy was such a badass it's amazing to think he ever had a meaningful job. He killed x number of people via duel, threatened to hang his Vice President, and won the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812 on his will and unfuckwittableness alone. NWA was probably semi-responsible for a large amount of murders through their music alone. Aside from that, they didn't give a fuck about much, and were not to be fucked with either. Both have very ambiguous places in history, but both did their own thing at the expense of everyone else's feelings and opinions.

8. Martin van Buren / The Game

Martin van Buren essentially road Jackson's coattails to the oval office, and The Game road the tail end of the gangster rap age and pretty much faded as soon as that era was over. Van Buren's presidency was fairly forgettable, and aside from Game's first two records, the rest of his career has mostly been spent hopping on to popular trends in rap with fairly minimal success. Both were decent, fairly forgettable, and moderately unoriginal.

9. William Henry Harrison / Shaquille O'Neal

William Henry Harrison barely lasted a month in the oval office, but people remember him because of it.
Shaq lasted a few years (intermittently) rapping, but most people remember that aspect of his career to this day. Harrison was a successful General before dying from being outside in the cold, and Shaq, of course, will best be remembered as a Genie. Go check out Can't Stop the Reign though.

10. John Tyler / Ja Rule

John Tyler was thrust into the oval office by Harrison's pathetic death, and he was trash as hell at the job. His own party turned their back on him halfway through his term and basically surrendered the election of 1844 to get rid of him. Ja Rule was hot for a while, but he got murked left and right by everyone's favorite rappers and was dead and forgotten in the rap world soon enough. And try finding a Ja Rule fan, I'll find a John Tyler biographer faster.

11. James K. Polk / Andre 3000

James K. Polk is low-key one of the better presidents we've had. He set a clear plan for annexing the territory between present day Mexico and the U.S. and he also settled the Oregon boundary dispute with Britain. Andre 3000 is still one of Hip-Hop's most underrated artists of all-time, and many of that is based on the fact that he's never released a full solo project. Similarly, Polk is underrated throughout history because he only served one term (he didn't want to serve two, and died less than a year after leaving office). But both are arguably in the top 10 of their own
respective categories.

Note: Many of these presidents were slaveholders and propagators of slavery, which makes most of them complete trash, so the presidents that were praised were done so on a relative basis.