The marriage of rapping and advertising has been a steady source of hilarity and/or nausea ever since Barney Rubble's pioneering Fruity Pebbles freestyle.. and funniest/scariest of all is when rap is the chosen medium for government propaganda.
A few months ago we showed you these government-funded rhymes on behalf of FEMA, and now it appears China is following America's lead:
At least one record company is hoping that China's youth will soon be rapping to the Chairman Mao beat after the release of a new album of songs to mark the 110th anniversary of the birth of the founder of the People's Republic of China today.
More than 30,000 recorded tapes and CDs of "Mao Zedong and Us" have been sold since its launch by the China Record Company early this month.
"Orders for the new album are increasing," said Zeng Jianxiong, a company supervisor and director.
The new album includes 27 songs containing content from Mao's theories on the status and building of the Chinese Communist Party, anti-corruption speeches and poems. The 26th song, "The Two Musts," is sung to a rap beat to satisfy the youth market. There is no word yet on plans to make a video for MTV...
There's also a NY Times piece today that provides more context. Somebody please get the mp3.
