Jackson Free Press

Salon reports: "'We need to understand rap, folks,' Limbaugh told his listeners, in a mocking tone. 'There's a lot of poetry and anger in this. Social energy. It's important. Look, it's one thing to say you like it, but to try to pass this off as something you've intellectually examined and assigned value to? Sorry, senator. Don't stand up for white music -- associate yourself with rap.' (In the edited version of his comments on Limbaugh's Web site, his reference to defending "white music" is deleted.)

"The animosity of culture warriors like Limbaugh (who is in the midst of a drug prosecution in Florida) could make it extremely difficult for the GOP to court young voters. Hip-hop, especially rap, long ago moved out of the ghetto into the center of mainstream suburban youth culture. That's why hip-hop record sales have surged in the last decade; why Sears, the purveyors of Main Street America, is rolling out hip-hop urban-wear sections for its stores this year; and why a spokesman for Sprite told the Wall Street Journal this week that rap "is the leader in terms of influencing pop culture today." Suddenly, being anti-rap means being anti-youth culture. That's not exactly where Republicans want to be as they make a play for college-age voters."