Election 2023 - On The Beat: Could Seymour learn something from rappers’ ‘bombed’ lyrics

Last week, David Seymour followed up his attacks on the Ministry for Pacific Peoples’ (MPP) spending, with a joke about blowing up the building where many of MPP’s staff work.

However, instead of backing down, Seymour says threatening to blow up things is one of his go-to jokes, adding that he’s made similar comments about other civil servants' workplaces.

However as pointed out by Newshub, Seymour didn't appreciate being the butt of sarcastic remarks, and instead was “incensed” when Rawiri Waititi suggested he'd like to drop karaka berries into the ACT Party leader’s water. 

A sad aspect to all this, is that there's probably many people who liked the fact Seymour is making Pacific people a focus for jokes and his approach will only bolster his chances come election time. And whether that's his stated intention or not, shock-jock politics is an approach that's proved to have some success for the likes of Boris Johnson and Donald Trump.

But in keeping with the theme of this column, it also reminded me of times where rappers have also got it wrong when threatening to blow up things. OutKast’s B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad) track was originally intended to be an anti-war anthem and was misinterpreted as an endorsement of the United States’ war in Iraq. ​

Another example is Notorious B.I.G.’s very famous lyric, “blow up, like the World Trade”. But unlike Seymour, there’s understandably a greater sensitivity in America about blowing up things, and that lyric is frequently edited by radio stations.

Similarly Eminem was heavily criticised for making light of the victims of the 2017 Manchester bombings in his track Unaccommodating, where he raps: “I'm contemplating yelling 'bombs away' on the game, like I'm outside of an Ariana Grande concert waiting.”

If Seymour was fan of any of these artists, he may have noted the fallout these songs faced, but given his improving chances to be part of the cabinet in the next government, he should probably heed Marliyn Munroe’s line: “I don't mind making jokes, but I don't want to look like one”.

History shows shock-jock politics usually wears thin and as we now see with Johnson and Trump, they are finding they're becoming more parody than politician, as their antics are starting to catch up with them.

In other news…

Labour is back in the 30s, with the latest Talbot Mills poll showing the current ruling party is at 32 per cent, compared to National’s 35 per cent. The poll also had the Greens on 10 per cent, ACT on 11 per cent and Te Pāti Māori on 3 per cent, which would probably result in a National-led government with a 1-2 seat majority.

The National Party has also released its list rankings. The stand-out inclusion for voters looking for Pacific candidates is to Agnes Loheni being ranked at 25. If National holds its current polling level and wins roughly 38-39 electorate seats, Loheni is a strong chance of returning to parliament. However National’s other Pacific candidates Rosemary Bourke, Angee Nicholas and Ruby Schaumkel face a tougher prospect as they are running in safe Labour seats and are ranked further down at 32, 39 and 42 respectively.

But the harsh reality for all candidates is that there’s only 120 seats in parliament and given the ever changing polls, I suspect we’ll see tight electorate races right across the country, which makes me think of Savage’s line: “How many dudes you know who got the skills to go in” - the answer is “not many, if any”.

*Disclaimer: When not working as a journalist, Justin Latif has previously volunteered for a range of political parties as well as supporting Fa'anana Efeso Collins during his run for mayor.