Alvin Greene is on the Scene

July 26, 2010 7:11 PM

"When I say Alvin, you say Greene." - So begins a promotional rap video^* endorsing United States Senate candidate Alvin Greene (previously).
* - Link to Countdown segment on MSNBC that includes the video

Originally credited to Greene himself by media outlets, the rap is the work of musician Jay Friedman (Satellite High, Free Albums: 1, 2, 3). After denying involvement, Greene endorsed the video, saying "It sounds good. Make sure everybody hears it."

Following a DMCA request by Frank Strategies, The original video has been taken down by YouTube.

posted by ODiV (46 comments total)

ALVIN!
posted by nathancaswell at 7:14 PM on July 26, 2010 [4 favorites]

Greene!
posted by birdherder at 7:15 PM on July 26, 2010 [3 favorites]

Thank you sir.
posted by nathancaswell at 7:17 PM on July 26, 2010 [5 favorites]

Man - this ranks up there with "Let's Talk about Jesse" by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five!

text of lyrics (no youtube clip of the track, alas)
posted by symbioid at 7:18 PM on July 26, 2010

I'm rappin'! I'm rappin'! I'm rap-rap-rappin'!
posted by unSane at 7:20 PM on July 26, 2010 [3 favorites]

From the last link:

The video is freely available on the firm's own YouTube page. [...] [Frank Strategies] requested the video's removal because his business involves licensing original footage, including the pictures shot at the Tea Party rally.

*facepalm*
posted by axiom at 7:25 PM on July 26, 2010

There was a republican in FLA (I think) about a month ago who hired his son or nephew or something to make a rap video. It was far, far worse than this one.
posted by dobbs at 7:26 PM on July 26, 2010

There was a republican in FLA (I think) about a month ago who hired his son or nephew or something to make a rap video. It was far, far worse than this one.

For your viewing pleasure.
posted by lalex at 7:31 PM on July 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

I would love to know the real story behind this Greene guy, and it better not be that he got through the primaries just because the idiots in South Carolina thought he was the Reverend.
posted by crunchland at 7:34 PM on July 26, 2010

For your viewing pleasure.

Man, that was sad. For future reference, ham-handed political ad makers, if you have a female dancer doing your jersey-popping, it mostly just looks like they're trying to shove their breasts toward the camera.
posted by axiom at 7:36 PM on July 26, 2010

That reminds me of Michael Steele's Hip-hop hippity hop photo shoot with interns.
posted by munchingzombie at 7:40 PM on July 26, 2010

For your viewing pleasure.

Mike, Mike, Mike. There's Papyrus on the banner behind the stage. Just... dude. Dismiss the font geek vote a your peril.
posted by Devils Rancher at 7:45 PM on July 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

It's straight from the Youtube!
posted by roll truck roll at 7:59 PM on July 26, 2010 [2 favorites]

It's straight from the alternate universe where autotune was invented in 1982.
posted by not_on_display at 8:03 PM on July 26, 2010 [3 favorites]

My favorite part about this whole Alvin Greene debacle is that the best case scenario - that is, the case in which there is no voter fraud (unlikely, I think) - is a little mix of extreme voter apathy and ignorance. At best, someone who voted for Alvin Greene can say he or she voted for him because they were lazy and didn't care, they simply picked the first name. Or, even better, they can say, "Wait, you mean that wasn't the guy who sang 'Belle'?"

Because, if I could, I would vote for Al Green in every single election held anywhere in America.
posted by fryman at 8:06 PM on July 26, 2010

Oh that's so unfair, now that MSNBC has thrown down the gauntlet challenging Demint to come up with his rap video, Demint is going to look like an asshole if he doesn't respond.

what? he already does? O sorry never mind.
posted by not_on_display at 8:07 PM on July 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

Here's another copy on YouTube (for now).
posted by ODiV at 8:08 PM on July 26, 2010

Don't forget this classic from Louisiana: Halle ... Halle Berry (he's the son of a legislator, IIRC)
posted by symbioid at 8:11 PM on July 26, 2010

Alvin Greene is a mystery wrapped in an enigma.
posted by five fresh fish at 8:23 PM on July 26, 2010

It's straight from the Youtube!

MSNBC apparently doesn't have a single summer intern who knows what a mashup is, either.
posted by gompa at 8:24 PM on July 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

Did they ever figure out who paid Alvin's $10,000 filing fee?
posted by Brian B. at 8:28 PM on July 26, 2010

Did they ever figure out who paid Alvin's $10,000 filing fee?

Last I read, so far as anyone can tell, he really did pay it with his own money.
posted by Devils Rancher at 8:32 PM on July 26, 2010

this would make a good rickroll.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 8:33 PM on July 26, 2010

So glad someone posted this.
posted by hermitosis at 8:34 PM on July 26, 2010

It is no mystery why Alvin Green won the nomination. South Carolina has open primaries. The GOP race is a given. Many South Carolina Republicans voted in the Democratic primary for the weaker of the two candidates, to give their guy the easiest run-up to November. This is standard Southern politics. I'm a registered Democrat who has voted in GOP primaries for the same reason: my guy's a lock, so I'll go vote for Frothington McCrazyPants so my guy will be more likely to get the swing voters in the fall.

Or Green's a GOP plant from the get-go. I wouldn't put it past them.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 8:36 PM on July 26, 2010 [2 favorites]

There was a republican in FLA (I think) about a month ago who hired his son or nephew or something to make a rap video. It was far, far worse than this one.

Trust me on this one. TRQ is the worst Republican rapper. Unfortunately, all YouTube or mp3s of him seem to be purged from the Internet, because otherwise I would win this contest hands down.
posted by jonp72 at 8:42 PM on July 26, 2010

Carly Fiorina spend millions of her own money to win a republican primary in California. She only has a slightly better chance to win since I still think Alvin could win if Jim DeMint turns out to be a pedophile who once raised taxes.
posted by treeshar at 8:46 PM on July 26, 2010

Wait, so Frank Strategies is a teabagging media firm and they have used the DCMA to get YT to down non-profit non-permission Democratic campaign materials? Did I miss something? Because I'm pretty sure that's actually the worst-case scenario about the DCMA. Am I a retard? Did I sleep though something?
posted by mwhybark at 9:14 PM on July 26, 2010

big frownie.
posted by mwhybark at 9:14 PM on July 26, 2010

You know, I heard somebody on the internet say that Jim DeMint was a tax-raising pedophile. Is that true?
posted by BitterOldPunk at 9:20 PM on July 26, 2010 [2 favorites]

Alvin Green is a bit too shy to be entertaining. Therefore, feast upon the amazing candidacy of Basil Marceaux, the next governor of Tennessee.
posted by zardoz at 9:45 PM on July 26, 2010 [3 favorites]

They don't show it in the Countdown clip, presumably because the NBA has a legitimate copyright claim, but the original video had about a twenty second section at the end where they alternated between clips of Lebron James just dunking over poor assholes' heads and leaping 30 feet and so on, with clips of Alvin Greene just looking like he is having extreme difficulty just breathing and keeping his basal metabolic functions churning along. It was beautiful
posted by cobra_high_tigers at 9:55 PM on July 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

Oh man, that Basil Marceaux video is fantastic. I was hoping that the clip would include a cut back to the newscasters to see if they had managed to keep straight faces while his video ran.
posted by dammitjim at 10:00 PM on July 26, 2010

Oh dear. The Justice cover. Took me a second.
posted by avocet at 10:06 PM on July 26, 2010

You know, I heard somebody on the internet say that Jim DeMint was a tax-raising pedophile. Is that true?

He hasn't officially denied it...
posted by Hal Mumkin at 11:48 PM on July 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

Mike Weinstein looks exactly like George Bluth.
posted by breath at 11:58 PM on July 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

In a country that instills in its youngsters the belief that anyone can become president, I'm always surprised that there aren't more insaniacs/"normal" people/non-Ivy League, East Coast, [insert your fave elite here] moving up the political ranks. I suppose that cash is the biggest hurdle (Meg Whitman should have Jay-Z and Bono doing a YT vid for her if this was the logic, right?) and if I knew more about the history of state level politics, perhaps these guys aren't such an aberration. Yet it does appear to outsiders that the Palin breakthrough has emboldened a whole swath of folks to try their hand at this here politics thing. GOP plants? Populist heroes in troubled times? Or simply a belief in what they were repeated told as kids?

Whatever the reason, and whether it's historically anomalous or not, thank the infinite universe that The YouTube and other self-publishing tools now exist to help the dream.
posted by Chichibio at 1:10 AM on July 27, 2010

"...they were repeatedly told...", yeah.
posted by Chichibio at 1:40 AM on July 27, 2010

Media covers Greene most among 2010 candidates

Is the media just credulous, or is Green perhaps unexpectedly canny?
posted by Devils Rancher at 4:48 AM on July 27, 2010

Is the media just credulous, or is Green perhaps unexpectedly canny?

The media are bored (it's summer, little is happening), DeMint is a lock to win, Greene comes off as a lucky eccentric who's fun to speculate about. For him, canny is at best a stretch.
posted by kittyprecious at 5:20 AM on July 27, 2010

Greene is getting coverage because he's like a runaway train: everyone knows it's going to end badly but nobody seems to be able to stop it.

All the possible outcomes -- he's defeated, he wins, or he somehow implodes in another way -- are unpleasant. All for Greene, some for his constituents.
posted by unSane at 8:58 AM on July 27, 2010

I'm still rather perplexed that no one has really explained how he won the nomination. I've read speculation that it was cross-over votes, that dumb voters picked the first person on the list, or that black voters all voted for the black guy, but I haven't seen any actual analysis or data to confirm or "refudiate" any of these theories. Has anyone else?
posted by Mental Wimp at 9:34 AM on July 27, 2010

There was a republican in FLA (I think) about a month ago who hired his son or nephew or something to make a rap video.

And, if running for political office, hope and pray that family members are on your side.

'Do Not Vote For My Dad': John Mantooth Daughter Jan Schill Campaigns AGAINST Oklahoma Judicial Bid.

www.donotvoteformydad.com

posted by ericb at 9:50 AM on July 27, 2010

It's somewhat, somewhat like, somewhat like a mini-mall.
posted by not_on_display at 12:20 PM on July 27, 2010 [3 favorites]

I wish Wesley Willis was still alive so he could be Alvin Greene's campaign manager.
posted by baxter_ilion at 1:06 PM on July 27, 2010

For those who are confused as to what this is all about, this thread and this thread offer good encapsulations of what's gone down so far. There's still a lot of controversy over what the hell is going on down there, and it's not likely to end anytime soon.
posted by chaff at 12:23 AM on July 28, 2010 [1 favorite]