French Socialist presidential candidate François Hollande — who is projected to knock off incumbent (and is leading after the first vote) Nicolas Sarkozy is absolutely dripping with confidence. He has found a way to connect with the French youth, and with me. he enlisted Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “Ni**as In Paris” for his latest campaign ad, and it is awesome.
The song backgrounds footage that shows Hollande campaigning in the outer Parisian suburbs among people of various ethnic backgrounds, as they hold up their voter registration cards. And Slate helpfully points out: “Creil,” one of the suburbs Hollande campaigns in during the ad, is pronounced “cray” as in, “That sh*t Creil.”
Despite the perhaps questionable song choice, Hollande’s general play is a smart one — Sarkozy has a lousy history with the outer regions of the Paris metro area, where a high percentage of racial minority and immigrant populations live. The next round of voting is May 6.
via TDW
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