Atlanta Journal Constitution | Gawker
Yo, yo, everybody listen up: you’re about to get an infusion of electoral knowledge, East Coast style. This reporter’s colleagues call him Rap Master Malloy, and he’s bringing you election news with a Wu-Tang beat.
That’s right — Daniel Malloy, the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s Washington correspondent, who’s known alternatively as MC Malloy, took some time last night to record his second political rap in 2014. The track dropped today, to the amusement of Malloy’s colleagues and not a little bit of snark from the Internet.
This is embarrassing: http://t.co/oFI3yTXuvq
— Dylan Byers (@DylanByers) July 22, 2014
In a post, Gawker writer Hamilton Nolan declared “there is absolutely no reason for this to exist.” Malloy tweeted the article, declaring “this is truly the highest honor.”
The rap, which exhorts Malloy’s readers — or fans — to go vote, details some anecdotes from his campaign coverage.
“Yo, wake up Georgia, it’s election day.
Put in Malloy rap volume two, press play.Get out and vote so your voice becomes a yell,
’cause runoff turnout gunna be low as hell.”
The song was recorded on Malloy’s iPhone in his Atlanta hotel room (it took about 20 takes), and cut together using Videolicious. No expensive swag for this music video — he just put on the sunglasses he had with him at the time.
“I guess I could have gone and got a giant clock like Flavor Flav or something like that,” he said.
Malloy’s hip-hop escapades began in May, when he joked to his colleagues that he could write a rap for the primary elections. He said a few lines and was encouraged to write more, so he did.
He takes the criticism in stride because he does the rapping for fun, not to inspire “legions of young Kanye fans to hit the ballot box.”
Tuesday’s rap has generated a lot of Web traffic, Malloy said. As of 2:30 p.m. it was the second most popular video on the AJC’s website, trailing behind a video of University of Georgia’s football recruiting, he said.
Despite the traction he’s gotten online, Malloy has responded to the critics — and the haters — by assuring them his journalism isn’t going anywhere.
“No, I’m not quitting my day job,” Malloy said. “This is not my future, professionally.”
Here’s the track:
Note: The original version of this story incorrectly identified Malloy’s rap video as the second most popular item on the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s website. In fact, it was the second most popular video.
