The Unknown Music: ‘Ronnies Rap’

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In the current political environment of the United States — with most people being offended by something or unhappy with something — it might be a good idea to look to Ron & The D.C. Crew’s, Ronnies Rap (released in 1986) for inspiration.

A poppy and upbeat song based on Ronald Reagan, if he was, um, a rapper. With shoutouts to his wife Nancy and George Bush, the “Big Gipper” has some things to say to the American people.

 I was going through my parent’s record collection recently, I came across a red and black vinyl cover that contained “Ronnie’s Rap.” Initially this didn’t spark my interest, but after looking through multiple records of Prince and Michael Jackson, I decided to listen this low-key looking vinyl. To my surprise, out came a rap song in the character of Ronald Reagan.

As the song begins, “Hail to the Chief” starts to play until in the background, but soon switches into the funky pop style sound of the 80’s. From scratching on the beat to bursts of presidential trumpet playing, this song sounds like it belongs in a time machine. With all of this in mind, the best word to describe this song is corny. Images of Reagan pointing and rapping to a camera while spitting his presidential bars remind me of a Weird Al Yankovic cover.     

In this song, Reagan throws shots at Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev in a comedic way.

“Met with Gorbachev in ’85 / To talk about how everyone could stay alive / And though he seemed to be a guy with class / If he doesn’t play ball, we’ll nuke his… country!”

Fully expecting the last line to end with “we’ll nuke his ass,” it was a funny twist when the lyric took an unexpected turn.

“Reagan” also describes a typical day in the White House, all while being the best rapper in D.C.

“Well, I get up in the morning, and I have some toast / And Nancy and I take a ride up the coast / I’ll sign a bill, then take a nap/ This is what I call my Presidential Rap!”

I’m not entirely sure what makes this so presidential, but I imagine this was his regular routine. 

Another striking aspect of this song was the chorus.

“I’m the Big Gipper, don’t mess with me / I’m the baddest rapper this side of D.C / With my best girl Nancy as my spouse / Rappin’ to you from that big White House.”

This being not far from what most rappers talk about in their songs, girls and how big their house is, Reagan is no exception. 

There is very little content to this song and it seems like it would be more of a comedy skit than an actual song played on the radio. I imagine this would be the type of song that Saturday Night Live would use for a humorous take on politics.

Another image that is displayed when the song is on is people at a disco-tech with a glowing floor doing the robot or someone working a DJ booth in the street with people breakdancing on some cardboard in front of them.

It’s hard to imagine a time when this song was popular, but I can see why people would like it. It’s very similar to political commentary that happens in today’s industry, especially when there are groups like The Lonely Island. This isn’t something that should be played every day or any day for that matter, but it’s a funny song nonetheless.