Lil Jon and the Tilted News Cycle

What I’m missing in my media feeds — and what I’d like to miss

5c Register and Vote single stamp, U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing. 1964. Source of image, which is in public domain, is U.S. National Postal Museum.

A celebrity who recently splashed into the news cycle about the U.S. presidential race also did something noteworthy a decade ago.

It was kind of a big deal, that 2014 story.

You might be guessing that I’m referring to a celebrity who did something wrong.

Nope.

This is something good that got left out of the news cycle. (Caveat here: This is not a partisan article. It’s only some personal observations about trends in the media.)

I want to tell you about the rapper Lil Jon, who had a renewed burst of fame in August 2024 due to a connection with one of the presidential campaigns. You may have read stories about how he performed his hit “Turn Down for What” at a big campaign event.

I didn’t know much about Lil Jon before this performance. I watched it to stay up on current affairs.

It sounded like Lil Jon said something else, not “turn down for what.” It sounded like “turn out for what.”

Yup, I checked it with the handy Otter transcription tool. Otter says “turn out for what.”

It took more Googling than it should have to confirm that, yes, that’s what Lil Jon…