RAP AS A LEADING INDICATOR

It seems that America's rappers are paying more attention to the economy and politics than ever before suspected. This is not a big surprise. The street requires a keen understanding of economics. Here are some recent economic predictions made by some American stars.

Jay-Z predicted the recent crash of the dollar and rise of the Euro by flashing wads of blue 500 euros in his recent video, BLUE MAGIC. The album American Gangster came out in November 2007, just two months before the 2008 EUR/USD crash. In this song Jay-Z also gives a big thanks to Ronald Regan for helping him get leg up in the 1980's. I love it.

You already know what the business is
Unnecessary commissary, boy we live this shit.
Niggas Wanna bring the 80s back,
That’s okay with me, that’s where they made me at.

Can’t you tell that I came from the dope game
Blame Reagan for making me into a monster
Blame Oliver north and Iran-Contra
I ran contraband that they sponsored
Before this rhyming stuff we was in concert

Young Jeezy released the album The Recession on September 2nd 2008. In the next two weeks the markets horror show began in earnest. By mid December the world's economists finally wiped the vomit from their beards, and admitted it that we were in fact in a recession. Here is a Young Jeezy video from this album. It contains his recent economic analysis set to a beat.

Nappy Roots released a video featuring the breadlines of the 1930s called "sick and tired." They did this in 2003- on their critically acclaimed album Wooden Leather.

NERD shot a video on a FLAG draped trading floor at the recent market bottom while crooning, "sooner or later it all comes crashing down." The interesting thing is the market bounces back hard by the end of the video and everybody goes nuts. Now the signs of emerging bullishness are all around us.

Good rap makes good traders. When a solid rapper makes a economic "call", I listen. Rappers own their calls while economists hide behind committees and impenetrable jargon. You can keep your academics and quant-savants because when I want to know were we are going, I buy a rap CD.