Check out this line from Michael Steele, in an interview with GQ, discussing the rap artists that he’s listened to over the years:
Who do you listen to?
I actually listen to a cross section, because I like to hear what the medium is saying, what the voice is.
But do you have a favorite?
P. Diddy I enjoy quite a bit.
Do you want to rethink that?
[laughs] I guess I’m sorta old-school that way. Remember, I came of age with the DJ and all this other stuff, so I’m also loving Grandmaster Flash, and that’s not hip-hop, but… Um, you know, I like Chuck D. And I always thought Snoop Dogg was–he just reminded me of the fellas back home. So I’ve always thoroughly enjoyed him.
This is not to say he is any kind of poser — maybe he does listen to those acts, and we should take him at his word.
But now take a look at his statement that he’s a big fan of Frank Sinatra and the other guys in the “Pack Rats”:
Who else?
I like Sinatra. I like old-school. You know, Bing Crosby, Sinatra, Dean Martin. Love Dean Martin. He was one of these guys who just didn’t give an F. He just didn’t. Life was a party, and you either want to party or you don’t. But yeah, I like those. I’m a big Pack Rat. I love the Pack Rats from the 1950s–Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra, those guys.
You mean the Rat Pack.
The Rat Pack, yeah.
So Steele doesn’t just sound like a middle-aged man trying to talk to his kids and failing to sound cool. He’s also trying to talk to his parents and failing to sound cool.