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When news broke this week that the mayor of Taipei, Taiwan, Ko Wen-je had dropped a rap song, I could not run to the internet fast enough. Sure, there was a good chance it was going to be a train wreck, but that's about 50% of the internet, no?
Well, it wasn't. The 59-year-old former trauma surgeon, who teamed up with one of Taiwan's top rappers, did not disappoint. It's good and so is he. I want more!
Watching his video got me thinking. Are there other singing mayors out there? Past or present? Oh, there are. Many.
I started here at home and .. ugh ... I wish I hadn't. Some things cannot be unseen.
Here, this will help flush that out of your head:
Some, like St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter have gone the satirical route. This is actually pretty good and creative. It's from MinnRoast 2018, which is the online newspaper's "annual song-and-skit variety show featuring local politicians, journalists and celebrities."
But it isn't just big-city mayors doing their thing in the Land of 10,000 Lakes (fun fact: there are actually 12,000). These nine suburban mayors would not be denied. From 2017's MinnRoast:
I think I need to get a ticket to MinnRoast 2019. Seems like a lot more fun than the White House Correspondents Dinner. Road trip!!
Digging deep into the archives of YouTube uncovered more gems. Take this one from former Honolulu mayor and resident giant (he's 6'7") Mufi Hannemann.
Mayor Anthony Wooden of Tadian, Mountain Province in the Philippines jumped in on the action. He has a good voice, but the graphics steal the show. They. Are. Amazing. The "crowd" could use a little jolt of caffeine, but it doesn't seem to bother hizzoner -- ever the true musical pro. Look at how coolly he walks off the stage at the end. Sipping his beverage like a boss.
Also from the Philippines is former Tanauan Mayor Thony Halili. Judging from all the video clips, he sang often. Pretty much anywhere and everywhere. In a cruel twist, he was assassinated this summer while, you guessed it, singing. The national anthem. Don't worry, while a clip of that incident is online, this isn't it.
I had no idea searching for singing mayors would be such a rabbit hole nor that it would be so enjoyable. And really, much less musically painful than I expected. If you still haven't gotten your fix, there's more here.
In the meantime, I leave you with this question: If your mayor suddenly decided to sing, what one song would you want to see them perform?
I'm taking a hard pass on a Bill de Blasio encore, but maybe another round of this:
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