South Park has returned with a bang this season, rolling out some episodes that are not only hilarious but, in true Trey Parker and Matt Stone fashion, are unafraid to go after some of the more divisive figures in pop culture with their satire (and no, I don't just mean Donald Trump, but there's a lot of that too). However, one of the more unexpected perks from the new batch of episodes that South Park has offered their fans this year is the continued use of hip-hop music as not only pleasant music-based interludes but, in some cases, critical plot points in each episode's respective story.
Last night, the series' latest offering aired on television and, to the surprise of some, the show's writers kept the ball rolling with the inclusion of rap music, but this time in an unprecedented way: the rapper wasn't the butt of the joke. Instead, Killer Mike of Run The Jewels lent his voice to a musical sequence that details the pain and suffering that seniors go through while living in a nursing home. The overall episode served as a scathing commentary on the current opioid crisis that is plaguing the U.S., eventually comparing living in that nursing home to being stuck in prison. If you're looking for someone to deliver politically-charged rhymes, there's no one better than Killer Mike. Check out some of his bars below.
"They put me here to die, left me angry and alone/For the crime of being old, they threw me in this nursing home," the RTJ star spits, bringing an unmistakable sense of gravitas to the proceedings. It further solidifies South Park as a show that has an ear for the kind of music that is grabbing the attention of most music enthusiasts these days. In the first episode of season 21, Kendrick Lamar's "Humble" got skewered by a man acting as one of those Amazon Echo-type home assistants, while in later episodes, Logic's suicide prevention themed song "1-800-273-8255" was spoofed by the character of Cartman. Who knows what the show has cooked up as its next hip-hop musical number, but let's hope they keep their creative hot streak going.