 | Pop Politcs By. Alexandria Lloyd |
Obama supporters feel their interests are better expressed with a nice beat and a catchy hook.
As Barack Obama and John McCain duke it out for vote’s nationwide, popularity and celebrity supporters are becoming deciding factors in the upcoming presidential campaign. Since his bid for the presidency in early 2007, Obama has managed to gain an impressive list of major players in the Hip Hop circle along with other Pop-Culture icons. McCain on the other hand hasn’t had as much luck.
This year, Will.I.Am of the group Black Eyed Peas produced the celebrity laden music video “Yes We Can,” featuring heavy hitters in the music biz such as Common and John Legend and even faces from the big screen such as Scarlett Johansson and Nick Cannon just to name a few.
Sean Combs, aka Diddy, a known advocate for mobilizing urban youth for votes beginning with the 2004 “Vote or Die” campaign, expressed his support this past month upon Obama’s nomination: “Today is one of the greatest and proudest moments of my life, not just as a Black man, but as an American. Senator Obama becoming the Democratic nominee for president is history in the making and proof that we do live in the greatest country in the world!”
Bakari Kitwana, author of “The Hip Hop Generation,” headed the third annual national discussion tour, “Rap Sessions” earlier this year which worked to encourage enthusiasm in young voters: “The 2008 Presidential Election is the most important election of this generation’s lifetime. The goal of these gatherings is to educate youth on their civic rights and responsibilities, and, equally important, to help young voters understand ways to place their issues on the national agenda.”
Rapper 50 Cent, an initial Hillary Clinton supporter, talked about his change of heart after listening to Obama speak, likening his leadership with the late Malcolm X
Hip Hop veteran Nas raps about his hopes and doubts for Obama in “Black President,” a track inspired by DJ Green Latern’s Barack Obama Mixtape. In an interview, Nas talked to MTV news about his concerns over police brutality and overall systematic corruption that had never been addressed by previous presidents: “I'm five presidents in ... and I ain't seen nothing happen to stop the police murders on young, black people. Why would I believe in the system? With that being said, I think Barack can cure that disease and help cure the country. Not just in that area with us blacks, but also with all Americans. Women are getting treated like dogs. You know how hard it is for a woman to prove she was raped? The system is warped.”
That doesn’t mean everyone feels like Obama is capable of fixing over 300 years of Europeanized systematic corruption. Rapper Young Jeezy, who donned a F*ck Bush T-shirt onstage at last months Hot 97 Summer Jam, says “It's a hard job for any one person to fix the country. It's a lot of people. I can't make everybody happy in my family. I know damn well can't nobody make everybody happy in the country. You gotta deal with too many issues."
The campaign trail isn’t even close to being over, however- you, along with Diddy, 50, Jeezy, and the rest of them shouldn’t forget how the Electoral College loves to disenfranchise voters…specifically of the darker persuasion, and even when a candidate doesn’t win (as we’ve witnessed in the 2004 election) he still wins. We have high hopes for a Black president to change the system, but first we have to get passed the system to elect a Black president. Who knows what glitches will arise on election night? One thing is for sure, there is absolutely NO chance of Bush being re-elected….or is there?
