Barack Obama Gets Major Love From Hip-Hop

As the presidential candidate rides high with a recent Vibe cover story that dubbed him "B-Rock," Sen. Barack Obama (D-Illinois) is getting major love from the hip-hop world, including name drops in singles. On Common's single, "The People," the liberal Democratic politician gets a shout out when the Chicago-born rapper says, "My raps ignite the people like Obama." In the video, an "Obama '08" bumper sticker is flashed during the line. According to Common, Sen. Obama represents what hip-hop is all about. "He's fresh, you know, he's got good style," Common, who attends the same church as Sen. Obama, said to CNN. "As far as people in my age group and people that love hip-hop, there's a love for Obama. He represents progress. He represents what hip-hop is about. Hip-hop is about progress, the struggle."

It's not just black American artists who support Sen. Obama. Jin, an Asian American hip hopper, has a song titled "Open Letter 2 Obama" that's garnered more than 320,000 hits on his official MySpace page. According to CNN, Jin's song is so popular that the Obama campaign is offering it as a free cell phone ringtone on its Web site, and Sen. Obama was introduced with the song before his speech to the College Democrats National Convention in South Carolina lasts month.

But what is it about the senator that is attracting the hip-hop generation? Talib Kweli - who raps "speak to the people like Obama" in his new cut, "Say Something" - said Sen. Obama's name alone is perfect for adding into a rhyme. More than anything his name is a nugget of lyrical gold," the rapper told CNN. "Obama rhymes with a lot of things." Besides his name, said Mr. Kweli, he can relate more to him than anyone else. "His youth, his being black, the way that he speaks, the way that he lays out his point of view," Mr. Kweli explained. "It's someone who looks more like you. I don't mean black, but I mean the young thing. And his name is Barack Obama. This country is become more and more multicultural."

Only time will tell if the support from hip-hop will give Sen. Obama a boost if he were to win the nomination, or if it will hurt him -- if his opponents try to his it against him.

My response: Despite what these on-the-margins, socially conscious rappers claim, hip hop's hit songs show that hip hop is centrally about the chest-thumping struggle over who can do the most crimes, drink the most, and get the most "b__s and hos." I wonder if some of the name drops (e.g. Common's video) qualify as a political endorsement, which television and radio entities must then regulate? As long as guys like Talib Kweli and Common are name dropping him, then it won't hurt Obama. If the likes of 50 Cent and Ludacris do so, there could be image problems to exploit.