While the latest controversy involving Ludacris and presidential hopeful Barack Obama continues to be debated amongst pundits and news papers, many in Hip Hop and the black community have brushed the dirt off their shoulders.
In a recent report by the Associated Press, “Cousin” Jeff Johnson and conservative professor John McWhorter, author of “All About the Beat: Why Hip-Hop Can’t Save Black America” weighed in on the issue.
While “Politics As Usual” stirred some ire, many are calling Obama’s dismissal of the song little more than politics as usual.
McWhorter: “Of course, Obama and his people have to condemn the rap, because it does say some vulgar things. If you’re running for president, you’re supposed to be an upstanding individual.”
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Johnson: “Hip-hoppers and black folks understand the game. They’re thinking, ‘An Obama who knows how to play the game is still better for me than a McCain.’
“There are a ton of people who clearly are looking for (Obama) to denounce this in order to continue to view him as credible. He, for political purposes, has to separate himself from anything controversially black.”
“I’m not aware of hip-hop music [sic] affecting any election so far, and I don’t think that this is going to be one, either,”McWhorter added.
With voter registration drives occurring all over the country, including one spearheaded by the Obama campaign, record participation from young and black voters could tip the scales in Obama’s favor in a number of southern, typically Republican leaning states.
