The polarizing force of Barack Obama‘s impending nomination as the Democratic Party’s pick to be America’s next president continues to be felt within a few parts of the Hip Hop community. dead prez set things in motion this past weekend by performing in Denver, Co. during the Rock The Bells festival. The controversial group referred to this week’s Democratic National Convention as the “Demon-cratic National Convention” and urged listeners to remember “one man can’t change hundreds of years of corruption.” Sunday stic.man and M-1 took to the steps of the state capitol building before a series of protests occupied the streets of Denver, resulting in traffic stoppages and police barricades.
After the convention officially began Monday night, Spike Lee also weighed in on the Hip Hop community’s relationship with Sen. Obama. Lee was particularly critical of remarks DJ Chuck T made last week when calling Obama a traitor, and saying he “turned his back on everybody.”Lee referred to Chuck T‘s comment that “Obama is not black, [but] biracial” as crazy.
“The truth is, every African-American is biracial,”Lee tells the New York Daily News. “Go back far enough, and you’ll find the massah was in the slave quarters. You can’t be black and go to Harvard Law School? You can’t be black and be articulate?”
DJ Chuck T, who has taken to calling himself “the Malcolm X of Hip Hop” has yet to respond to Lee‘s remarks. Lee also found himself at odds with another member of the Hip Hop community in 2007, after 50 Cent responded to Lee‘s criticism of his lyrics and use of a bullet-proof vest. With more artists continuing to give both criticism and sometimes unsolicited support of Barack Obama, emcees and activists alike should have plenty to discuss between now and November’s election.
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