As the debate over what President-elect Barack Obama will or will not do rages on, some are shifting the conversation to what changes—if any—the Hip Hop generation will make post November 4.
A recent article in the Chicago Tribune highlights Obama’s sometimes shaky relationship with the culture.
Obama, who graduated high school in 1979 has admitted to listening to some Hip Hop, but is sometimes troubled with the messages in the music.
“There are times, even on the artists I’ve named, the artists that I love, that there is a message that’s sometimes degrading to women, uses the ‘n’ word a little too frequently,”Obama told BET after citing Kanye West, Jay-Z and Common among some of his favorite artists. “But also something that I’m really concerned about is [they’re] always talking about material things, about how I can get something; more money, more cars.”
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Rev. Al Shaprton, a frequent critic of Hip Hop believes that the Obama victory will “force” Hip Hop artists to behave better. Sharpton predicts that the Obama administration will force a decline in the more violent and misogynistic elements of the culture. “You can’t be using the ‘b’ word, the ‘n’ word, the ‘h’ word when you have Barack Obama redefining overnight the image that black people want to have,” Sharpton says. “Here’s the greatest political victory in the history of black America, and the thug rappers can’t come near it. They will have to change or become irrelevant.”
While an Obama administration may have a minimal effect on Hip Hop lyrics, it’s important to that artists like Common, Kanye West and Lupe Fiasco have found success straying from the perceived status quo that says negativity is the only way to get on.
Russell Simmons disagrees with Sharpton’s assessment saying that “Young people will use their language the way they want. If it’s in their heart, they will express it.”
