How hip-hop fell out of love with Obama
Earlier this year, Killer Mike made quite a splash with his latest album, R.A.P. Music. Critics couldn't help but marvel at the unlikely pairing of Mike, with his distinctly southern credentials (and drawl to match), and New York producer EL-P, an underground figure known for his aggressive, frenetic sound. But it was one track in particular, Reagan, that really raised eyebrows. Although Mike's ostensible target in the song is former Republican President Ronald Reagan (Mike's not a huge fan – his final line is "I'm glad Reagan dead"
he also takes some unexpected shots at Barack Obama, at one point characterising him as "just another talking head telling lies on teleprompters". Elsewhere, he compares Obama's military policies to Reagan's.
We might be surprised to hear this kind of criticism of the man who, just a few years earlier, was declared "America's first hip-hop president" because of his deep ties to the genre. Was Killer Mike really attacking the man once dubbed "B-Rock" by Vibe magazine? The real surprise, however, is that the track Reagan is not an isolated rebuke but merely the most recent illustration of the deteriorating relationship between Obama and hip-hop. Killer Mike is just one voice in a growing chorus of dissent from within the rap world by artists who believe Obama has failed to take up the pressing issues facing black people in the US.
"Quite obviously, black America is in terrible crisis," says Tricia Rose, professor of Africana studies at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. "The racial and class dimensions of this crisis have simply been largely sidestepped by the Obama presidency and muted by black leadership, which seems largely frozen by the effect of not wanting to undermine the first black president."
The waning of the Obama/hip-hop love affair appears to be a two-way street, with Obama showing far less interest in the genre than he did in 2008. In fact, the distinction between his two presidential campaigns is stark.
Rewind to the first election. In the early stages of his campaign, then-senator Obama was making tentative overtures to hip-hop, noting in particular his appreciation of, and interest in, rap music. This was remarkable, in that he was flipping the script on two decades of campaign orthodoxy – followed by Democrats and Republicans alike – that hip-hop was politically radioactive. (In fact, the term "Sister Souljah moment" – used to describe when politicians distance themselves from extreme elements within their own party – has its origins in hip-hop: in 1992, Bill Clinton publicly repudiated rapper and activist Sister Souljah for her provocative comments after the Los Angeles riots.)
full: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/aug/23/why-hip-hop-deserting-obama
= new reply since forum marked as read
deep ties to the genre? I must have missed that. 
Yeah, so President Obama is human. A human who--against STAGGERING opposition--has managed to accomplish some pretty great things. I am so fucking sick and tired of people bitching about how Obama has let them down in one way or another. He is not a dictator. He was elected President of the entire United States. Christ on
a cracker, give him a break. At least I know that with Obama in the White House, the Supreme Court will be saved from a complete teabagger takeover, SS, Medicare, & Medicaid will be spared. Education not gutted, and on and on. Quit bitching and help the man out.
I'm pissed off
Diane
Anishinaabe in MI
