Obama References Lil' Wayne

As Karen notes below, Barack Obama crossed the pop culture/politics divide today by praising Lil' Wayne's rhyming ability at a campaign event in Powder Springs, Georgia. Before dismissing this development as trivia, consider that Lil' Wayne is both the most acclaimed rapper of 2008 and one of the biggest pop culture figures in the nation, with a song, Lollipop, that is #2 on the Billboard charts four months after its release and an album that sold 423,000 copies on its first day in stores. Add to this the fact that Weezy, as he sometimes calls himself, is perfectly willing to rap about politics, albeit crudely.

Take the lyrics of Lollipop, the aforementioned song which, if you have not yet heard on the radio, then your children certainly have. As is the habit of most modern Hip Hop, it is a song of sexual conquest, with Lil' Wayne boasting of his ability to attract women and enjoy their company. Not so interesting, you think? Check out this set of lyrical couplets.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[chronic]

'Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.



--------- Abraham Lincoln (attributed)

[UnbiasView]

A quick background on Lil Wayne, he dropped out at the age of 14 and later that year shot himself in the chest with a .44-caliber.

[cynara]

That was the point. Obama was pointing out that even though Lil Wayne may have dropped out and got rich. YOU (addressing high school students) will have a much better chance of making it if you stay in school.
Here is the quote:
"Maybe you are the next Lil Wayne, but probably not, in which case you need to stay in school."

[Bettysdad]

One of the worst things that has happened in the last 25 years is the legitimization of rap. Critics should have just called the first record they heard "garbage," and never gone back.

The other day I walked into a store that had "My Girl" on the system, and I wondered how did we get from that to rap. It's really sad.

[Ivatsol]

The fact that Rap is even on your list as one of the worst things to have happened in the last 25 years makes you an Idiot period. But for the sake of argument; some Rappers can come across crude at times I agree... but traditional painters have said and thought the same of Jackson Pollock's work.

So open your mind old dog.

[laborgrunt]

So Bettysdad, you would say that "legitimization" as you put it is in the same league of:
The Rwanda Genocide
Darfur Genocide
Sept. 11th Attacks
Iraq War
Kosovo ethnic Cleansing
Loss of Millions of American manufacturing jobs
The Backstreet Boys
Ronald Reagan
George Bush
1st Palestinian Intifada
Somali Famine
2nd Palestinian Intifada
Milli Vanilli
Fox News Channel
Right Wing Radio
and a whole host of other things?
Gimme a break

[305Rider]

Unfortunately you have been subjected to what corporate America thinks is rap. Try digging a little deep, you'll find actual Rap & Hip-Hop, not the trash that is on mainstream radio.

[uheardme]

How did we go from Zeppelin to some of the grunge or deathmetal crap we have to listen to?

[Seven7s]

Get over it old man!

I'M STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON !

[chronic]

This is lil waynes current hit. You all may have heard it somewhere but didn't know who the artist was.



http://youtube.com/watch?v=JIG1Vr0h_aE

[laborgrunt]

The Carter III is lame as hell. But the Carter II was WAY better.

[leftoflennon]

Not a real fan of Weezi

but

Lollipop is AWESOME :D

[chronic]

Is this worth a headline?


WTF Huffpo???

[harriscrl3]

They are going down the drain arent they?

Carol

[econdr]

yikes...

everyone knows lil wayne is the third rail of politics...

[eXcommunicate]

Who cares?

[thinklib]

Someone needs to tell Obama that unless he's coming out swinging AGAINST rap and the harm it's done to the black community and society in general, he needs to stay away from the whole subject.

Political poison.

[mypov123]

Yes, exactly....I wouldn't give a compliment to any rapper unless it was MC Hammer LOL, because he never used profanity. If you're going to talk about rappers, MC Hammer is the safest way to go if you're a politician.

[laborgrunt]

WOW you really know nothing about Hip Hop if you have to reach as far back as MC Hammer to make a point.

[mypov123]

And it certainly won't help with the 'women vote'...

[mypov123]

Never mind, someone posted below what he REALLY said regarding Lil' Wayne. I hate the MSM for twisting things to make Obama look bad....that's why I get my news from the 'net primarily now.

[Rockwell]

I'm the same age as Obama, but I've never heard of Lil Wayne. Never got interested in Rap. Guess that makes me an old fart.

[MemphisBuffalo]

Who?

[LuvDaH8ters]

For those who do not know Lil Wayne, this is a song he did about George Bush, i think you might enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_-6olLlsAU

[mybelovedcountry]

"no matter how well you think you can rap stay in school cos you will not be the next lil wayne"...

[305Rider]

The question is, does anybody want to be the next Lil'Wayne?

[MemphisBuffalo]

I want to be Big Wayne or better Big Wang!

[GerryS]

Y'all. don't diss lil wayne, he'll come and pop a c@p in youse sideways

[laborgrunt]

bahahahah, a foolish comment, but funny nonetheless.

[TchoupitoulasCanal]

And this is why I laugh everytime the mainstream media has to "interpret" urban culture to the masses. The writer of this article is definitely not the poster boy for urban culture, and his attempt to try to sound like he's in the know is comical. My guess is he still thinks Ice-T and Ice Cube are what you put together in a glass before the lemonade to make an Arnold Palmer.

From Faux trying to explain what a fist pound was (by calling it the 'the terrorist fist jab') to trying to sound hip by calling Michelle Obama Barack's 'Baby Mama' (which doesn't quite work since the reference is to an unwed mother, which she obviously is not) to Anderson Cooper's "Boo" blunder (cute, but still not even close) to this, it just makes me laugh because it makes all these reporters look like morons who are trying way too hard to understand a culture and lifestyle that they shunned for decades. Now that it is worthwhile for them to engage in this kind of dialogue they're stuck using ridiculous references that make them sound like they need to pick up the latest copy of "Hooked on Phonics".