Jay Z: Obama's Election 'Renewed My Spirit For America'

It's old news that Jay Z and President Barack Obama are pals, but that won't stop writers from asking the rapper about his special relationship with the leader of the world's largest shut down government.

And that's a good thing: In a new Vanity Fair cover story, Jay Z says the election of a black man to the nation's highest office "renewed my spirit for America."

"It was like, Oh, wow, man, this whole thing about land of the free, home of the . . . it’s, like, real—it’s going to happen, everyone’s getting to participate in it," Jay told the magazine. "But growing up, if you had ever told a black person from the hood you can be president, they’d be like, I could never . . . If you had told me that as a kid, I’d be like, Are you out of your mind? How?”

Obama has figured prominently in Jay Z's work as of late, with direct references in songs like "Open Letter" and a remix of "B-tch Don't Kill My Vibe". There are also more references to the president on the rapper's latest album, "Magna Carta Holy Grail." The 43-year-old and wife Beyonce fundraised heavily for Obama during the 2008 election.

For more, head over to Vanity Fair.