The hip-hop vote

Last week, the folks from the online local hip hop newsletter "Rock the Mic" had an interesting little feature, "Why the hip hop generation supports Obama." I chose not to blog about it then, because the election was still pending and I did not want to give the appearance of any bias. Now that it's over though, let's go in, shall we?

Without recapping it all -- read it for yourself here -- they asked people why they were voting for O. Responses including , "I'm voting for Obama because he seems to relate to the low-income, middle class communities more," or "I am not voting for Obama because he is black... I am a woman who is not in the upper class and I believe that the tax proposal will be beneficial for my family..." or "A lot of people are caught up in the hype pf "let's make history!" I'm more focused on who suits my generation better. I'm young, in college and juggling my job and my music." 

And there you have it. I've been astonished at some of the things I've heard people say with respect to why the hip hop generation overwhelmingly supported Obama.  

For example, at the Jay-show, during "Blue Magic," the rapper played footage of the Iran-Contra hearings and President Reagan juxtaposed against images of Africans suffering. I looked around at some of the people near me and saw clear disgust on their faces. I wondered how they felt about Jay-Z vocally supporting Obama. When my review of the show surfaced online, I didn't have to wonder anymore. At least one commenter was shocked that Jay-Z would vocally support O, and use part of his show as a treatise on socio-economics.  He said he liked Jay-Z's music, but was disappointed.

I was disappointed too. Jay-Z is hardly the first person to correlate Reganomics and inner-city poverty, and articulate a subsequent correlation between inner-city poverty, drugs and crime. That someone would not even attempt to understand that link -- even if you don't agree -- is troubling and perplexing, as it suggest to me that they're hearing him, but not listening. It suggests to me that people are just fine with hearing him talk about "balling" and champagne and ice, but the moment he and rappers like him probe social policy and the plight of people in the ghetto, it becomes too much to handle.

A lot of other people suggested that hip hoppers voted for Obama simply because he was black. Perhaps some did. But these people apparently missed the early discussions wherein black people openly questioned whether Obama was "black enough. (Whatever that means.) I can recall at least one BET special aimed at young people asking "What's in it for us?" I recall a LOT of Hillary loyalty, and a lot of work on O's part to win over these kids' vote. He did not get a free pass, especially from jaded hip hop kids who, in their view, had better things to do with their time.

What kills me is how people (sometimes justifiably) criticize the hip hop generation as vapid and unwilling to take responsibility for themselves or their community. Yet, when they band together actually try, they're torn down; people say entertainers' opinions don't matter or, suggest they aren't intelligent enough to form an opinion not based on color or peer pressure. That's a vicious, awful double standard, but of course, double standards are nothing new to this group indeed.

And besides, at the end of the day, this is all moot now anyway right?

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for following agreed-upon rules of civility. Comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its Web sites. Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the "Report Violation" link below the comment.