Whoever Said That Artists Shouldn't Pay Attention

Growing Up, Politics Never Trickled Down To The Areas We Come From. But People From Obama's Camp, And Obama Himself, Reached Out To Me And Asked For My Help On The Campaign. We've Sat And Had Dinner, And We've Spoken On The Phone. He's A Very Sharp Guy. Very Charming. Very Cool.

We Were Kids Without Fathers, So We Found Our Fathers On Wax And On The Streets And In History, And In A Way, That Was A Gift. We Got To Pick And Choose The Ancestors Who Would Inspire The World We Were Going To Make For Ourselves.

Which Is The Other Reason Hip-hop Is Controversial: People Don't Bother Trying To Get It. The Problem Isn't In The Rap Or The Rapper Or The Culture. The Problem Is That So Many People Don't Even Know How To Listen To The Music.

Electing A Black Man Named Barack Obama President In The Same Country That Elected George W. Bush - Twice! - Is As Far-fetched As A Hustler From Marcy Performing At That President's Inauguration. But It Happened.

When People Say Stuff Like, "oh, That's Soft Rock. I Don't Listen To That," I Find That Elitist. It's Music-racist.