Hip Hop & Politics: Barack Obama's The Cool

In the past quarter century, Def Jam Recordings has been a weapon of mass projection. Founded in 1984 by Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons, the music label, owned by Universal Music Group, has launched a number of artists into the pop culture’s stratosphere from LL Cool J to Jay-Z to DMX. Hip hop gave a voice to the voiceless, a power to transcend race, gender and generations.

In 1999, Simmons, the so-called godfather of hip hop, sold his stake in the company for $100 million to develop the other arms of his corporation, Rush Communications, which included a management company, clothing line and anything else with Def on it. And of course you have his Hip Hop Summit Action Network, which is all about expanding the cultural relevance of hip hop music and empowering the youth through initiatives that encourage high quality public education and literacy, economic advancement and leadership development.

But also on the top of Simmons’ things-to-do list was “get the youth to vote.” It has been a focal point of his network since the beginning with him touring, talking and trying to inform the youth that they too have a voice. And that voice needs to be heard. It is a simple message, one that resonates in the realm of music as anybody with a beat and mouth believes they can and should rap nowadays. Myspace is littered with music pages of artists from all over claiming to be the next this or that or the first somebody you’ve never heard of.

But for years, that same authority hasn’t been as prominent during election seasons. There hasn’t been a clear cut method of driving people from the recording booth into the voting booth. Until now. But it had nothing to do with Russell Simmons or anyone else. The youth, it would seem, were just waiting for the right candidate. Scratch that. The youth were waiting for the buzz about the right candidate, in the tradition of so many hip hop fads. Presidential hopeful Barack Obama has done what no other candidate has done in history: He has made it "uncool" not to participate in the process. (Take note Lupe.)

Now, so and so from around the way might ask “who you got in the election?” just as easily as he would ask you your pick to win the NBA Finals (fyi, the Lakers got this year). The answers may not be the same. Rap legend Darryl McDaniels, D.M.C. of Run D.M.C. told the New York Observer that “he was thinking about backing Mrs. Clinton ‘because it’s gangsta. I ain’t doing what everybody else is doing.’” The hip hop intellectual himself Michael Eric Dyson is even going head to head with his wife over who should win. Will.i.am has been dropping celebrity heavy videos for months supporting the Chi-town Senator and Common gave him a shout out on his most recent album when he said “My raps ignite the people like Obama.” In this exceptional piece in The American Prospect, writer Latoya Peterson illustrates why Barack Obama is the “first hip-hop presidential candidate” in even broader terms:

Like hip-hop, Obama rose from long-shot hopeful to fierce contender. But it is more than just his political style that is rooted within hip-hop culture. Forget the money-cash-hoes bacchanal showing in an endless loop on MTV and BET. Ignore the thousand and one variations on "Superman" floating around YouTube. Hip-hop culture is a unifying force, a potent combination of entrepreneurship, community activism, creativity, and innovation that appeals to youth across the globe. Barack Obama is the hip-hop candidate, not because of his racial identity or his oratory skills, but because his policies and approach to politics demonstrate that he understands the needs and desires of the hip-hop community.

So with Barack Obama’s campaign standing for itself, where does that leave Russ? He’s still active. In January, he along with Deepak Chopra and Dr. Benjamin Chavis sent a letter to the candidates.(Check it out here.) And they responded.

And Sunday, Simmons endorsed Barack Obama after months of apparently going back and forth, given that he has done a lot of political work in New York and all. In the endorsement he wrote, "I have great respect for the accomplishments of Senator Clinton and I have personally worked with Senator Clinton successfully on issues concerning education, prison reform and poverty."

So on this day, another big Tuesday, Simmons does deserve props for his work, but more than that, the real champion is Obama for being the candidate with a voice that can transcend race, gender and generations. There is nothing more hip hop than that.

[See Russell Simmons' full statement here.]