On November 4th the history will be made in the United States. Either way this election goes the world will never be the same. There are more people talking politics and excited about voting than I’ve ever witnessed in my years. With all my conflicting views I decided to re-release March on Washington next week since Traffic records didn’t really move fast enough for me. I got to perform “Black President” a few nights ago with Skyzoo for the 1st time since we did the record. It was a great experience on stage just because of the energy and the message behind the record. The original song was metaphoric about feeling like a Black president so I decided to go deeper on the remix and give an opposing side to everyone’s joy about having an African-American in office. I got a little flack for this verse but let me break it down for y’all.
“I guess that I should be happy, Dr. King had a dream it’s lookin’ like its bout to happen/My grandmother would’ve been clappin/ if she lived to see it, I don’t have the same reaction, cause on one hand, I feel like we made it far/we not the monkeys and the coons that they say we are. We went from nigger to Negro we played our part/to racism on the low still the hate is hard.”
What I was saying right here is that for the generation before us that actually experienced segregation and the civil rights movement this election is something we may take for granted. I feel like we made it thru a lot of obstacles as African-Americans but I honestly start to think about striving for equality when we’re all humans that were supposedly born equal. Black folks will always have this chip on our shoulders and this feeling of inferiority that we have to catch up or that we’re being allowed another great opportunity. So I used my grandmother’s absolute happiness to contrast my feeling of achievement with a little bit of second thought. I cannot imagine what someone that wasn’t allowed to vote would feel like seeing someone of darker skin color in the White House. It’s not something I can identify with and I wouldn’t pretend to be able to.
“So it feels kinda good to be accepted/but Brother Malcolm felt good being separate.
And he ain’t get a holiday he got a death wish/so why are we so excited we got respect/ ‘cause Obama has a chance, to become the first African,
this is like the Oscars letting Denzel and Halle win/like Mr. Drummond took Arnold and Willis Jackson in, master let us clean up the kitchen and now we thankin’ him”
Sometimes I agree with Malcolm in a sense that there was nothing wrong with segregation and we should take our rights by any means necessary. But Martin seemed to be a human being that was evolved on a higher level that understood that he could bring everyone together and his message didn’t seem to totally contradict Malcolm’s as much as his methods did. On that note, being allowed to drink from the same fountain or use the same bathroom became a privilege like voting. A privilege that we should’ve been born with but under the rules of a country where we went from slaves to three-fifths of a person to now having the equal rights; we should now be happy that we have a chance to take the highest office in the land. Yeah its a big deal but is it worth celebrating? From my standpoint, we were killed, lynched, raped and enslaved because we were Black. And now plenty of us are running to the voting booths simply because the candidate that looks mostly like us is there. I don’t see it as wrong at all; it just makes one question…
“If God made us equal the real mystery/is how come a brown-skinned president is history? How come the thugs on the corner are talkin’ shit to me about the democratic convention/and rappers are mentioning politics more when before we ain’t give a damn/
A black man is black but he is still a man, I’m just a little confused, maybe this is a scam/ giving us a colored leader, USA got Jungle fever.”
Right here I start to drift off into the conspiracy theory that Obama has been placed here to pull the wool over our eyes. I have no proof of this nor do I want to believe it. But when elections get rigged and I can’t break down the electoral college and regular television has switched to a converter box it makes me think the government can do and will place whoever they want anywhere. Once you’re involved in politics you’re a politician and even though a black man may become president, he is still a man who can make mistakes even with all the good intentions and charisma in the world. This part of the verse sounds really like I’m playing Devil’s advocate. But what if Barack is the scapegoat for an upcoming depression or the diversion to the North American Union or on the flipside what if he makes life better for every individual whether ethnic or not? I can tell you I wouldn’t even have to know his policies to vote for him and a bunch of rappers and former non-voters are thinking like me. With that said I’ve gotten more emails and back and forth group text messages about the debates as if they were Giants games or a Hopkins fight and I’m not mad about it at all. It’s interesting what it takes to get people to pay attention to something. In my world Barack would’ve been ten times platinum. I just pray that his path is one closer to Dr. King who had a vision of a better world not just a better life for some.
“Naah I’m just tryin’ to get inside ya mental/real talk this event is still monumental,
And I support anybody that realizes when you/focus on parenting, governments hardly matter/Not movies, not TV, not videos or rappers/Joe Biden, Joe Budden not McCain not Palin/look Barack can’t raise ya kids, so stop actin’ like it’s somebody’s fault when ya son or daughter falls.”
When Jesse Jackson vowed to snatch Barack’s testicles or whatever he said it was childish and kind of stupid. Not just because of the actual immaturity of the words but because Senator Obama was talking about focusing on family values along with every issue going on with the economy and racial discrimination. That alone puts him in a category that to me rises above every policy or issue out there. And this is simply my opinion but it’s one thing to promise to drop taxes or allow healthcare for everyone but when an influential figure goes on TV and tells parents that education and grooming starts in the home and with all the factors that face our children today that the family is most important then I’m riding with him. I can’t say every decision a president of the United States makes will directly affect me but being an African-American I do think it’s important for our youths to have someone they can view as a leader and role model. Barack surpasses the race card and his age and wit make him not only likeable but powerful whether he gets into office or not.
Music is meant to express emotion and capture thoughts and feelings and again I am thankful to be given that opportunity. Cop March on Washington (Election Edition) and download Vs the World. Never or Now is still coming and I owe yall 3 more. Stay tuned. Oh and shout out to Donny Goines, Mickey Factz, Torae, Sky, Emilio, A Pinks and Esso for tearing it down at The Knitting Factory on Tuesday. Sorry I didn’t jump in the cipher and my apologies to anyone that came to see me rock at the CMJ event on the 21st at Public Assembly. Sometimes things don’t go as planned. Stay with me.
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