First, a statement of the obvious and a reminder to some. Hip-Hop is an African American culture. Just because there are many whites doing this nowadays, particularly on the underground level (myself included), hasn't changed that and never will. With that said, I can get into the point of this post.

Barack Obama from what it seems doesn't have much interest in getting invovled with Hip-Hop or Rappers. Just because he's black, doesn't mean he has to. Keep in mind, Barack is in his 50's and while he clearly follows Popular culture (sighting his "Dirt off My Shoulder" moves during the Primaries) that doesn't mean he grew up with it. In all likelyhood he did not.

A black man is President of the United States, if he accomplishes nothing over the next 4-8 years, he has changed the perception of what blacks in America can accomplish and how they are seen around the world. More importantly, he will undoubtedly change the way young African Amercians see themselves forever.

Even this soon after the election it's almost laughable that most blacks in this country have largely had only athletes and rappers to look toward for inspiration over the last 20-30 years. While that pool has produced some great men and women, it's a very narrow pool to draw upon and has produced some poison as well. In recent years, African Amercians seemingly have been looking for more, the Entrepenour has been tossed about as a goal, but the result is a worship of the Almighty dollar inside Inner City communities of color. Gone were cultural advancements that have seen many an inpoverished society through, it was replaced by a quest for money and money alone.

This lead (in part) to the spread of a celebration of drug sales in the 90's and that activity growing into popular culture including Hip-Hop. The logical end to all of this is what you saw in the late 90's and through most of the 00's which was the end result of being a drug dealer. Cars, jewerly, masogony.

I mention the roots of what we're seeing now as a reminder, I think it's lost on people, particularly the young. The connection to drug sales has been lost and now most young people (or ignorant people) just see Rappers as partaking in luxaries and are told that they earned this money by working hard in the music industry. That's a half truth. Firstly, some turned drug money into music money and secondly others have made a living off of rapping about things they've never done, influencing others to do it instead.

Now that I've set up that background, I will move to my main point before this ends up mistaken for a Stanley Crouch editorial.

Perhaps I'm being nieve, or just seeing what I want to see, but I think that Inner City youth having a Black man as President will change everything for minorities in this country. I think it will also change White America to turn on the TV nightly and see a Black man in charge. It could lead to further acceptance of Blacks as bosses and as management over whites in places of work. Even though he's been elected already, I think these factors will hit hard and fast over the first 6-12 months of his Presidency.

The way this relates to Hip-Hop is that I find it hard to believe that all these rappers that make a living off of exploiting the lowest common denomonator in society can keep doing what their doing under the current conditions around them. It's hard to make the case that all there is for Black America is what's in Rap videos on BET now. Once that myth is broken, so is the credibility of that form of Hip-Hop. As with all things, believabilty is everything. The reason that I and others don't listen to shitty music like that is because we think it's bullshit, literally. Those that don't, that believe in that lifestyle, don't. But how can they continue to buy that scene now?

Intellectually, I fully understand that Barack is part of the Democratic machinery and if Bush wasn't so hated that this would have never happened. But that doesn't really matter, it's moot, because one of the most important mottos to me rings true here, "Perseption is Reality".

I've noticed, almost since November a dramatic shift in Hip-Hop. When I sign into Itunes and Emusic the pushed Hip-Hop records are by people like Kanye West, Common, The Cool Kids and other similar groups. While I'm not a fan of any of those artists personally (no offense), they present a dramatic shift from the "Dirty South" and "Thuggo New York" genres that have dominated the airwaves since about 2000. Even records from Lil Wayne and T.I. are being pushed differently. They are being pushed by publicists and interpted by press as being larger then the ideas that they largely represent lyically.

Is this new shift for the better musically? That's up for debate among music listeners and is pointless in the grand scheme of things. For the purpose of this cultural conversation, the fact that there seems to be a change at all, is the point. Especially considering that Hip-Hop in the mainstream has essentially been stuck on the same song since around 1999 or 2000.

Something has happened and the only logical explanation is Obama's election. Obama's election got many disenfranchised Blacks involved. Whether any of those people stay involved or not, their train of though has forever been changed. Their context and point of view in and of America forever different.

I have a Bodega on my corner near the crib. Typcially, they would always have obnoxious Reggaeton music blasting all day everyday. It was like being in a nightclub. I always questioned to myself how these guys could listen to this shit all day, but it seemed they would keep the local hispanic radio station on, and that's what they had to offer. Within the last week, I've noticed it suddenly stopped. The music is still in Spanish, but I've heard a mix of what seems to be very dramatic and heavy Spanish language Rock music and more tradional Hispanic genres. Either the radio station programmers within the Hispanic community have changed their formats or they've turned the shit off on their own at the Bodega.

Now, do I think a bunch of guys in a Bodega are inspired by Barack Obama to change their listening habits? No. Hell No. But, it seems like many things in our culture will change INDIRECTLY and that seems a good example.

If it were up to me, Wu-Tang would be at the top of the charts again. Fuck it, Uncommon would sell Millions. Is Hip-Hop going to drastically change and become the relevant, cultural, social and creative beast that it once was?

Maybe, but it seems it will most assuradely change. We will at the very least be provided with choices in our music and not be forcefed the same thing. That's all you can ask for, and really all you have the right to ask for as a listener.

Music doesn't exist to make every single person happy on an indivdual basis. It just has to simply make most people happy and now maybe this society is capable of doing that again.