Rappers' Shout-Outs Make Obama Skip a Beat

On "Black Republicans," a song from Lil Wayne's mix tape "Da Drought 3," guest Juelz Santana raps: "I'm feelin' like a black Republican/Naw, I can't call it/More like a black Democrat runnin' 'em out of office/Young Barack Obama, I'm all for it."

Three 6 Mafia's "Last 2 Walk" includes the couplet, "There's a whole lotta room in the front of the Range/Like Barack Obama said, yeah it's time for a change." (Never mind that the stanza is about sex.)

Common, a rapper from Obama's home base of Chicago, has invoked the senator's name repeatedly, as in "The People," in which he declares: "My raps ignite the people like Obama." On a remix of the Jadakiss song "Why?," Common wonders: "Why is Bush acting like he trying to get Osama?/Why don't we impeach him and elect Obama?"

In several songs, Obama's election is even treated as a fait accompli.

In "Memories/Letter to Obama," Joell Ortiz raps about a litany of societal problems, then says: "It's time for a change, and that change is Obama/Dear future president, I hope you heard this letter and do some things to make sure the next one I'm writing is better." In the eloquent "Black President," the Brooklyn rapper and Bill O'Reilly foil Nas declares: "America surprised us/And let a black man guide us."

And in a recent freestyle, Jay-Z -- who is always using analogies to cast himself as hip-hop's microphone commander in chief -- concluded: "I'm signing off as the hood's Barack."

Other artists, from Talib Kweli and Lupe Fiasco to Ghostface Killah and Kidz in the Hall, have mentioned Obama in song, possibly making him the third most-popular topic in rap behind drugs and sex, not necessarily in that order. (McCain, on the other hand, barely rates.)

Notably, it's not just black rappers jumping onto the bandwagon with the 24-inch rims. Obama has a rap-style rainbow coalition forming in his corner. A white artist by the name of 6th Sense recently released "Ignite the People (Like Obama)," on which he sampled Common while asking, rhetorically: "You ever think you'd see a white rapper endorse a black president?"

And last summer, the Korean American rapper Jin posted the praise-filled and relatively innocuous "Open Letter 2 Obama" on MySpace. The official Obama response? Hip-hop hooray: The campaign Web site gave away a ring-tone version of the track -- a punchy snippet in which Jin declared "Go! Go! Go! O-bama! O-bama!" -- and even used the song to introduce Obama at a speech.