Politics Unusual: Hip Hop's Hopes for Obama
By: Chris Lighty
http://www. huffingtonpost.
com/chris-lighty/politics-unusual-hip-hops_b_118270. html
First off, for the HuffPost readers who don't know me; I'm the manager behind 50 Cent, LL Cool
J, Puffy, Busta Rhymes and Missy Elliot .
I help them put together their deals with major brands from Vitamin Water to Henkel, Procter & Gamble and
many more. I've been privileged enough to see first hand how hip hop has crossed over into the mainstream and
become a major voice of politics and culture in this country. I guess you could say that gives me a certain
perspective on recent headlines concerning a particular rapper and a presidential hopeful.
For those of you who do know me, it's been a long time since I hit the blog zone so I decided to come back with a bang.
This time around, I'm tackling the big stuff: Barack Obama 's campaign. I can't sit back and be
silent on this subject anymore. As much as I personally support the Senator from Illinois, he needs to do a
better job of handling his business in the hip hop community. Specifically, I'm talking about that new
Ludacris song, "Politics as Usual," and the Obama campaign's reaction to it, which was way off
base.
Don't get me wrong. I'm hoping Obama will be the next president as much as anybody in our community. But
Obama needs the youth of America just as much as we perceive we need Obama, if only to avoid a third Bush term via John
McCain. (That dude isn't equipped to run a computer, let alone the country.) Obama and his people need to do a
better job of understanding this market, where we are coming from, and what we expect from him.
Now Obama camp, please listen carefully to my next few statements, because I'm offering you some free
advice:
We the people who are feeling the pinch need your help, but why are you lowering your stature to answer rap records?!
Why take offense? No disrespect to Ludacris , but if he wanted to address you, he would have sent you a
letter, email, phone call or smoke signal. Let Luda speak to his fans and galvanize them to join the cause in his OWN
way. He's not a member of your campaign and he's not even trying to be. He is an artist. Period. Across social,
political and philanthropic causes, today's global youth see themselves as possessing the
potential to effect enormous change, and impact the world through pop culture. Nothing wrong with that!
But it is what it is. Luda is no politician, and even his fans know better than to take him as seriously as you just did.
Meanwhile, don't make the mistake of assuming you've got a lock on our market. Don't rest easy
thinking these kids are going to be motivated enough to get out and rock the vote if you don't speak to them
directly. The campaign for change has to spread the money around and make sure that message reaches all four
corners.
Yeah, it's great you bought airtime during the Olympics. But on 8/8/08 no one was watching, because the ad for
Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, drowned you out. From a marketing perspective, that was money misspent. You need to cut
through the noise and target your audience. Don't forget to get up and speak to hip hop. Spend your
advertising dollars on BET and MTV's TRL and other urban media outlets that can spread your message to
the youth
By: Chris
http:
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