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Obama Songs; Helpful or Hurtful?

With the upcoming election stirring up a lot of political debate, most people seem glued to supporting their man – as they should.  That’s politics, right?  However, it seems that there is an overwhelming amount of support for one side over the other.  Barak Obama is being praised as a visionary voice for America’s youth and has support from all walks of life.  Nevertheless, the more popular he becomes the more controversy there is that surrounds him, but Obama certainly can rely on his core group of hardcore fans and supporters.

Obama takes the bad with the good in stride, but part of the positive attention is coming than none other than famous celebrities.  In recent elections a trend has begun to develop in the music industry: campaign songs.   Music is a great way to reach the ears of thousands, especially a younger crowd and becoming perhaps a more effective campaign strategy than commercials. However, a point that is both bad and good about campaign songs is this:  The candidate has nothing to do with it – at all.  No extra work on their part, but they have no control over what the song illustrates.

Two Obama-supportive songs have just hit radios: Popular rapper Ludacris’s “Obama is Here,” and Black Eyed Peas leader Will. I. Am’s “Yes We Can.”  While both of these songs support Barak Obama, they could not be more different.  Will. I. Am’s song is done in his signature laid-back style and is named after Obama’s motto, “yes we can.”  It takes a strong, confident speech of Barak Obama’s and puts a musical spin on it.  While the idea behind it is simple, it has a strong message and effectively shows support for Obama and his ideas (of course, because the words are Obama’s own).  It is a soft but powerful song that has a theme of unity about it; Will used various voices in order to provoke the feeling of a group. 

Sounds nice, right?  What, you haven’t heard of it?  This might be why.

Ludacris’s rap, “Obama is Here” may have good intentions, but it is getting an incredibly bad “rap,” so to speak and is certainly getting a lot more attention than “Yes We Can” because of it.   When composing a song that is supposed to make someone look good, there are a lot of things that need to be considered: the choice of words, the melody, what kind of tone you’ll be using voice-wise, and the beat.  If the answer to all of those things is “loud and angry,” it may not be the makings for the most helpful pro-Obama song.

Ludacris refers to Hilary Clinton as “an irrelevant bitch” when mentioning the possibility of her being Obama’s potential running mate, and throughout most of the song, sounds like he’s yelling at the listener.  While this is his typical style, it does not work well in a song that is supposed to have supportive undertones.  I am no one to say whether it is a bad or good song, quality-wise.  However, what I can say for myself is that Ludacris had good intentions, and the song, albeit a bit intimidating-sounding, is a passionate three minutes of music.  Nevertheless, it does tend to add one more scrap of controversy to the already controversial Mr. Barak Obama.

By: K.F. Lynn
Published: 08/04/08


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    7 Posted Comments:

    @ 7:36 pm 08/19/08 by R. Elizabeth C. Kitchen
    I must agree with your views about the Ludacris song. I am sure his intentions are good, but it is a close minded song in my opinion. Nice job on this article. Check mine out if you have time.
    Reply to this Comment

    @ 2:46 am 08/22/08 by Karma
    I haven't heard the job yet but judging from your article I should try and listen to it sometime. I do not live in the states but I do watch the elections on television and try to keep updated on this political debate.

    I haven't heard about the trend in the music industry yet, but it sounds logical to try and get attention through media types that attract young people as well. It is a way that will reach them more direct and have them considered to vote.
    Perhaps not even for political reasons, but because it's a good song!
    Let's just hope this is only minimal and most people will overthink their vote well. Thanks for a very educational post!
    Reply to this Comment

    @ 10:39 pm 08/25/08 by Xiaoyu Yang
    Thanks for the article. You did a good job. Barack has the charisma but it doesn't necessarily mean that he will be good at leading a country. People who supports John generally regard Barack inexperienced. I think Barack has a lot to do to win the campaign.
    Reply to this Comment

    @ 2:48 am 08/28/08 by Ette_Rual
    i have heard the yes i can though i have yet to hear that of ludacris. im not a US citizen so im not well versed with the US presidential election. why did obama opted for biden instead of h. clinton? barack does have the charisma but will that be enough for him to live in 1600 pennsylvania avenue?

    Reply to this Comment

    @ 10:39 am 08/30/08 by C.D. Crowder
    Maybe it would be best if artists stayed out of politics altogether. This prevents the artists from losing fans due to political bias and also prevents any scenarios like the one with Ludacris. Artists are supposed to entertain, not annoy us with reminders of politicians. We can hear more than enough by listening to CNN or our local news.

    Great article!
    Reply to this Comment

    @ 5:06 pm 09/01/08 by Willow Sidhe
    Great article! I haven't heard either of these songs but I think I'm going to go look them up. I only hope people don't base their votes on these things. On the positive side, maybe these songs will inspire more young people to take an interest in what's going on in our country's government.
    Reply to this Comment

    @ 12:35 pm 09/02/08 by parth
    I haven't heard either of the songs. But the way you expressed the songs and your opinion is really nice
    Reply to this Comment

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