The Audacity of Dope

Now this is the Bill I remember.  I can’t believe we impeached this man because of a booty call while George ‘Strategery’ Bush literally broke law after law while ruining our country and his only punishment is going down as the worst president of all time.  What a world.

Anyway, at last night’s Democratic National Convention, Bill dusted off his boots and got that old Clinton swag going with an excellent speech in support of Barack Obama.  Again, my late night blogging hours are killing me, so I won’t get too in depth here.  I just wanted to toss it up on TAOD, along with Hillary’s (good, not great) speech from Tuesday and Biden’s rousing performance, to remind y’all that tonight is the main event.

Forty-five years to the day after Martin Luther King Jr.’s iconic “I Have A Dream” speech, Barack is set to formally accept the nomination tonight in Denver.  I hate to build the hype, but I’ve been saying for a while that Barack has one of the greatest speeches in history in him, it’s just a question of when he’s going to drop it.  You could argue that he’s already given a couple (2004’s keynote address at the Convention, “Yes We Can” in New Hampshire, and “A More Perfect Union” from earlier this year), but I think he’s capable of an all-timer.  I’m talking MLK meets JFK meets Gehrig meets Jimmy V meets William Wallace.  Will that be tonight?  Will that be his victory speech in November?  His inauguration speech in January?

Regardless, we’ll see history tonight.  Whatever you’re doing, make sure you tune in to watch. It’ll be on every channel and there’s a good chance it’ll be a moment you remember for the rest of your life.

Hit the jump to watch the speeches from Hillary and Biden (especially recommended).

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(I know what you’re sayin’)

AllHipHop caught up with Bun at the Convention to get his take on hip-hop’s role in the political process.  That’s interesting that he’s planning on going to the Republican National Convention next week in Minnesota too.  I understand where he’s coming from, but you couldn’t pay me to be surrounded by that much ignorance.  As Bill said last night, “thanks, but no thanks.”

To hear more of Bun talking politics, peep the interview I did with him for Sound Session back in April right here.  Video swiped from Eskay.

There have been a lot of great Obama shirts during the campaign so far (I’m partial to my “Ninjas For Obama” jawn myself), but this one might have just taken the cake. UNDRCRWN recreated Vince Carter’s epic posterization of 7’2″ French center (and 1999 Knicks draft pick…good call fellas) Frederic Weis in the 2000 Olympics, appropriately substituting Obama and McCain for the players:

The funniest part of that clip is actually that Vin Baker was a part of USA Basketball. I forgot all about that. So, what store in town is selling these and wants to hook me up?

Spotted on Hypebeast…and just now on Spike Lee at the Democratic National Convention. That’s a good look.

(Memo to the Repubs: She loves this country.)

If you missed our next first lady speak at the Democratic National Convention last night, here’s the video of her speech.  It’s late, so I won’t go into much detail, but the basic idea behind this week is to make sure everyone in America gets to know Barack and Michelle as much as possible.  Too many people are still using the excuse of “I don’t know much about him” when explaining why they’re hesitant to vote for Obama.  If you disagree with his positions, that’s fine.  Vote for the candidate who believes what you believe.  But if you just don’t know enough about the Obamas, that’s your fault.  Educate yourself.  I strongly recommend that everyone read The Audacity of Hope as soon as possible.  Read up on the issues.  This election is too important for people to be lazy.  For real.

Some people are also falling for the despicable, false, and at their core, racist, attacks that Barack and Michelle are somehow “others,” not like the rest of us.  The Republican attack machine smartly depends on the naivete and downright ignorance of American voters, so this is the year where all that needs to change.  They’re trying to tell you that the Obamas are different.  They’re too radical.  They don’t love America.  They’re doing this for selfish, personal reasons.  They’re not like us.

False.  They are us.  They are the symbol of progression and the embodiment of all that is possible in our country when you work hard and do things the right way.  Yes, they are from outside the system.  With a broken, prejudiced system in place since our founding, that’s exactly what we need.  It’s time to move into the future and catch up to the rest of the world.  It’s time for change.

Use this week to watch as much of the Convention as possible and educate yourselves on the issues and the candidates.  Make sure you and your friends are registered to vote.  It’s time we take responsibility.

John’s been slowly starting to unleash music from Evolver, first “Good Morning” at the end of the “Green Light” video, and now a live performance of “If You’re Out There” at the Democratic National Convention that kicked off today in Denver.  When I spoke to John last month for Sound Session, he talked extensively about this song and the reasons why he wrote it.  If you missed that interview, you can peep it here.

Between John’s performance, Edward Kennedy’s inspirational appearance, and Michelle Obama’s excellent speech, the Convention is off to a great start.  Kanye, N.E.R.D., and Wyclef are supposed to be doing something out there this week, so hopefully video of those performances will hit the net too.

gObama.

Earlier today, Barack campaigned in Virginia and talked about McCain’s recent delusional comments. The Republicans have based their whole attack around this false premise that Obama is an “elitist,” or worse, an “other.” Keep in mind, McCain, just like Bush, Clinton, etc., is the product of an elite family from birth. Obama, on the other hand, grew up in a single parent home and was even on food stamps at one point. He worked incredibly hard to get where he is, without the help of a family name. McCain finished 894th in a class of 899 in college, and only got into the Navy because his father and grandfather were four star generals. Despite the Obamas recent financial success, their net worth is about 1/10th of McCain and his wife. Who is more likely to be an “elitist?”

But I digress, because I think it’s actually a pointless debate to have. All presidential candidates better be elite, but it’s clear they want to avoid the negative “elitist” tag. This is because every politician tries to pander to the lowest common denominator: the American moron. We have so many of them in this country, if you can paint your opponent as scary or different, you can generally win. However, McCain’s elitist attacks may start to backfire if he continues his string of recent hits:

• Saying the economy has done well under Bush the last 8 years.
• The man who wrote all McCain’s economic policies, Phil Gramm, declaring we’re a “nation of whiners” and the recent economic trouble is all mental.
• Deciding at the Saddleback Church conference last weekend that in order to be rich, you need to be making around 5 million dollars a year. (CNN’s Jack Cafferty also commented on McCain’s scary performance here.)
• And his most recent gem, not being able to remember how many houses he owns.

You know, here’s a new rule: If you don’t know how many houses you own, first off, you’re a moron, and secondly, you can’t be president. Simple as that.

Oh, and to answer the question, McCain’s campaign released a statement saying “at least 4.”  Closer inspection puts the number at 7. What morons.

(that 3rd verse is fierce)

Speak on it Supa Kam. While I never want artists to be locked into a stereotype, I love when dope MC’s tackle serious issues like Supa did with his newest video for “Black Enough?” off the Self-Centered EP. If you’re sleeping on the Kam Moye project, read up and download it for free right here. It’s one of my favorite releases of the year and this is one of its standout tracks.

Over a dope beat from Eric G (206 like what!), Supa speaks on a controversial aspect of the institutional racism we have here in America. As a middle class white dude, I’ve obviously never had to confront this issue head on, but I’ve seen it play out in an ugly fashion on many ocassions. It’s even been a big talking point during Obama’s run for the White House, so whether you want to admit it or not, it’s still here in 2008. If there’s more educated discourse similar to this song, perhaps we can get things moving in the right direction.

Be sure to stay up to date on Supa and Reform School Music on his blog.

I got word that the Republican National Committee’s official website doesn’t even make one reference to their own presidential nominee on the front page, so I checked it out and grabbed a screenshot.  This is hilarious.  The Republicans know McCain is an awful candidate and brings absolutely nothing to the table, so they’ve just decided to try to attack Barack.  What happened to all that talk about McLame and the RNC running a straightforward, respectable campaign?  If that’s the case, you might want to showcase some of your own positions and ideas on the site, rather than use it to try to tear down someone else…especially when you fail at that too.

LOL @ this.  Get better RNC.

LOL @ voting for McCain.  Seriously.  First Baracky after the jump if you missed it.

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Jay Smooth drops another one of his excellent vlogs, this time commenting on the faux news story regarding Luda’s Obama freestyle a few weeks back.  As always, he’s on point.  It’s annoying to see people with no understanding of our hip-hop culture talking about it on the news, but Jay makes a great point that Luda really should know better.  There have been a bunch of less tactful Obama songs/references too, but none with as high a profile as this one.  I knew it was going to be trouble when the story broke and some agencies were calling him an actor instead of rapper.  That’s when you know you’ve made it to the next tier and your words are going to be given a lot more legitimacy, right or wrong.

As further proof that Obama is the perfect presidential candidate for the hip-hop generation, here’s a clip from earlier this year:

I agree completely, and it’s shocking to see that kind of intelligence and understanding from a politician.  If you’re involved with hip-hop culture and NOT planning on voting for Obama, I’d love to know why.  Not to say it’s not possible, but you better have some substantive policy disagreements…