Despite its occasional shortcomings, I think this song has some good lines. The third verse is most interesting to me, rapped by Nas: in the first few lines, I think what he's saying is that blacks have always been neglected and ignored by the white-run government. In response to not being included in mainstream decisions, or at least feeling that way, he claims that blacks have had to pursue alternative means to achieve their goals without any thought of a government that didn't represent them. He continues to say that anyone who breaks through from these weights that tie down most blacks--Obama, in this case--deserves to have a hype created around them and can set some sort of an example to others. In addition, Nas and Young Jeezy both mention the "realness" of the words in the song; it makes me wonder if they can really say something deeper than what they've alluded to, but have to hide it behind a mask of overused rap words and cliche lines to make it appealing to the audience who buys the music. Would it be "not black enough" if they just wrote a piece stating plainly what they think about the issue of race as it concerns the government? Let me know what you guys think!
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I find this song to be quite clever, but what catches my eye is who produces three of the four verses and the hook. Young Jeezy is the lead rapper in this song, and Nas only adds a paltry two cents in verse 3. This is a very important aspect of the song to me because of who Young Jeezy is portrayed to be in the hip-hop community. He is one of the foremost artists in the sub-culture of "c-rap" or "cocaine rap." This is very evident in all of his underlying references to the drug, and hustling being his main focus. In my eyes, he wastes all his best lyrics and analogies on narcotics instead of Obama. He kind of just pays lip service to Obama, but uses the title to promote the song and his own agenda. On the other hand, Nas is known for his intellect and cutting lyrics, but even he has "dumbed" down his lyrical arsenal to put himself on par with Young Jeezy. I think that this is an interesting exercise in "blackness", and I definitely feel that both rappers have sold the audience short on actual content. More than likely, both rappers do have a concern about being viewed as "sell outs", but what bothers me more than anything in this instance is that they seem to be using Obama for their own agendas rather than actually celebrating his achievements (aside from a few name drops); which, through another lens could also be interpreted as "not being black enough." The rappers are caught between levels of blackness and made the safer choice of choosing the promotion of a hustler's lifestyle, rather than going for deeper political meaning.
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