Chicago Rules the World!

Sorry for yet another extended absence. This presidential election has dominated so much of my time that I have neglected reading my usual rotation of music blogs and magazines in favor of obsessively reading the Huffington Post and Talking Points Memo. As a result, I am embarrassingly out of the loop with almost any new music that's come out in the last two months. Luckily, this election is over and I can cancel those relocation plans to Sweden (hooray socialism!) because BARACK OBAMA IS THE PRESIDENT ELECT!!!

It's been a strange crazy journey to get here, but for the first time in over eight years I feel hopeful for the future of our country. I guess all we needed was Chicago's favorite son to wake up the silent masses and convince us that all hope wasn't lost. In celebration of that wonderful moment, here's a track by two of Chicago's best hip hop artists, Mikey Rocks and Chuck Inglish (otherwise known as The Cool Kids) with an assist from producer extraordinaire 9th Wonder.

If you're a fan of the Kids' lazy flow, but always wanted to hear it matched with some next level beats then this is the jam for you. "The Delivery Man" has absolutely noting to do with Obama other than both are symbols of the best that Chicago has to offer. One is doing its part to change the rap game while the other is doing his thing to redefine the political game. So far, I like what I see from both.

The Cool Kids - "The Delivery Man (9th Wonder Remix)"
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Song of the Day - Fela Kuti & Africa 70: "Gentleman"

So, I was watching the Presidential Debate on Friday and I couldn't get Fela Kuti out of my head. It actually started about an hour before showtime, when I raced out of the office to get some dinner and a six pack of Red Stripe at the grocery store before the debate began and "Sorrow, Tears, and Blood" spontaneous starting playing in my mind. It is one of my favorite Fela songs ever and its political message surely played a part in getting it stuck in my head to begin with.

While it is certainly somewhat analogous to the current draconian presidential administration, it would be quite a stretch to draw too close of a comparison between the oppressive military dictatorship of Fela's Nigeria to the George W. Bush era, but the song did get me thinking about Fela's message of unity and how it parallels to Barack Obama. Basically, Fela Kuti found an audience by connecting with people traditionally on the margins of society who felt the power establishment would never listen to their voice. When you look at the millions of young, first time and historically apathetic voters who form the backbone of the Obama phenomenon, it's easy to draw comparisons.

Anyway, as I watched John McCain do his best to represent the interests of the elite classes (yes, his wife is worth $100 million and he's been part of a "broken" Washington government for 26 years) while cloaked in this absurd notion that he's a "reformer", I realized that power establishments never fall until public sentiment reaches a breaking point. In a dictatorship the will of the public usually manifests itself in the form of revolution, but in America the revolutions come at the ballot box. As America stands on the verge of becoming a majority minority country, a realignment of political power is almost a certainty. It may not happen on November 4th, but a change is coming and usually it requires a transcendent figure to lead the change.

Which brings me to "Gentleman." While the Fela catalog is peppered with songs about political unity, struggle and revolt, many of them are either too sad ("Sorrow, Tears and Blood", for one) or too dramatic ("Coffin for Head of State" comes to mind) to make the Obama connection, so I decided to go with one that is kind of light and upbeat (for Fela, that is). "Gentleman" achieves this by describing how one needs to act in order to stand up in the face of corrupt power. Throughout the song he declares "I no be gentleman at all/I be Africa, man/original", as if to say the traditional means of attaining political change no longer apply. In fact, he goes on to assert that real change won't come until "somebody come bring original trouble."

Now, Obama may be more of gentleman than Fela would've liked, but he is African and certainly an original. You could also make the argument that his movement has brought its share of "original trouble" in that it shook up the electoral process by awakening a silent majority of people who were waiting for someone to come along and give voice to their political frustrations. In barely over a month we should find out if that formerly sleeping giant is enough to knock down the traditional power monopoly, or if it needs a little more time to grow.

Fela Kuti & Africa 70 - "Gentleman"
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Song of the Day - Cody ChesnuTT: "Afrobama: The Unified Party Anthem"

[Photo courtesy of Flickr user dublabrat]

Nobody in the world of music, except Lil Wayne (and maybe Miley Cyrus), has more heat than Barack Obama. Dude's Rolodex is filled with more names in the music biz than Sophia Coppola and Timbaland combined. Everyday that draws closer to our historic presidential election it seems as if a new artistic tribute is released praising his message of change and unity.

The latest one comes courtesy of Cody ChesnuTT, who many of you know from his collaboration with The Roots a few years back. After laying low for the past couple of years Cody is back with "Afrobama: The Unified Party Anthem" a double homage to two larger than life Africans (remember, Obama's dad is Kenyan).

Now, the title of the song makes the identity of the first African obvious, but some of you might not know who the second is. If you've ever listened to Afrobeat music then it's easy to understand who ChesnuTT is honoring, the legendary father of Afrobeat, Fela Anikulapo Kuti.

By creating an homage to Obama in the style of Fela's signature sound, ChesnuTT is comparing two men with transcendent messages of change. Fela used his art as a platform to rail against government corruption and oppression in his native Nigeria (where he survived torture and assassination attempts) by spreading the gospel of Pan-Africanism. While not nearly as revolutionary (after all, Kuti was a socialist in the mold of Kwame Nkrumah and Che Guevara, while Obama is a quasi-liberal more in line with the legacy of RFK), Obama's message could be described as Pan-Americanism, in that the central theme of his candidacy is his desire to unite America across political and ideological lines. In Obama's world, we are all Americans first and foremost, much like Fela believed in identifying oneself as an African above national or tribal affiliations.

Hopefully Obama's story ends happier than that of Fela Kuti, who ended up dying of AIDS in 1997 amid a continuing cycle of dictatorial military rule that continues to plague Nigeria (and many parts of Africa) to this day. What is certain is that his pleas of unity have spawned new generations of Africans (or, African-Americans) to feel a sense of pride and optimism about the future that people across the African continent felt over 30 years before.

Cody ChesnuTT - "Afrobama: The Unified Party Anthem"

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We Built This City On Barack 'n Roll

Before anyone leaves a snide comment, I am well aware the title to this post is cheesy. I chose it because I am growing tired of all the 'clever' puns of Obama's name you see in the media. As usual, many have been beaten into the ground and now only serve to remind us about silly things like "Obama Girl." No thank you.

Anyway, what the hell am I doing writing about Obama anyway? Those that know me in person know that I am never without an opinion when it comes to politics, so it should come as no surprise to them that I have an opinion about this nation's first Black major presidential nominee. Yes, it is historic and wonderful that history was made last night, and I am myself an Obama supporter, but let's cut it out with the self-congratulatory 'this is a uniquely American story' narrative that I've been seeing on the cable news channels. This has happened in other nations with equally (or more) sordid histories of discrimination/institutional prejudice. For Christ sakes, Pakistan elected a female President (something this nation's people apparently still aren't ready to do) in 1988. Has our country's superiority complex already regressed to the point that we feel the need to dominate a fictitious democracy record book? (This now concludes the political portion of the discussion)

Speaking of domination, one contest that Obama wrapped up months ago was the race to claim the hippest celebrity endorsements. No where is this more apparent than perusing the list of musicians who have expressed support for the Illinois senator. So, it is with that in mind that I decided to create a tribute to Obama's win last night in the form of a playlist comprised of nothing but pro-Obama artists. Enjoy.

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