Words by Matthew Mundy

Video courtesy of the good folks @ 247hh.com

At this point it’s almost cliché for Hip-Hop artists to come out and support Obama. Of course they will, right? He’s the first presidential candidate that actually listens to Hip-Hop, he brushed Hillary Clinton’s dirt off his shoulders at a campaign event, he’s the most progressive mainstream presidential candidate we’ve ever seen, and he’s black. Plus, and let’s just admit it here – Obama’s the coolest motherfucker to ever run for president. Hip-Hop’s attachment to him – and indeed America’s attachment to him – is deep and abiding. He is the face of change, both literally and figuratively, and Hip-Hop (and America for that matter), for all her blemishes, is still good and true at heart. The attachment to Obama goes a little deeper still, though, for he represents two momentous, potentially cathartic things.

The very fact of his presidency – the mere existence of his ascension to the highest office in the land – will continue to roll the country down its long road to redemption.

America’s glaring and tragically resonant birth defect – slavery – still hampers it at every turn, and Obama’s presidency would do much to speed its absolution. It won’t get there, of course – racism so deeply permeates America that it will take far, far more than one elected official to root it out – but it will go further than ever before.

As the first post-Vietnam candidate, it’d be tough to overestimate how important, generationally speaking, Obama is. The country is on the cusp of being able to lumber past the still blazing cultural wars of the ‘60s and ‘70s, and Obama – being rid and unclothed of all the baggage of Vietnam and its various appendages – represents the best hope to do so. One need only look at McCain’s rhetoric concerning Iraq – victory with honor, withdrawal is defeat – to know that the jungles of Vietnam (and the riots at home) are never far away from him. While the word “change” has been approximated and perverted in a thousand different ways over this campaign, a post-Vietnam candidate is a change that this country desperately needs.

Being a Canadian, though I do very much have a horse in this race – I live here in the U.S. and plan on doing so for the foreseeable future – I don’t get to wager on him. I’ve never been stateside for an election before, and it’s been thrilling and horrifying at the same time. I feel that I’ve seen the best of America and the worst of America in the past 20 months, from Obama’s rousing address after the Iowa primaries to Palin fanning the flames of a thousand tired hatreds (and a couple new ones as well). Throughout it all, though, I feel that whatever inchoate and dormant faith I still have in America after the last eight years is about to be vindicated in the grandest of fashions. Tuesday, I hope, will be that moment, and I look forward to celebrating with the knowledge that my new home is finally starting to get its things in order.

It’s not all gravy, though. Win or lose – and please, please win – the real work starts November 5th. As good as Obama is, and as much of a repository for all of our hopes for this country he has been the last 20 months, he’s still just a man. He’ll only be as good as we make him. So get out and vote, and then we can all get down to work.

Two final things. Any candidate that gets Young Jeezy, Common, Bun B and The Game lining up to give thoughtful endorsements on camera is likely to get my phantom vote, regardless of his or her policies.

And finally – first song I’m gonna be bumping Wednesday morning? Young Jeezy – The Recession, Track 18. Look it up, queue it up, and let’s get trunks and apartment complexes rattling across this beautiful country.