Before you balk at the notion, give it pause. Don’t try and compromise his campaign size. Kanye is America. His family represents the diversity of our great country. He is in touch with the concerns of the youth, as a millennial at the age of 38. He will energize the base. Even though those of us who purchased Yeezus deserve a tax rebate, but that’s neither here nor there. We all know he can fill a stadium, unlike Donald Trump.

As far as policy? Yeezy got this. Since he admitted he “smoked to take the edge off,” it’s no doubt that the legalization of marijuana is high on the priority list. We don’t have to wonder if he inhaled, either. He can totally outdo Francis Underwood’s “America Works” program with his own “Good Ass Jobs” initiative. Foreign policy? He’s been to France and Italy. That’s enough. Worried about a stolen election? Fear not. We all know Mr. West would throw a tantrum if they pulled an Al Gore on him.

performs/speaks onstage during the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards held at Microsoft Theater on August 30, 2015, in Los Angeles, California.

What’s that you say? Mr. West is not qualified because he never finished college and only holds an honorary degree? Well, neither does 2016 Republican Presidential candidate Scott Walker. So let Yeezy rock. All he needs is the right team. Lupe Fiasco has to be his Vice President. Rhymefest the speechwriter, and Common should stump for him. As long as Sway is not the debate moderator, everything should be alright.

[Originally posted at Polite On Society]

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Most of what was said dealt with her cultural appropriation of ‘black coolness’ using black women as props suitable for objectification and twerking her no-ass off. Seriously, I’ve seen a box of saltine crackers with more curves than her! But I guess she enjoys it as she has gotten Justin Beiber in on the act in a new video called ‘Twerk’. Is this a sign of the apocalypse?

Cyrus’ performance was an eye-sore, to say the least. But watching it, as well as most of the VMAs, I am reminded by something that is totally obvious to anyone watching television. Whiteness in the media, like the name of Cyrus’ song, can’t stop – because it won’t stop. Why? To put it in a few words, it is because the mainstream media is dominated by white people – white males especially – looking for white people for more ideas to sell to white people.

Twerking was going on before Cyrus renounced her Disney innocence in the form of Hannah Montana. It was brought forth to the music scene by Southern rap and hip-hop in the late 1990’s through the help of rappers Juvenile and the Ying Yang Twins. It became more and more popular among Southern folks, especially within black communities. When it entered the mainstream media, it became more well-known. Even some white people were twerking before Cyrus’ cultural appropriation, probably because she wanted that ‘bad girl’ image, and what better way than to associate badness with ‘blackness’?

But of course, the issue goes way beyond just booty dancing and Miley Cyrus. She has made a lot of money and became highly popular due to her video “We Can’t Stop”. It is about her using the elements of black culture, including actual black women, to traffic off her success. The mainstream media media sees her “new” image as a cash cow, and ran with it, going so far as to approve what we witnessed that night at the VMAs.

This idea is nothing new, as other white artists have done similar moves to boost their popularity. Blackness, or rather what is perceived as black to the white owned media, is used as marketing tools to promote white artists who want to break into the music biz using a genre they think will sell. As a result we have white artists taking over genres of music that has traditionally been created by and produced by blacks. It’s no wonder that most of the 2013 VMAs had white artists getting the most shows and recognitions, especially in rap and R&B.

Some people will ask, “What’s the big deal? They are good singers who deserve some props.” The problem is that the media is becoming whiter and whiter. Not only that, it will only accept”other” stories and ideas as long as it fits the white narrative. For example, blacks will likely get a record deal if they have the image of being a thug or gangster because you know, black pathology sells. Not to say that you actually have to be one, but image is everything, probably more important than music itself, the way it appears.

On the other hand, being a white artist will likely get a hookup, especially if they have solid connections. The image of white artists can range from sensitive males to bad girls, and no one will make a big deal about race involved because whiteness is seen as the default. A thick, white female R&B singer with junk in her trunk and knows how to shake it would be picked up by a music agent somewhere, and she would probably be an international sensation if the company promotes her enough. The privilege of being white will boost her image in the industry as opposed to a black female with the same features and talents should the scenario plays out.

Make no mistake. No one is saying that white folks should not rap, sing R&B or twerk. The beef that is being addressed is the recognition and appreciation for traditional black music sung and performed by white folks is part of a troubling trend of further whitewashing the mainstream media until the only color you see is white. Call me racist if you want, but as long as sheltered whites are still at the helm of most of what you see and hear in the mainstream media, you will continue to see more and more whiteness.

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Of course people would argue that Lupe Fiasco’s tearful interview explaining the continual violence, gross disenfranchisement and hopelessness in his hometown of West Side Chicago should be the very reason why he should vote.

On the contrary, it has provided the impetus for him to be vocal about not voting and seeing it useless for the average person whose interests are never served.

Lupe’s perspective, in truth, is the reason why black and brown youth
are ever so turned off about the voting process 4 years since they
largely participated in the 2008 presidential elections.

Though they say
politics are local, the youth were reined into the national election,
thus staying mis-educated about the issues on the local level. There is a difference between casting a ballot and being politically active; however, most “activists” were not interested in that part of the equation. Mentoring youth, and their activists  to understand the importance of localized political engagement would only mess up Sharpton’s time at the salon to get his edges retouched.

As a
result, local politics remained the same—completely failing and
disregarding the same population that was mobilized to vote for them.

Nonetheless, this reality also pushes Lupe to be politically engaged in his music and beyond.

Lupe who  is currently providing, free, healthy food during Ramadan,
articulates the contradictions and ironies he sees in US policies and
social order. Lupe’s latest single, “Freedom Ain’t Free” provides
insight into the conundrum, corporate exploitation and chaos that the
average young person navigates in the midst of profiling, unemployment,
and streamlined resources to be a productive citizen.

I agree with Lupe when he states in his latest single, “America’s a big motherfuckin’ garbageman.” And as he says in the interview, this system has eaten and thrown away many of his peers. The brilliant and provocative emcee who also attended and supported
Occupy Wall Street pointed out in this interview that some of cats on
his block are either imprisoned or jail, haunting him today as harsh
testaments that black and brown Chicago communities and blighted and
burning.

The MTV interview showed a previous Lupe interview when he first came out six years prior. He was a hood kid who used skating as a way to balance his life. When he went to the other side of town, the place he called home, he described is displeasure with the high levels of disenfranchisement that his community endures.

The two frames are juxtaposed realities that the average inner city youth lives. On one hand, we are entrenched with visuals and realities of social-political-cultural implosion from Brooklyn to Oakland , but on the other hand, we live a parallel to an alternative life of the hipster movement, a commercialized, and fresh-faced Justin Bieber-esk campaign that borrows heavily from our culture, minus the poverty and prison records.

And that is how a lot of us youth live, even if we have made it, we must all go home. Even if we are second and third generation “middle and upper class” black people, we all have family members who are struggling. And while Lupe enjoys the lightness he feels in his career choice, his travels, and his evolution as a human, he wears the weight of his people on his shoulders.

Though Pete Rock is pissed that Lupe took his legendary beat that was used in “They Reminisce Over You (TROY),” a song that memorializes friend Trouble T, he is simply the pot calling the kettle black since he stole it from Tom Scott and the California’s Dreamer’s song “Today”.

Love the lyrics in Lupe’s shit. Rip it brother on both ends.

Profound line
Crucifixes, racism and the land grab/Katrina, Fema trailers, human body sand bags

Another dope line
Say that we should protest/Just to arrested/That goes against all my hustling ethics/A bunch jail niggas say its highly ineffective

Speaking truth line

Down at the Lakota Sioux casino/A whole culture boiled down to given you Pokeno

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