By Ismael AbduSalaam
With President-elect Barack Obama’s historic election run now complete, Atlanta rap star Ludacris is finally breaking his silence on Obama’s marked criticism of his July dedication song.
On the track entitled "Politics As Usual" taken from DJ Drama’s Gangsta Grillz: The Preview, Ludacris professed his full support for Obama.
That support was overshadowed by controversial lyrics that labeled President Obama’s former Democrat rival Hillary Clinton as a "b**ch," and alluded to Republican John McCain as being close to disability.
Ludacris also took aim at George W. Bush, calling the 43rd President of the United States "mentally handicapped."
“The song was my artistic expression and was meant to get people who weren’t involved in the political process involved,” Ludacris reasoned to AllHipHop.com. “Being as though it was the first mixtape to reach the United States government was a bit overwhelming.”
Obama, who in 2006 first met with Ludacris privately to discuss community activism and Hip-Hop’s role in it, was not understanding of Luda’s vitriolic words and publicly condemned the track.
“Rap lyrics today too often perpetuate misogyny, materialism, and degrading images that he (Obama) doesn’t want his daughters or any children exposed to,” Obama’s campaign released in a statement. “This song is not only outrageously offensive to Senator Clinton, Reverend Jackson, Senator McCain, and President Bush, it is offensive to all of us who are trying to raise our children with values we hold dear. While Ludacris is a talented individual he should be ashamed of these lyrics.”
Although Ludacris has since met with Obama, he declined to elaborate on what their discussion entailed.
Instead, the Atlanta star revealed he put his pride aside for the greater good of Obama’s campaign to prevent any possible damaging distractions, as previously seen with Reverend Jeremiah Wright.
“What myself and the president spoke about is confidential, but I took it upon myself to not speak on the song because I did not want to further distract either candidate in dealing with the ancillary issues they had to face in order to become the next president of this country,” Ludacris explained. “Now that Barack has won, I can honestly say that we are all fortunate to witness a period in America’s history when we rose to our best.”
Through this experience, Ludacris felt that he learned how much can be accomplished when people focus on common ground in lieu of highlighting disagreements.
“We stood up and acknowledged that America’s true power is when people come together and focus on our possibilities rather than our differences,” he proudly stated. “Obama’s focus is to bring this country together and move it forward as one united nation. I believe in him and what he stands for and wish him success!”
Ludacris’ is also finalizing his sixth solo album Theater of the Mind, due in stores November 25.
The album features collaborations with Nas, Jay-Z, Common, Spike Lee, Chris Rock, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, The Game, and Ving Rhames.