Obama Plans To Use Hip Hop As A Positive! What?

If it worked for Schoolhouse Rock, it'll work for Barack Obama. The US presidential candidate says, if elected, he plans to use hip-hop to educate the people. But before you start shuddering at the thought of him interrupting next year's Amazing Race finale to drop some mad rhymes in a presidential address, Obama says he plans to use existing hip-hop superstars to spread a message of positive social change.

In an interview with BET news program What's in It For Us Jan. 8, B-Rock, as he's known in the pages of Vibe Magazine said: "I've met with Jay-Z. I've met with Kanye [West]. And I've talked to other artists about how potentially to bridge that gap. I think the potential for them to deliver a message of extraordinary power that gets people thinking (is massive)."

But if he gets his iPod favourites to join his presidential entourage, Obama will be trying to sneak in a few feel-good re-writes.

"There are times, even on the artists I've named, the artists that I love, that there is a message that's sometimes degrading to women, uses the N-word a little too frequently.

"But also something that I'm really concerned about is (they're) always talking about material things about how I can get something; more money, more cars."

Just sub the rhymes about hos and bling for a few lines about campaign donations, and we smell a hit.