Ok first off, for starters, I am white - craaaazy white. Not only did I not grow up knowing the black experience that shaped hip-hop, but I'm not even the world's most avid hip-hop listener. Still, there's a question I've been thinking about over the last few weeks: What does a Barack Obama Presidency mean to hip hop?

Being one of those white guys who thinks, "Ooh, does asking that question sound racist?" I haven't really talked to anyone about it. But I've just noticed there's a new book that came out last week that I'm hoping gets into it with some of the authority I clearly don't have: The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop - And Why It Matters, by Tricia Rose. I may not be a hip-hop expert, but I know this much...

I know it started as a voice of resistance to the disenfranchisement and ghettoization of the black community. And damn right - the disenfranchisement was real, massive, and crazy effective. Which is why any civilized person with an interest in equal opportunity wants to cheer Jay-Z's story, even if it's built on slinging rock. There's something to the logic that says, When society does not give you a fair shot, you are within your right to do whatever you can to achieve, even if it means breaking the laws of that society. Almost especially if it means breaking the laws of that society. Hell, in that context it almost sounds like the American dream.

The question I have is, now that all-white American leadership is over and the idea of equal opportunity has taken a giant leap forward, should hip-hop change as well? In a world where everyone of every race, sex or background truly is given equal opportunity, Jay-Z songs start to look more like they're about just regular old drug dealing, which, you know, isn't quite as cool.

Of course Barack's presidency does not just wipe clean all the real-life problems of black Americans like income disparity, educational opportunities, etc, just like the passing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 didn't just turn us into a colorblind utopian society overnight. Fair enough. But now that we've gone on the record as a country in saying that anyone is allowed to achieve anything here, is it enough for hip-hop's primary voice to be that of the hustler? Represented by guys like Lil Wayne, whose philosophy is pretty well summed up by his lyric, "Get money, fuck bitches"? Will artists like Murs and Immortal Technique become the big shots of the future, building on a more affirming message? Will hip-hop fundamentally change? Should it change? I'm not saying that the answer is yes, or even that I'm qualified to know. But I think the question is worth asking. -AM