BARACK Obama yesterday plunged into the United States' controversy over the wilder reaches of hip hop, accusing some singers of sending young people the wrong message.
In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, he took aim at the prejudice and glorification of violence by some black rap artists.
"I am troubled sometimes by the misogyny and materialism of a lot of rap lyrics," said the Democratic
presidential candidate. "It would be nice if I could have my daughters listen to their music without me worrying that they were getting bad images of themselves."
But he added that the genre had broken down barriers, saying: "I think the genius of the art form has shifted the culture and helped to desegregate music." He said the hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons and rappers Jay-Z and Ludacris were "great talents and great businessmen".
Rap is both powerful and controversial in the United States: artists such as 50 Cent and Snoop Dogg have sold millions of songs glorifying guns and violence, praising "gangster" life and depicting women as prostitutes.
Defenders say the music comes from the anger and frustrations of young black males growing up in ghettos, reflecting rather than creating this violent attitude. But critics, including the acclaimed filmmaker Spike Lee, say the music encourages prejudice and presents blacks as stereotyped, uncultured thugs.
"A lot of it is about bitches and 'hos' (prostitutes], guns and killing," said Mike Yablon, a music expert. But he added that rap had a huge white following and reflected attitudes already there. "They sing about their experiences," he said.
For Mr Obama, the statement is part of his battle to win over Middle America, portraying himself as liberal and broad-minded, but also sensitive to the wilder areas of popular culture.
It is also a rare incursion into black political issues. Concerned to portray himself as a politician who happens to be black, rather than a black politician, Mr Obama has spent most of the year sidestepping the African American political establishment. On rap music, though, he seems to feel it necessary to speak out.
He was careful in the same interview to emphasise that his musical tastes are broad, lionising Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen – both of whom have endorsed him. Mr Obama counts the Rolling Stones' song Gimme Shelter as one of his favourites and lists the "tragedies of Shakespeare" as among the literature that most inspired him, along with Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls and Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon.
"One of my favourites during the political season is Maggie's Farm," said Mr Obama of a Bob Dylan song. "It speaks to me as I listen to some of the political rhetoric."
Dylan sings of trying to be himself, "but everybody wants you to be just like them".
Mr Obama's "everyman" appeal appears to be working and fears that Hillary Clinton supporters would desert to the Republicans seem not to have been realised. The latest polls give Mr Obama a 12-point lead over John McCain, his Republican rival.
Just as significant, Mr Obama leads Mr McCain in the three most crucial states: Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Yet for all the months of coverage, the 46-year-old senator remains an enigma. Partly it is because he has not been in the Senate long enough to have done much, or to have carved out a political niche, as has his 71-year-old rival. And partly it is because his message of "change" is both inspirational and vague and, like Tony Blair's vision of a "Third Way" a decade ago, it may turn out to be a concept that has no meat.
The Rolling Stone interview does little to answer the question of who, exactly, is Barack Obama: "I've got everything (on his iPod] from Howlin' Wolf to Yo-Yo Ma to Sheryl Crow to Jay-Z," he boasts to the magazine, leaving the reader no clearer about his true centre of gravity.
