OutKast’s Big Boi: I’m For The People, Not Obama

OutKast rapper Big Boi is apparently not a member of Team Obama or a fan of government, and that kind of makes him an “outcast” among his music-industry peers.

For one thing, Big Boi (real name Antwan Patton) claimed he was not at all pleased that Mary J. Blige was “cheering for Obama” in the lyrics of the 2008 song “Sumthin’s Gotta Give.”

In an interview with Pitchfork Media, Big Boi responded as follows:

“I didn’t tell her to do that. On my damn record. I had a problem with it. I’m not pro-government at all, I’m pro-people. Our freedoms are getting taken away every day with things that people aren’t aware of, like the [National Defense Authorization Act]. I don’t care who the president is — it ain’t just all about who’s black or who’s white or who’s Republican or Democrat, it’s about who is for the betterment of people, period.”

The Pitchfork interviewer than asked Big Boi if had any feelings about President Barak Obama’s first term in office upon his re-election in November:

“Nope. What did he do? They say he’s trying to clean up a mess, right? Well, he needs a big-ass broom, and he gotta keep on sweeping. I ain’t on nobody’s team, you feel me? I’m about the American people.”

Another rapper, Shyne, is also not enamored of Obama, according to an MTV interview in October

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which Obama signed into law, allows for the indefinite detention of persons — including American citizens — suspected by the government of being involved in terrorism.

Traditionally, those in the artistic community have rebelled against government. During the Obama administration, however (and in the Clinton administration to a lesser but similar extent), the loudest voices in the entertainment community have been worshipful of the presidency. For example, while obviously he was joking, actor Jamie Foxx made reference to “our lord and savior Barack Obama” at a recent awards ceremony.

Why do you think that many in the celebrity/entertainment culture, and most of the mainstream news media, have in general switched roles from watchdogs to lapdogs of the federal government, specifically the executive branch?

Do you agree with Big Boi that the NDAA is a threat to civil liberties?

[Image credit: Aija Lehtonen / Shutterstock.com]