In the Mix

As a young black man from Chicago who's called out George Bush as an "American Terrorist" in song, I had Lupe Fiasco pegged as a Barack Obama supporter. But as with most things with Lupe, who's as likely to sing the praises of Foreigner or Astroboy or Max Roach as he is rappers like Too Short or Spice 1, it's a little more complicated than that. (My interview with Fiasco, who plays the Fillmore on Thursday night, is here.)

On the day after Obama's big win over Hillary Clinton in South Carolina last weekend, the Muslim rapper told me he wasn't planning on voting for either of them. That's because Fiasco identifies himself as "a Chomskyite" and like lefty linguist Noam Chomsky, he feels that no individual politician can be the true "agent of change" that both candidates present themselves as. "I don't really care, because I have no faith in the system," he said.

Still, "I've been watching," Fiasco said. "I look at Barack Obama as a very powerful dude. He reminds me of Malcolm X." But Fiasco seemed more impressed by the potential impact of Clinton, should she reach office. "I look at Hillary and I think as a female figurehead, running the most powerful country in the world, what effect that would have on women around the world? Will they stand up? .... That might lead to some sort of renaissance that might be kind of fresh."

Fiasco played a downtown Baltimore club called Sonar after I talked to him at
Sound Garden records in the Fels Point section of town - an excellent shop, by the way, if you ever find yourself in Charm City. Before "American Terrorist," the 25 year old emcee brought the election up, not mentioning that he didn't plan on voting himself. "I like both of them," he said of the Dem duo. "A powerful man, and a powerful lady." But when he mentioned the candidates by name in front of his audience of potential hip-hop voters, the difference in reaction was stark. Obama got whoops, hollers and cheers; Clinton was booed as if she were Terrell Owens at Lincoln Financial Field. There was no question who won that straw poll.

You can see a video for "Us Racers," the Thom Yorke remake by Child Rebel Soldiers, the hip-hop troika of Lupe Fiasco, Kanye West and Pharrell Williams here. Fiasco will be on the road with the Glow In The Dark Tour, with West, Rihanna and William's N.E.R.D. this summer. And the video for "Dumb It Down" from Lupe Fiasco's The Cool, is right here: