Barack Obama in Raleigh, NC - Wash Post Article - Obama Has Jay-Z on His IPod and The Moves To Prove It By Teresa Wiltz

Barack talks about last night's debate in a town hall meeting in Raleigh, NC on April 17, 2008.

How does Jay-Z say to brush off the haters? Funny! Go, Barack!
~LT

Obama Has Jay-Z on His IPod and The Moves To Prove It

Obama Brushes Off Debate Jabs
By Teresa Wiltz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 19, 2008; Page C01

Perhaps this is what the Funkmeister -- that other Clinton -- meant when he sang about painting the White House black: There's Barack Obama, fresh from Wednesday's debate dust-up, beleaguered but still standing, acknowledging that he's taken some hits from his opponent, some mighty hits, but you know, it's okay, because that's politics. Ultimately, you've got to . . .

And then he -- pay attention now -- brushes the dirt off his shoulders. Repeatedly.

The crowd leaps to its feet, applauding and laughing.

Talk about a major Jay-Z move. People, we're talking about a seminal moment in the campaign, the merging of politics and pop culture: in which a presidential candidate -- a self-confessed hip-hop head and Jay-Z fan -- references a rap hit and a dance move.

Within hours, there were video mash-ups on the Web depicting Obama dusting himself off as Jay-Z urges, "If you feelin' like a pimp . . . go and brush your shoulders off. . . . Get that dirt off your shoulder." (In one mash-up, the heads of Bill and Hillary Clinton, Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos roll off the Illinois senator's broad shoulders.)

Full article: www.washpost.com