Obama Nation
Political rap, is what made me love rap and hiphop in general, and a few months ago I came across an artist that calls himself Lowkey, a British rapper from Iraqi origines, like Narcy, a Canadian rapper from Iraqi origines, they both are educated, and both deliver a powerful message through their music and lyrics.
This is a song called Obama Nation, Lowkey explains it all in his own blog. I like the song, so I posted it along with the lyrics. According to him, everything he says is well researched.
I also read a good article by Noam Chomsky which you can find here. I think the song might’ve been inspired by some of the things in the article.
Lowkey – Obama Nation (Official Lyrics)
[Intro]
This track is not an attack upon the American people,
It’s an attack upon the system within which they live.
Since 1945 the United States has attempted to overthrow more than 50 foreign governments,
In the process the US has caused the end of life for several million people,
And condemned many millions more to a life of agony and despair.
[Verse 1]
The strength of your dreaming prevents you from reason,
The American dream only makes sense if you’re sleeping,
It’s just a cruel fantasy; their politics took my voice away,
But their music gave it back to me,
The land where the lumpen are consumed by consumption,
Killing themselves to shovel down food in abundance,
I guess a rapper from Britain is a rare voice,
America is capitalism on steroids,
Natives kept in casinos and reservations,
Displaced slaves never given reparations,
Take everything from Native Americans,
And wonder why i call it the racist experiment,
Afraid of your melanin, the same as it’s ever been,
That aint gonna change with the race of the president,
I see imperialism under your skin tone,
You could call it Christopher Columbus syndrome.
Is it Obama’s nation? Or an abomination?
Is it Obama’s nation? Or an abomination?
Is it Obama’s nation? Or an abomination?
Doesn’t make any difference when they bomb your nation.
O! say can you see by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming.
[Verse 2]
The world’s entertainer, the world’s devastator,
From Venezuela, to Mesopotamia,
Your cameras lie, cause they have to hide the savage crimes,
Committed on leaders that happen to try and nationalize,
Eating competitions? while the worlds been starving,
Beat up communism with the help of Bin Laden,
Where would your war of terror be without that man,
Every day you create more Nidal Hassan’s,
Kill a man from the military, you’re a weirdo,
But kill a wog from the Middle East you’re a hero,
Your country is causing screams that never reach your ear holes,
America inflicted a million Ground Zero’s,
Follow the dollar and swallow your humanity,
Soldier’s committing savagery you never even have to see,
Those mad at me, writing emails angrily,
I’m not anti-America, America is anti-me!
[Chorus 2x]
Is it Obama’s nation? Or an abomination?
Is it Obama’s nation? Or an abomination?
Is it Obama’s nation? Or an abomination?
Doesn’t make any difference when they bomb your nation.
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night, that our flag was still there,
O! say does that star spangled banner yet wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
[Verse 3]
I don’t care if him and Cheney are long lost relations,
What matters more is the policies, I lost my patience,
Stop debating bringing race into the conversation,
Occupation and cooperation equals profit making,
It’s over; people wake up from the dream now,
Nobel peace prize, Jay Z on speed-dial,
It’s the substance within, not the colour of your skin,
Are you the puppeteer or the puppet on the string?,
So many believed it was instantly gonna’ change,
There was still Dennis Ross, Brzezinski and Robert Gates,
What happened to Chas freeman? (AIPAC),
What happened to Tristan Anderson?,
It’s a machine that keeps that man breathing,
I have the heart to say what all the other rappers aren’t,
Words like Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan,
The wars on, and you morons were all wrong,
I call Obama a bomber cause those are your bombs.
Comments
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Apr 05, 2010 @ 12:30:07
Good lookin out brotha!
u can find a full live interview with lowkey here
http://revoltradio.blogspot.com/2010/03/revolt-free-palestine-concert-footage.html
You should write about Shadia Mansour’s song -
El Koffeyye Arabeyye – its more than just a song
check it out
http://revoltradio.blogspot.com/2010/03/new-shadia-mansour-single-feat-m1-from.html
Apr 05, 2010 @ 12:37:43
Hass, that inteview u did with Lowkey was powerful… good job on that, and Shadia Mansour is also great. Thanks for all the good stuff on REVOLT man.
Apr 07, 2010 @ 10:10:31
U welcome brotha.
appreciate wat u do.
big ups!
Apr 05, 2010 @ 15:25:11
I really enjoyed the music and found the lyrics as written both startling in form and familiar in content. In addition to potential Chomsky influences, there are undertones of Malcolm X, Frantz Fanon, and Albert Memmi. The attack on a system is most relevant, and the one on Obama as not delivering the change in the system that he promised is pointed. While he has been in office for little time, Obama campaigned on a policy of escalating the war in Afghanistan and taking it to Pakistan. He has put Iraq on a back burner but the war there is still ongoing.
I am always impressed that my connection with Noam Chomsky’s politics varies indirectly as my disconnection with his linguistics. The first linguistics course I took for credit, as opposed to the 2 I audited, had a major section on Chomsky’s generative grammar. Whereas I nodded my head in agreement all through the French linguistics I was really in the course for, I found Chomsky’s linguistics counterintuitive to say the least. That includes hearing him speak on campus and having to stop myself from appearing disgruntled, given that I was sitting front and centre with a bunch of profs, including the President of the university.
Nonetheless I seem to agree with everything Chomsky writes on politics, including the essay you linked. Just when I thought he was leaving out Pinochet (part of my doctorate was on the overthrow of Allende, which was worse than he had space to address in this article) there Chile September 9, 1973 was. I do believe he skipped over Reagan’s claim that Libyan terrorists had been intercepted entering the country to assassinate him, but Chomsky explained extremely well the Nicaraguan “threat”, and the ongoing Cuban fiasco. Obama won’t rectify the latter because he didn’t win Florida last election.
Still and all, the days of the GWB administration are happily past. They may all be part of a problem-ridden system, but the Democrats seem to handle it somewhat better than the Republicans do–which is why the world “votes” en masse for a Democrat, no matter which one it is.
Another great post, and links, thanks!
Apr 07, 2010 @ 07:27:59
PS. Shafiq of The Student View has written a new post that is stunning and stunningly relevant to this one:
CIA report into shoring up Afghan war support in Western Europe
NB the leaked video as well as the report
Apr 07, 2010 @ 10:01:54
Thanks for the link
Apr 07, 2010 @ 10:00:06
Chiara my friend, thank you very much… but I have to say, that second paragraph I did not understand
Apr 07, 2010 @ 12:06:21
LOL
The math part, or the linguistics, or what I was doing at a conference in such illustrious company? LOL 
Actually there may be a double negative in the first sentence because otherwise “varies indirectly” is pretty straightforward.
In short, I took a linguistics course not expecting Chomsky to be on the syllabus and required learning. I hate his linguistics. On the other hand I love his politics. I only read Chomsky on politics, never on linguistics.
The how I was at the conference with him speaking (twice come to think of it, and different faculties) is “complicated”. LOL
Apr 07, 2010 @ 03:39:03
Thanks for sharing this. I watched it yesterday and didn’t post. I had to settle on how I felt. You know, Qusay, some days I am really proud to be an American. And other days I really hate it when I come face to face with reality and see how we’ve hurt so many people over the years.
Apr 07, 2010 @ 09:58:18
I think you should always be proud to be who you are and where you are from
I do not think there is a country that does not have dark politics, and if anything, this shows that the politics and policies of governments do not usually represent the people.
At least, you and others in America can say you do not agree (with whatever you do not agree with), Noam Chomsky and others like him are doing it and try to enlighten people that things are not always what they seem.
I remember youtube videos and pictures online when Bush was re-elected, people had their pictures online saying they were sorry and that they did not vote for Bush… do you know what would happen to most people if they did that elsewhere?
Thanks for the comment Susanne
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