The Great Austin Migration

Will.I.Am’s “Yes We Can” and “It’s a New Day” are digital lyrical bookends to President Obama’s historic 2008 run for the White House that captured the energy of hope and change like no other political narrative. Released on YouTube, viewed by the world, the hip-hop renderings of Barack Obama’s promise as a candidate tapped into a deep social desire to experience more than just political change - the nation wanted a catharsis. 2012 is The Morning After. Young people are out of work, underpaid and frustrated with Washington’s bureaucratic nonsense. How will the context of current events affect the upcoming election cycle? Hip-hop has always been a music about social action and about changing the society that we live in. In the 2008 election, the hip-hop world tried proposition, not opposition of a major candidate; but not enough has changed since President Obama was elected. Now that the novelty has worn off, will hip-hop show up for the 2012 elections?