Rapper Common says Barack Obama’s presidency will directly influence the state of hip hop, a genre which Common is in love with, and Nas claims is dead .

The accomplished artist believes that hip hop artists “pick up what’s going on in the world and try to reflect that,” giving such examples as KRS One, Talib Kweli, and the ever enlightened Mystikal.

This optimistic view comes hand-in-hand with Common’s new record, Universal Mind Control, as an example of his vision for the future of hip hop. Apparently, reflecting the most current and relevant realities of the world around us involves attempting to “really make some music that was bright, that would be a little more lighthearted.” This kind of musical product, the rapper predicts, will exceed the popularity of (and replace) the more popular genres today: “I think hip-hop artists will have no choice but to talk about different things and more positive things.”

While it would be nice to think that ignorance, misogyny, and violence would no longer be condoned or even discussed in mainstream rap music because Barack Obama is in office, Common clearly missed the scores of mixtapes with the president-elect’s face on them, some of which contain lyrics that can be considered typical of most mainstream garbage out today. While Common’s endeavor is noble, his challenge for today’s rappers to enhance their content is being met with little consideration from mainstream artists. When asked to comment, Li’l Wayne is reported to have stated, “(Expletive Deleted) that (Expletive Deleted)! (Expletive Deleted)!”