This morning the New York Times explores the origins and issues of recent viral sensation Baracka Flacka Flames. In case you’re behind on your Internet, the clip spoofs Waka Flocka Flame’s street smash “Hard in the Paint†by having Obama (played by comedian Jason Davis) garishly flaunt his wealth and influence while partying on the porch of an inner-city house. It’s totally great! Don’t tell that to Waka Flocka, though. From the Times:
“That they used it to be so sarcastic, it was almost a form of disrespect,†he said. He shared it on Twitter, though only to “let other people see how ignorant other people can be,†he asserted, not wholly convincingly. His manager, Debra Antney (who is also his mother), said she called up the influential hip-hop video site WorldstarHipHop.com to have the clip removed, to no avail. “That’s not a positive image for us, period, as African-Americans, where we came from, where we’re going today,†she said.
Well, that certainly is a surprising opinion: You’d think an enthusiastic self-promoter like Waka — whose opinion on the divide between entertainment and lyricism in hip-hop was once summed up as “nobody want to hear that damn dictionary rap†— would be psyched to have his song sound-tracking a YouTube hit. Waka, Vulture asks nicely: Watch it again. Try to enjoy it. Did you see the part where the guy was combing his chest hair? Okay, now can someone go get Obama’s opinion on this?