AllRespect.com // Young Jeezy And Nas Pay Tribute To Barack Obama, MLK, Public Enemy In 'My President' Video

Posted on 2008-12-03 03:00:13
Artist/band(s): Ludacris [FB], Nas [FB], Public Enemy [FB], Young Jeezy [FB]

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1600558/20081202/jeezy_young.jhtml

Plus: Jeezy hints at a possible tour with fellow Georgians T.I. and Ludacris.By Shaheem Reid

Young Jeezy and Nas on the "My President" video setPhoto: Exclusiveaccess.net

ATLANTA — On June 3, at 2:08 a.m., Young Jeezy created a new hip-hop national anthem. And at the very end of that song, "My President," Jeezy reminded everyone exactly when he recorded it: "June 3, 2008."

"[That's] why I chose to timestamp it," Young said about recording the tribute to President-elect Barack Obama. "A lot of people do things for gimmicky reasons. I ain't no gimmicky dude. I just decided to do it to show I had faith in him.

"I had faith in the whole situation," he added about the presidential election. "It was more so saying, 'This man is gonna win. There's nothing to do to stop him.' Yes we can. Yes we did. It takes a nation of millions to hold us back."

Jeezy and Nas finally filmed a video for the song last weekend in Atlanta. (There were some delays due to Nas' international touring.) The whole community came out to support.

"This is Martin Luther King's 'hood," Young said with a smile, standing in front of his tour bus during a break in filming. "I don't know if y'all know it or not. Auburn Avenue. A very monumental spot. Probably one of the most monumental, historic spots we've got in Atlanta. It's a monumental video, so I wanted to do it in a monumental spot. Auburn Ave., Ebenezer Baptist Church."

Ebenezer was the church where Martin Luther King Jr. preached, and it's located just minutes from the house he grew up in. Forty years after his death, MLK's dream came to fruition with Obama heading to the White House. Jeezy paid homage to both leaders in the video, as well as to Public Enemy. He shot some of the performance scenes with the neighborhood's residents in the background, similar to what PE did in 1989 in Brooklyn, New York, for the "Fight the Power" clip.

"I did [the video] with the 'Fight the Power' concept because I remember, back in the day, Flavor Flav and Chuck D marching down the street," Jeezy explained. "They had the old people, the young people, store owners, they had picket signs, everything. It was a sense of black pride, a sense of pride, period."

In another performance scene, Jeezy and Nas rap in front of Obama — at least a picture of the president-elect.

"This what I'm all about," Nas said. "It's a celebration. The celebration of the first black president on the song from a perspective of the streets. You can't get more 'hood than my man Young Jeezy. So this is the prefect combination."

"Nas been hitting on [political] subjects even before I started thinking that way," Jeezy added about his partner. "So I thought it was only right I reach out to him and see if he wanted to do it. We made history."

Young Jeezy was one of the more vocal voices in the hip-hop community urging people to go out and vote this year. His campaigning didn't stop on November 4, however. On Monday night, Jeezy, T.I. and Ludacris were at the Georgia Capitol campaigning to get Democrat Jim Martin elected to Congress in a runoff election against Republican Saxby Chambliss.

"We won the battle," YJ said in statement. "Now it's time we win the war. Vote Jim Martin."

Jeezy, 'Cris and Tip are all slated to appear together during a December 27 concert in New York. Luda told MTV News recently that he would love for the trio to turn their allegiance into a full-fledged tour. Jeezy seemed to be down with it.

"You never know about us. The Georgia boys might put something together," he said. "We've been talking about a tour, so don't be surprised if you see it real soon."

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