Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors, the newest record from Atlanta rapper Big Boi, is set to drop next Tuesday. As Washington anticipates the album, a recent interview between the rapper and Pitchfork is gaining some attention.
When Big Boi was asked about a song off of his last album, the interview turned to politics and "his ambivalent feelings about President Obama":
Pitchfork: You had a few things to say about Obama on Sir Lucious [Left Foot], but it was recorded before he became president. And there was your song "Sumthin's Gotta Give" with Mary J. Blige where she sang about cheering for Obama...
BB: I didn't tell her to do that.
Pitchfork: No? She just did it?
BB: On my damn record. I had a problem with it.
In "Sumthin’s Gotta Give," Mary J. Blige sings, "The only hope I have to help me deal with the drama is that maybe in November I’ll be cheering for Obama." The song discusses various social issues and the video opens with a quote from then-candidate Obama.
If the rapper once supported the president, he is frustrated with him now. The interview continues:
BB: I'm not pro-government at all, I'm pro-people. Our freedoms are getting taken away every day with things that people aren't aware of, like the [National Defense Authorization Act]. I don't care who the president is--it ain't just all about who's black or who's white or who's Republican or Democrat, it's about who is for the betterment of people, period.
Pitchfork: Do you have any feelings about Obama's first term now that he's been re-elected?
BB: Nope. What did he do? They say he's trying to clean up a mess, right? Well, he needs a big-ass broom, and he gotta keep on sweeping. I ain't on nobody's team, you feel me? I'm about the American people.