BET Hip Hop Awards ‘Barack the vote’

While Sarah Palin was preparing for her guest appearance on “Saturday Night Live,” rapper Lil Wayne took the liberty to throw a lyrical diss at the Republican VP candidate and McCain while rapping onstage at the 2008 BET Hip Hop Awards in Atlanta.

It was certainly a pro-Obama night at the Atlanta Civic Center, where the third annual show was taped. Even during a performance meant to honor women in hip-hop (which required calling ’80s and ’90s rapppers Salt N Pepa and DJ Spinderella, the Lady of Rage, MC Lyte and Yo-Yo out of semi-retirement) a classic tune like Salt N Pepa’s sexually implicit ”Push It” became a rallying cry to Barack the vote.

“In 2008, we’re pushing for change in America, and we’re pushing for Barack Obama,” said Cheryl “Salt” Wray. 

The partisan show of support was no surprise, but still sorta ironic considering the BET network’s founder and former CEO Bob Johnson vehemently opposed Barack Obama’s candidacy during the Democratic primaries when he was a staunch HIllary Clinton supporter.

You can read more about how hip-hop and politics mixed at the BET HHA in this AJC story.