We all should know by now that Obama lost barely to Hilary Clinton in the New Hampshire primary. However, much like Hip Hop in the eighties, Obama refuses to just be a fad. As his campaign drives on to Michigan, BET’s Jeff Johnson snagged some interesting quotes from Barack on Hip Hop.

“I’ve met with Jay-Z; I’ve met with Kanye. And I’ve talked to other artists about how potentially to bridge that gap. I think the potential for them to deliver a message of extraordinary power that gets people thinking [is strong],”

Could Barack be looking to enlist some of our most well known hip hop artists to help get his points across to the youth? That would would be very interesting. However, though Barack sees the power that hip hop has and understands how to harness it, he isn’t too happy with the images hip hop often portrays.

“There are times, even on the artists I’ve named, the artists that I love, that there is a message that’s, sometimes degrading to women, uses the N-word a lil’ too frequently,” he said on the show, which was played on Monday. “But also something that I’m really concerned about is [they are] always talking about material things about how I can get something-more money, more cars.”

“What we need to reform is the conditions that create these lyrics. Obama needs to reform the conditions of poverty. I wish he really did raise his money on the Internet, like he said. I wish he really did raise his money independently.”

Money, Power, Respect. Money, Cash, Hoes. Yeh Barack, hip hop can be very materialistic and its image isn’t exactly sparkling. That doesn’t seem to keep Obama from liking hip hop any less.

“I gotta admit – lately I’ve been listening to a lot of Jay-Z. This new American Gangster album is [nice]. Kanye, I like. I enjoy some of the newer stuff. Honestly, I love the art of Hip-Hop. I don’t always love the message of Hip-Hop.”

I wonder if Barack be getting his b-boy on while alone at the crib. Maybe the freestyle session with the homies after a few drinks? Somehow I doubt it but who knows.

In the end appears that Barack Obama may be one of the first canidates that really “gets” hip hop and its culture.

“Hip-Hop is not just a mirror of what is it should be a mirror of what can be. A lot of people say, ‘I want to be real. I want to be down. Then we’re just trapped in ‘What is.’ Imagine something different. Imagine communities that aren’t torn up by violence.

“Imagine that we’re respecting our women,” Obama continued. “Imagine communities where knowledge and reading and academic excellence are valued, communities where fathers are doing right by their kids. Art can’t just be a rearview mirror. It should have a headlight on there pointing to where we need to go.”