Entertainment of Tuesday, 6 November 2012

Source: Ernest Dela Aglanu

People still want Obama in the White House – Blakk Rasta

The name of prolific reggae artiste and host of Taxi Driver on Hitz FM, Blakk Rasta will linger on in America’s political sphere for decades to come.

A well composed tune, Barack Obama, written and dedicated to then candidate Obama ahead of the 2008 American elections, shot the controversial musician, born Abubakar Ahmed, to worldwide prominence.

As if a prophecy, the song galvanized a determined Obama into the history books by becoming the first black person to occupy the high office of President of America.

Four years down the line, Blakk Rasta still holds the belief that Barack Obama, who has family ties in Kenya, has performed creditably and deserves another shot as the world’s most powerful man.

He told the BBC in an interview Tuesday the mere fact that a black man was bold and determined enough to aim at the prestigious office of President of America inspired him to write the song.

“The very first time a black man decided to contest the elections in America, it inspired all of us right here in Africa so I had the inspiration straight away from Jah, the Almighty father, to make a song for him, which I upheld and went on and wrote that song for him so basically it was an inspiration that one of our kind was finally going to be President in a white dominated country,” he revealed.

Asked how the first black American President has fared four years on, Blakk Rasta did not mince words in saying that in spite of the huge pressure and expectations, Obama has done “extremely,” well.

“The kind of pressure that has come to bear on him and the kind of work he had to do because some people messed [the country] up and he had to come over and do all the work for me, it is still very inspiring and a lot of people still love him,” he stressed.

As America goes to the polls Tuesday to either renew Obama’s mandate or give Republican challenger Mitt Romney a chance in the Oval Office, Blakk Rasta believes that the story of Obama still inspires many across the world, "and I can say for sure Obama is still a household name, four years on and people still want him to be in the White House.”

The controversial musician met Obama during the US President's historic visit to Ghana in 2009.

He revealed that, during that encounter, Barrack Obama told him “in his own words, that the song inspired him on to victory … he heard the song long before the American elections.”

According to the New York Times, Blakk Rasta added, “he was even dancing, in the airplane that took him back to America, to this song.”