President Barack Obama, a known fan of hip-hop who has advised Kanye West on a possible political career and hailed Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly as the best album of 2015, has now declared the month of June 2016 “African-American Music Appreciation Month.”
In a presidential proclamation issued on May 31st, President Obama remarked, “African-American music exemplifies the creative spirit at the heart of American identity and is among the most innovative and powerful art the world has ever known. It accompanies us in our daily lives, and it has rung out at turning points in our history and demonstrated how our achievements as a culture go hand-in-hand with our progress as a Nation.”
He also called on public officials and educators to observe the month with “appropriate activities and programs that raise awareness and foster appreciation of music that is composed, arranged, or performed by African Americans.”
Note that Drake, whom Obama has compared unfavorably to Lamar, is Canadian.
