Obama Provides 'A Beat' for Vietnamese Rapper, Warns 'Sometimes, Art Is Dangerous'

Craig Bannister | May 26, 2016
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Pres. Obama asked a young Vietnamese leader to rap for him, and even provided her a “beat” to help her out at a town hall in Ho Chi Minh City Wednesday.

At the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) event, Obama asked the young woman, Sue, to perform for him – and to rap in Vietnamese, not English. He then offered up his rendition of a rap beat to help get her started.

After her brief performance, Pres. Obama told her that sexism exists in the U.S. entertainment industry and that, “Sometimes art is dangerous, though.  And that's why governments sometimes get nervous about art.

The Obama administration did, indeed, get nervous when it blamed the attack on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi on a YouTube video.

Watch the president of the United States and young Rapper Sue perform, followed by the full transcript of their exchange.

Remarks by President Obama at YSEALI Town Hall GEM Convention Center Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Q  Hi.  So I am a rapper here in Saigon, Vietnam.
 
PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Are you a rapper?  Oh, yes?  
 
Q    You have spoken a lot about environment and like politics and economic progress of Vietnam.  But as an artist, we have a lot to say.
 
PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Okay. 
 
Q    We have message to say.  I want to know how important it is for a nation to really help and promote their art and culture, and to help its nation in the future.
 
PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Okay.   Before I answer your question, why don't you give me a little rap?  Let’s see what you got.  (Applause.)  Come on.  Do you need like a little beat?  Badoom, badoom.  (Laughter.)    
 
Q    Yes, I do, actually.  (Laughter.)  
 
PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Go ahead.  Come on.
 
Q    Vietnamese or English?
 
PRESIDENT OBAMA:  In Vietnamese, of course.
 
Q    In Vietnamese?
PRESIDENT OBAMA:  I won't know what it means, but just a short version -- because I got to get going.  (Laughter.) 
 
Q    (Raps in Vietnamese.)  My name is Sue, by the way.  (Applause.)  
 
PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Well, that was good.  See there, that was pretty good.  What were you just rapping?  What was your verse there?  
 
Q    I was just talking about some people having a lot of money, having big houses, but actually are they really happy?  
 
PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Okay.
 
Q    Yeah, a lot of things -- that people look at us and see like different thing and something they assume, or a lot of like stereotypes like me, Asian rapper, looking like a cute girl.  People don't know --
 
PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Is that what they think?  (Laughter.) 
 
Q    But for Vietnamese people, it's different.  They think rapping is not like for women.  
 
PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Ahh.  Well, that's true in the United States too.  (Laughter.)  No, no, I just mean that there’s always been sort of sexism and gender stereotypes in the music industry like every other part of life.
 
But to answer your question, look, the arts are important.  Artistic expression is important.  It's what I was just saying to the filmmaker about stories that we tell each other.  Music, poetry, representations of life as it is and how it should be -- those are the things that inspire people.  Life is a combination of very practical things, right?  You got to eat, you got to work, you got to build roads and make sure that some dam isn't ruining a community.  But it's also the spirit that we have inside of us, and how is that expressed, and what are our vision and what are our ideals for the future, and how do we want to live together, and how do we treat each other.
 
And one of the most important things about art is it teaches you to not just think about yourself, but it puts you in the head of other people.  So you start realizing somebody else’s pain, or somebody else’s hopes.  And you start realizing that we have more in common.  So if I read a novel by somebody in Africa, now, suddenly, I understand more about how we are similar.  And if I listen to a Vietnamese rap, and it connects to the things that I'm feeling, now I feel closer to a country on the other side of the world.  And that's how we build understanding.  And that's how we end up being able to work together and plan together and build a better future together.
 
So, look, let’s be honest.  Sometimes art is dangerous, though.  And that's why governments sometimes get nervous about art.  But one of the things that I truly believe is that if you try to suppress the arts, then I think you're suppressing the deepest dreams and aspirations of a people.  
 
And one of the great things about the United States, for all of our flaws in a lot of areas, is that we do give much greater expression to our culture. And something like rap, which started off as an expression of poor African Americans, now, suddenly has become a global phenomenon and is really the art form of most young people around the world today in a lot of ways.  And imagine if, at the time when rap was starting off, that our government had said, no, because some of the things you say are offensive, or some of the lyrics are rude, or you're cursing too much -- then that connection that we've seen now in hip-hop culture around the world wouldn't exist.
 
So you got to let people express themselves.  That's part of what a modern, 21st century culture is all about.

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