Support for Obama proudly on display at the BET Awards

Last night, while Seal was serenading Obama at a fancy fundraiser a few miles away at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion -- read Tina Daunt and Michael Finnegan's account here -- today's most influential hip-hop and R&B artists were staging a more visible endorsement session at the BET Awards, in between performances by Lil' Wayne, Rihanna and Lifetime Achievement Award winner Al Green.

Actors Kym Whitley (pictured above) and Brandon T. Jackson wore Obama T-shirts; mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs used his microphone time to drive home his new slogan, "Obama or die!" The night's mood was encapsulated during the Best Collaboration award presentation, when starlet-singer Cassie trotted out the usual music-biz message of "register to vote, but we're non-partisan" and Jackson, one of her co-presenters, responded with a cheerful expletive and a display of his totally partisan shirt. From then on, all semblance of standing outside politics was cast to the wind. Alicia Keys offered the triumphal note in her acceptance speech for Best Female R&B Artist: "Together we can do anything. Obama, y'all!"

Obama and the artists who cheered for him at the BET Awards can gain much from each other. While white rockers and progressive politics have long been a happy pair (the occasional Ted Nugent-style "right rebel" aside), urban music has a stronger reputation as a cause of social ills than a force for change. Obama provides urban artists with a cause they can embrace and a chance to elevate a public image that's often been smeared.

"Positive" urban stars Keys, Jill Scott (exquisite while honoring Green at the show) or Common rarely get the attention more controversial figures attract. The complexity of an artist like Lil' Wayne is lost on those who can't see past his prison-style tattoos. Hip-hop and R&B may be the No. 1 creative force in global pop, but it's still regularly decried as socially marginal. The"thug life" (often reinforced by rappers' own brushes with the law) and the increasingly frank eroticism of R&B still have the power to shock; sadly, many non-fans consider these boundary-pushing forms more a force against society than a source of revelations about it.

Uniting behind Obama could provide urban artists a new way into the mainstream cultural dialogue. Rappers affected by Katrina, like Lil' Wayne and David Banner, have already proven their interest in raising the political consciousness of their fans. Then there's the power-player aspect of presidential politics, which has to appeal to aspiring capitalists like Diddy and Jay-Z. An inaugural party with entertainment by Hova and Beyoncé isn't beyond imagining. Wouldn't that be fly?

Obama's own statements about hip-hop's effect on culture have been carefully modulated. He said in a recent Rolling Stone interview that the materialism and misogny in some rap lyrics bothers him, but he stands up for the culture-shifting "genius of the art form." Given the realities of a general election, it's unlikely he'll ever link arms with apologetic fan-humper Akon the way Kerry did with Springsteen.

But he's undoubtedly aware of the power urban artists have to influence taste, especially among young citizens, and after last night, he may fully understand how much enthusiasm's greeting him in those corners. The chance to empower a new generation of voters through the culture they love? Now that's pretty fly.

-- Ann Powers

For more BET Awards coverage, read Extended Play

Photo: Frazer Harrison / Getty Images