President Barack Obama Joins Jay-Z On Stage at Made In America Festival [Video]

As we reported earlier, President Barack Obama made a surprise, remote appearance alongside rapper Jay-Z at the weekend’s Made In America festival, which is kind of funny considering the whole “birther” thing just came up again a few weeks ago.

It’s no secret that Obama is a big fan of Hova’s music, and the President has always admitted to having a bit of Jay-Z on his iPod. But the appearance during Jay’s set is still a little transgressive in a time where many of the President’s opponents have resorted to race-related division in the lead up to the election.

Still, as always, Jay-Z killed. And by all appearances — video footage of the event is choppy and it’s difficult to see it as a solid, continuous bit of footage — the President did as well. Or, as the Miami New Times blog puts it:

“We already knew Obeezy was a down-ass gangsta who rolled through the hood bumpin’ Young Jeezy. But now we know the Commander-in-Chief has ties to the throne. That shit cray.”

Of course, if you were waiting for Mr. President to bust out a line from Reasonable Doubt, it wasn’t that gangsta.

What the Commander-in-Chief did say was on-message and on-brand, but we will also point out it came right ahead of a rendition of “H To The Izzo,” which would have been sweet with a bit of Oval Office backup:

“To me, the idea of America is that no matter who you are, what you look like or where you come from, you can make it if you try … Jay-Z did. He didn’t come from power or privilege. He got ahead because he worked hard, learned from his mistakes, and just plain refused to quit. That’s what ‘Made in America’ means.”

Word. Were you impressed by President Obama’s appearance alongside Jay-Z?