Music Blogs

Twenty four hours after the inauguration of Barack Obama and an event that truly felt momentous, it seems reasonable to reflect on the influence of pop culture here. Check-out the list of his musical supporters: Bruce Springsteen, U2, Mariah Carey, Madonna, will.i.am, Alicia Keys, Shakira, Stevie Wonder, Nicole Scherzinger, Jay-Z, Beyonce, Maroon 5, Aretha Franklin, Neil Young, Radiohead, Morrissey, Ne-Yo, P Diddy, Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Coldplay, Massive Attack, Macy Gray, REM, Moby, Mary J Blige, John Legend, Wilco, Usher, Arcade Fire.

It's quite a roll call. Yesterday's spectacular Washington DC bash to commemorate Obama becoming the 44th President of the United States attracted an audience in the region of two million people, while George W Bush is thought to have accepted a second term to just 100,000 in 2005. Clearly, this man is a phenomenon, worthy of praise and a bringer of real aspiration to all corners of the globe. While the more obvious supporters have been on-hand at a variety of glitzy events in recent days, his international reach was emphasised today when Daft Punk released their own tribute with a new version of "Aerodynamic".



Of course, Dubya has been forgotten already. "No one could be worse than Bush. They should have replaced him with a dice four years ago", quipped Spartexx on YouTube after watching the above clip. At the other end of the Obama spectrum of love comes Jay-Z, who played a new song, "History", at a pre-inauguration bash to mark his evident pride at witnessing the first black President. "It's about trying to find victory, victory being a woman, and so me and victory can make a kid - the kid being history, and then history tells your legacy. It's deep but it's fun. It's not really that complicated", he explained, confusingly. But what does this all actually mean? That Barack Obama has energised popular culture at a flash. Best of luck to him.