Thug Life Army

Chicago's Rhymefest is a man on a mission and that's a good thing. First he wants to live up to the revolutionary spirit behind his real name El Che. Rhymefest was named after the famed Argentinian born, Cuban revolutionary icon Che Guevera. Rhymefest noted that names are important and that we should all strive to give our children names with rich meanings that will effectively counter the negativity being served up to us daily.

Rhymefest's second mission is to enlighten our minds, uplift Hip Hop and bring out a Hip Hop Intellectual Drop Squad that is committed to calling folks out when they say something dumb. Right now it appears that Lupe Fiasco may be the first casualty in this new drop squad of sorts as him and Rhymefest have been going at it over who is best qualified to win the presidential elections.

According to Rhymefest, Lupe set things off when he announced that he wasn''t going to vote because he didn''t believe in the system , but if he did he would throw his support behind Hillary Clinton. He felt that it would be good to have a woman president and that he couldn''t support Obama because he said he wanted to bomb Iran.

Those remarks got under the skin of Rhymefest who promptly called out his fellow Chicagoan and basically let him have it. He told Lupe that someone of his profile and influence should not be out there giving out mis-information. He then proceeded to put into context Obama's position on the war and contrasted that with Clinton. He laid out their position on some other key issues and then called into question Lupe's remarks about not wanting to be political or in the system.

"How can you say you don''t wanna be political and then be apart of the record industry?", Rhymefest asked. "Don''t you think all those same top ten records you hear from coast to coast is not the result of politics? If you don''t wanna be part of the system why not sell your records directly to the people?"

Rhymefest is passionate about his politics. He's also passionate when he feels people are out of pocket and misleading folks. So as of late him and Lupe have been going at it. But at least its over political positions of candidates and a system they have top deal with versus who has the biggest rims or who has the most money.

Rhymefest gave us the full details of his exchange with Lupe as well as his feelings for Chicago native Barack Obama in our recent interview at Club Negril in New York's West Village where he was hosting a release party for his new mixtape ''Man in the Mirror'' which pays tribute to Michael Jackson. He explained why he is proud of Obama and why he feels America will get behind him and make him president.

During our interview Rhymefest talked about Obama's stance .. issues including the Senator's decision to endorse controversial Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. Rhymefest admitted that most people have problems with the Daley machine. He personally doesn''t like him because he feels they had a big hand in killing Black Panther leader Fred Hampton Sr. However, with respect to Obama's endorsement, he explained that it was a politically decision designed to ensure an endorsement from the influential, powerful Daley later down the road and hopefully over rival Hillary Clinton who is also from the state of Illinois.

Later on our interview we focused on the politics of Hip Hop and exactly where Chicago artists fit in. Rhymefest noted that New York City laced everyone up with the game, but then the west coast added funk music. He said the south brought the African drums to the forefront and that Chi-town brought spirituality and soul. He went into detail talking about how residents in different sections of the city South side and Westside have varied approaches on music because of their cultural upbringing and those different approaches is what makes Chi-town so great.

Lastly we talked about the new mixtape done with producer Mark Ronson that pays tribute to Michael Jackson. Rhymefest asserted that what he did should not be seen as a mixtape but instead a ''dedication album''. Unlike so many other entertainers who get off on mocking Jackson, Rhymefest insisted that he's a big fan and as a result his song selection reflects his true admiration and respect he has for the King of Pop. He said it was just mere coincident that his dedication album came out around the same time Jackson is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the landmark album ''Thriller''. Rhymefest and Ronson outdo themselves with superb remake of classic songs like ''Never Can Say Goodbye'' featuring Talib Kweli or ''All that I Got'' featuring Ghostface and Mary J Blige. The title track ''Man in the Mirror'' is also a winner.

We interview Chicago Rapper Rhymefest about his thoughts on fellow Chicago native Barack Obama, his political beef with Lupe Fiasco and the politics of music in the windy city and how they added soul and spirituality to the mix..