The Lady Tigra’s got a crush on the lady Obama

By Niema Jordan
Published: October 14th, 2008 | 12:30pm

In 1988 L’Trimm burst on to the hip-hop scene with their hit “The Cars that Go Boom.” The song was a catchy ode to cars equipped with loud sound systems. Twenty years later one-half of the Miami bass duo has released an ode of a different style. Weeks before this year’s presidential election, the Lady Tigra released her single “First Black, First Lady” with MC Le C. The emcee, jingle writer, and former club owner took some time to chat with venuszine.com about hip-hop, the Obamas, and strong women.

How has this election impacted the music industry and hip-hop in particular?
The Obamas really resonate with us. He took her to see Do the Right Thing on a date, which we talk about in the song. They give each other a pound, and it gets called terrorist fist bumps, but we all know what pounds are. Politics and music have always kind of gone hand in hand.

Musicians respond to the times cuz it’s all art. With this particular election, it seems to be a very natural transition—hip hop was born with all of us. When they asked McCain his favorite song, he had ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” and Obama had the Fugees [“Ready or Not”].

Why did you choose to do a song about Michelle Obama?
She’s very exciting. We’ve never seen a potential first lady like her — just because she’s a strong, educated woman. She’s stylish, she’s a mom, and she’s a super woman. It made a lot of sense when I was approached with this project to give her props.

What do you think of the media’s portrayal of Michelle Obama?
They’ve never seen anything like it either. There is fear. There is always fear when there is something new. She’s not the quiet, demure lady. To them it’s like, “She has an opinion, why can’t someone shut her up?” Sometimes they portray her like that. Other times, there are those people who applaud her and the fact that she’s not just “Mrs. Obama,” which I think in the past that was expected of the first lady. Of course there was Eleanor Roosevelt, there are always exceptions. But the trend has been greatly to be “Mrs. President.”

In your song you rhyme from Michelle Obama’s point of view, and you focus more on her relationship with Barack Obama. Why was that approach taken with the song?
The vibe was more a celebration of Michelle — a celebration of this beautiful couple, this beautiful family. It was the excitement of their courtship that we read about — you know, that we could relate to. I could completely see myself going through the exact same vibe with a guy that’s kickin’ it to me. I think the focus has been so much on the politics and so much on what she does right and what she does wrong, that I really liked the fact that it focused on her as a woman and her love for her man. You can be strong and have an amazing relationship with an amazing person.

When you first started with L’Trimm, did you ever think you would be writing a song about a black first lady?
I never in a million years thought I would see it. I thought, maybe not in my lifetime, maybe in my kids or my grandkids’ lifetime — that that kind of progress would have been made, and we would have this open discussion and have so much of the population ready for a black president. So in the ’80s I definitely did not think I would be writing this song about a first black, first lady.

What’s next for Lady Tigra?
I just want to keep making music. I want to keep being creative. I hope to be an inspiration to girls the way Michelle’s an inspiration to us.

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