Whenever Obama is asked about rap music in interviews, he always tempers his praise.

"I love the art of hip-hop; I don't always love the message of hip-hop," he told BET earlier this year. "There are times where even . . . with the artists I love, you know, there's a message that is not only sometimes degrading to women; not only uses the n-word a little too frequently; but — also something I'm really concerned about — it's always talking about material things."