Obama slow jams the news with Jimmy Fallon. How does that work?
President Obama slow jammed the news Tuesday. He did fine, though he seemed a little ... academic. Of course, he was discussing student loans, which is not an easy topic to croon about over a beat laid down by Jimmy Fallon鈥檚 house band, The Roots.
OK, we will back up here and explain this to people who have no idea what we鈥檙e talking about, which included us until very lately. Mr. Obama on Tuesday afternoon taped an appearance for Tuesday night鈥檚 episode of 鈥�Late Night with Jimmy Fallon鈥� in front of a live college audience at the University of North Carolina. As part of this, he participated in a recurring Fallon bit called 鈥渟low jamming the news,鈥� where the funnyman鈥檚 band produces a slow R&B rhythm, while Fallon or a guest talks earnestly about something serious, like taxes. Then they build it into a tune via clever lyrics from backup singers.
A slow jam is like those bits of Barry White songs where he鈥檚 talking while the band plays in the background, then he rumbles into song about a subject that requires multiple repetitions of the word 鈥渂aby."
On Tuesday, Obama looked into the camera and said, 鈥淣ow is not the time to make school more expensive for our young people,鈥� while the band played behind him.
Then Fallon swung into action. 鈥淥hhhh yeah. You should listen to the president,鈥� he crooned, punching up the song.
Last year Fallon did a classic slow jam with NBC News anchor Brian Williams about partisan budget bickering. It was maybe a fuller example of the slow-jamming-the-news genre.
As The Roots played, Mr. Williams said, 鈥淲ith the deadline to reach a deal looming this Tuesday, Democrats and Republicans find themselves at a stalemate over the nation鈥檚 debt ceiling.鈥�
Fallon provided bass-voice counterpoint. 鈥淎ahhh yeah, I can鈥檛 get to sleep this night cuz all that moanin鈥� and groanin鈥� on Capitol Hill.鈥�
Then the band swung into the vocals, singing, 鈥淧lan after plan keeps gettin鈥� defeated, the crisis is growing bigger than, uh, we tweeted....鈥�
When we type that, it doesn鈥檛 seem as funny as it sounded.
Anyway, the obvious point to make here is that Obama is trying his best to appeal to young voters, and to appear hipper and younger in general than Mitt Romney.
What will the Romney camp do in response? Hmmm. Doing a Letterman 鈥淭op 10鈥� list would only partially counter the current hipster imbalance. Maybe he鈥檒l get into a push-up contest with the folks on 鈥�Fox & Friends."
As for Obama, after the slow jam he traded light quips with Fallon. Fallon suggested that the president trip getting onto Air Force One to get attention. Obama replied 鈥淚 don鈥檛 find that funny." Then Fallon showed college pictures of Obama with an Afro and a fur collar, which the president did find funny.
Material from Associated Press was used in this report.
