Barack Obama. The politician. The visionary. The teenage heartthrob. The pop.

Everything about Obama is pop.  He connects to voting newbies with pop art inspired posters (I’m loving the one on my wall) and proprietorship of the punchy words “hope” and “change” -  and that’s cool with me.  He not only inspires America’s youth to vote, but he gets their creative juices flowing as well.

There has even been a recent onslaught of Obama music, most of which is making waves on YouTube. The undeniably most popular Obama song is Will.I.Am’s “Yes We Can.” The lyrics of the song are taken directly from Obama’s moving speech (or boring rhetoric if you ask my Dad) of the same title, backed by acoustic guitar and some violin thrown in during the middle. The video, shot in black and white, uses split screens to feature a multitude of diverse stars, including the arguably overrated yet undeniably buxom Scarlett Johansson and basketball legend/nemesis of Bruce Lee, Kareem Abdul Jabbar. The vocals are generally in sync with the rhythm of Obama’s speech, and the two are played simultaneously. Unfortunately, Obama’s volume tends to overpower some of the quieter singing, but the song overall is a success. The video has garnered over seven million views on YouTube (and counting), thereby assisting Obama’s permeation into the pop world.

Another song singing Obama’s praises is the up tempo “Fired Up, Ready to Go,” by the Bergevin Brothers. This song, which was inspired by another Obama speech, features male and female leads accompanied by a chorus and a plethora of instruments. The percussion and rhyming lyrics of “Fired Up” make this song catchier than “Yes We Can,” but the song feels somewhat out of date and unoriginal. It may appeal to those who are already fans of Obama, but I doubt it has the power to pull in those who are ambivalent like Will.I.Am’s star studded vid can.

Most bizarre of all Obama inspired media is “Barackula the Musical.” “Barackula” is the epic rock opera detailing Obama’s fight against evil vampires at Harvard. The short film stars newcomer Justin Sherman, whose “physical likeness to Obama is remarkable” according to the musical’s website (besides the fact that he’s, uhh, white, but that’s okay). The movie is not yet released, but two tracks, “Running” and “This is Our Time” are featured on the website. “Running” introduces our hero, and in “This is Our Time” Obama tries to convince the blood suckers that mortals and immortals can live together in harmony. The site compares the soundtrack to “Jesus Christ Superstar,” but “Cheesus Christ Superstar” is more like it (and “Jesus” is quite cheesy as it is). However, as much as I hate to admit it, the two songs are pretty catchy. By the end of “This is Our Time,” I felt like jumping into the chorus and belting out the phrase “I could never be Barackula” with them. This won’t do anything to inspire voters to head to the polls, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this gained a small cult following.

Each of these projects are extremely different from each other, but each work in their own way to add to the pop entity and political force that is Barack Obama. Maybe Hillary should go and round up the Indigo Girls and Chingy to release a video for her…

-Lara