You might have heard of this young black man from South Side Chicago who is changing the game—the storied intelligence and silver tongue, the commitment to the community and the message of hope, the shocking candor and a freestyle flow that’ll stop your heart.

What? You thought Obama was the only one?

Jabari Evans, better known as Naledge, the rapping half of the hip-hop duo Kidz in the Hall, isn’t swearing in but, at 24, he’s doing his best Obama impersonation and shaking up the system. With a lightning mind and sick gift of gab he immediately stands out against the din of hip-poppers and their tired tropes—the bling, the bitch, the blunt. Because, it turns out, he’s coming from a distinctly different point of reference. “In hip hop most people are used to just entertainment, entertainment,” he says. “But if your goal is to make timeless music you gotta strike a chord with someone that’s gonna effect them forever. That’s why a good love song will never go away. That doesn’t change. Politics is a little trickier because the climate changes with the culture. But if you’re talking about everyday life there are some classic stories and some classic mantras that will never ever go away. Not like that braggadocio stuff that’s all pretend.” And then, thinking about those braggarts playing a part, underlining a point of contrast, he adds, “If I talk about something outlandish I probably did it.”

Fresh off the Leisure Tour and a stint in New York where Kidz in the Hall recorded a song for a Reebok shoe campaign Naledge is looking for a little rest before the summer concert tours send him spiraling willy nilly about the country. And, for the precocious phenom who published his first book, The First Jab at 16, with a solo project in the very near future, a little down-time is well deserved. After meeting at a talent show while they both were attending the University of Pennsylvania Naledge and production whiz kid Double-O formed Kidz, signed with Rawkus Records and began recording under the guidance of megastar producer Just Blaze. Originally planned as a mix tape, their much lauded debut, School Was My Hustle, appeared in 06 and introduced the world to a bright and shining new voice in rap. In 07 the pair moved to Duck Downrecords and, while Naledge dropped a couple of mixtapes, prepped their second studio album.

Listening to the tracks on 2008’s The In Crowd, like the blissfully nostalgic ‘Riding Down the Block,’ with its Masta Ace heritage, one knows right away that Kidz in the Hall came of age listening to early 90s rappers. They clearly found their artistic ancestors in Outkast, Souls of Mischief, Tribe Call Quest, Black Sheep, De La Soul and Rakim. And by coda, reference, sample and straight quotation they celebrate that golden age and its stalwarts all over the CD. Explaining the guiding principle behind the eclectic mix of tracks on the album upon its release Naledge described The In Crowd thus: “The In Crowd is those people who can sit at any table in the lunch room. They got friends in every single clique. It’s us sitting at different tables with our friends and making dope records each time.”

Often described as ‘hipster-rap’ for its cross genre sampling and progressive or ‘conscious’ themes, the Kidz style is born of an intense love of music, by scholars of their own craft. But through all the erudition on display the vibe never gets pedantic, exuding as it does a disarming forthrightness. One might even call it a yearning. “If you’re tryin to be an individual,” Naledge says by way of explanation, “you’re just being you. You’re just being honest. You look at Jazz, at Bird, at Trane, at Country musicians, at rock stars even—I’m reading Slash’s autobiography right now—the ones who transcend are the ones who are marching to the beat of their own drum. There’s a sincerity there. They’re telling their own story, but in a way that millions can interpret it on their own and be effected by it. It’s all about honesty that strikes a chord. Charlie Parker could do it without saying a word. Me, I’m a word guy and the lyrics follow that intention. But, of course, there is delivery and then there is delivery, if you know what I mean.” Naledge is patently an employer of the latter designation (give those mixtapes a listen on iTunes if you don’t already know).

Strange as it may sound to listeners of contemporary rap, Naledge isn’t motivated solely by record sales. Instead he seems to consider music—bear with

me here—art. “If you don’t have to have a 9 to 5, which I don’t, you have time to look inside yourself and create. Some people have a formula and they figure out how to make a hit and then reproduce it. To me every song is a photograph. Why do I wanna reshoot the Statue of Liberty if I already got it? Let’s go take a photo of the Eiffel tower now. Let’s go to Japan. You know?”

Like his fellow Chicagoan Obama, Naledge is proud of his high-wattage diploma—Communications with a minor in Sociology. And with that pride comes the cool and confidence, even a little of that familiar windy city swagger— he has never been shy, for example, about claiming to be on the same lyrical level with his Chi’town comrades Common and Kanye. But the association with our new Prez doesn’t stop there. The official theme song of the Obama campaign was the Kidz in the Hall track ‘We got Work to Do.’ “We made it before the campaign but it had the same intention, it just happened that they were so congruent, same way he picked ‘Solid as a Rock’ for the inauguration. We leaked it to the internet and somewhere it picked up the subtitle ‘Obama’s Theme.’ But then because his office is so technologically savvy they get all these google-alerts and they say ‘hey, that really is a good song,’ and then they find out more about us and decided it really was something they wanted to endorse.”

So is it just two Hyde Park cats in a Cadillac? “Nah, it’d be a great story if we were best friends and all but we’re not. The community is close though. You know my parents probably had a dinner party I didn’t want to go to and he was there, it’s like that. This would have been before the State Senate even, before he lost the election to Bobby Rush, back when he was a professor at University of Chicago.”

Many have made the link between the two boys from the Chi, not least for their parallel commitment to the community. But not so fast. “I don’t consider myself an activist or anything like that… yet,” says Naledge, trying to shake free of the elevating company, but less and less convincingly. “I don’t give myself that much credit. But I do believe I am aware. Probably more aware and vocal than other artists. But a lot of artists, who do have more at stake than they let on,

don’t want to talk about politics, don’t want to turn someone off. There are some who gave money to Obama but there is a difference between a cash contribution and going down to New Orleans after Katrina like Harry Connick Jr. and literally wading through swamps to make a difference. Some are figureheads for change and others just give money. For me, I would just like to get to a level where my voice can influence people. I see myself in the not-for-profit and community service realm. I have a personal vested interest in the South Side of Chicago. My feeling is you go back to the community to bring another person up.”

That personal vested interest is not mere coincidence either. It might be more accurate to call it genetic. “My Father was a social worker in the area for years before he committed full time to his psychology practice, and my mother worked with abused women and single parents. I happen to come from a background where it would be impossible for me not to know what’s going on in my community, for me not to care. I have a light bulb in my head that flickers on when I see something I need to stand up for, when I need to speak out for something I can effect positively.”

More and more people are hearing that voice and taking notice. The great Princeton professor and public intellectual Cornel West, author of Democracy Matters, with three spoken word albums to his name, has heard the voice and become a fan. “If nothing else he has been a great supporter,” says Naledge. “Dr. West really knows what’s going on in the world of hip hop and, as a recording artist himself, he’s really attuned to the music. I don’t take things like that lightly. A couple of years ago I was buying his books for class and now I’m talking to him, like, ‘hey, you wanna get a hot dog?’ Things like that are cool. It let’s you know you’re doing something positive—when someone who is a great catalyst for change calls you the future. That’s humbling.”

We all hope Naledge is the future, but know damn well he is the now. Chillin’ at home, with his boy in the white house, and a whole lot of pride in his neighborhood, this is his time.