Finally, a Barack Obama conspiracy theory for the rest of us! Everyone from Tea Partiers to hip hop message boards thinks Obama was an extra in the music video for Tag Team's single "Whoomp (There It Is)".

Before you do anything else, check out 1:01 of the music video for Tag Team's 1993 smash hit "Whoomp (There It Is)". A tipster sent in the video along with a note:

Barack [is] in the Tag Team "Whoomp there it is" video. Don't believe me? Judge for yourself.

We were highly skeptical, since "Judge for yourself" sounds like something from a multi-colored ALL CAPS email that proves Barack Obama is the Anti-Christ, as predicted in THE BIBLE. But we had to admit that the guy at 1:01 wearing shades and a Compton hat really does resemble Barack Obama, talking on a cell phone! Seriously! Judge for yourself!

(Check out the animated .Gif, too)

Update: Rap Duo Deny Barack Obama Video Cameo

This is not the observation of just one random Internet weirdo. Other Internet weirdos have come to the same conclusion, including posters on the hip hop message board Tha Corner, the message board SomethingAwful and the Tea Party website Tennessee Sons of Liberty. The latter wrote: "This is an observation. This is not meant to be derogatory or inflammatory." Yeah, just randomly noticing that Obama was in this RAP video. But so what? As far as musical infractions go, Obama committed a much graver one by listing Sheryl Crow as one of his favorite acts.

But is it really Obama's flashy grin? Consider the evidence:

FOR

  • It really really looks like him!
  • Obama has a well-documented fondness for hip hop. He likes Kanye West and Ludacris.
  • Obama has a history of hip hop cameos. In 2008, reports said he was featured on an upcoming Q-Tip track. Though Q-Tip ended up simply sampling one of his speeches.
  • As one commenter on SomethingAwful noted: The man in the video is playing dominoes with his left hand. BARACK OBAMA IS ALSO LEFT HANDED!
  • The video was released in 1993. Barack would have been around 31 when it was filmed, a year or two out of Harvard Law. Seems like something cool that our coolest, cigarette-smoking, hoops-shooting future president would do as an early 30-something.

AGAINST

  • But, actually, by 1993, Obama was deeply involved in community activism in Chicago. In 1992, Obama famously helped boost voter turnout among blacks through his tireless organizing. How would Obama had the time to film this video? And why the hell would the director of Tag Team's video seek out a notable community organizer to play a domino player? Maybe they were buddies from Harvard or something.
  • Also, Tag Team is from Atlanta. If Obama wanted to make his rap video debut, wouldn't he have chosen an early-90s act from his beloved Chicago? Maybe Da Brat, or Crucial Conflict? And he would obviously be wearing a Bulls hat—not a Compton one.
  • Most of these conspiracy theorists base their observation on a low-quality YouTube version of the video. Take a look at this screenshot from a higher-quality video: Doesn't look much like him, actually. Also: earrings? Obama is cool, but not that cool.
  • Finally, if this was actually true, Sarah Palin would have already done five Facebook wall-posts about it, and Glenn Beck would have already run a weeklong special on the fact that our President appeared in a music video which appears to celebrate so-called "Party people."

Sorry, Internet, it's not Obama. But as far as conspiracy theories go, it's way better than that whole secret Muslim thing.

Related:

The Whoompers: New, Paranoid Theories of Barack Obama's Music Video 'Cameo'
Rap Duo Deny Barack Obama Video Cameo