This is the first election of the YouTube era, and will.i.am–frontman for the socially conscious rap group Black Eyed Peas, which performed at the Democratic National Convention in Boston four years ago–wanted to do more. Inspired by the speech Barack Obama delivered in Nashua the night of the state primary, will.i.am set Obama’s text to simple guitar and a soulful melody, recruited 36 artists to appear in a music video that was conceived, shot, and edited over three days last week, and posted ‘Yes We Can’ online over the weekend. It’s been spreading like wildfire across the Web. ‘Yes We Can’ has been viewed more than 2 million times on YouTube and, according to a project spokesman, 10 million times on the host website, YesWeCanSong.com.
