Whoomp! That's Not Obama in 1993 Rap Video

Extra in 17-year-old video does resemble future president
By Marie Morris,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 7, 2010 4:15 PM CDT

You're about to have Tag Team's hit single, "Whoomp! (There It Is)," stuck in your head, and it's all because of a false alarm turned Internet meme. An extra who appears at 1:01 of the Atlanta rap group's 1993 video bears a striking resemblance to President Obama—at the time, a community organizer and law lecturer at the University of Chicago. "Seems like something cool that our coolest, cigarette-smoking, hoops-shooting future president would do as an early 30-something," Adrian Chen of Gawker speculates.

But after scrutinizing a high-res image, Chen concludes that it isn't Obama. More evidence: "Earrings?" he writes. "Obama is cool, but not that cool." Judge for yourself above.
(More Barack Obama stories.)

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