Reinforcing her status as the coolest mom on the planet, Michelle Obama – with the help of Saturday Night Live comedian Jay Pharoah – has dropped her first rap video, about how kids should go to college.  “If you wanna fly jets, you should go to college. Reach high and cash checks, fill your head with knowledge,” the pair rap.  “If you wanna watch paint, don’t go to college. But for everything else, you should go to college.”  The video, which was made with the help of the Gregory Brothers and CollegeHumor, is part of the first lady’s Reach Higher campaign. It aims to help kids get a higher education, “whether at a professional training program, a community college, or a four-year college or university”.  The initiative informs children of college opportunities, helps them understand financial aid and supports high school counsellors, according to its website.  In the video, the first lady and Pharoah, who has impersonated her husband on SNL, donned sunglasses outside the White House and informed the nation that college is necessary, unless you want to “watch paint” or “stare at grass”.  “I want to honor and empower young people who are working hard in school and pursuing their dreams – and I want to do it in a fresh and fun way,” Obama said in a statement.  In the video Obama, who grew up in a working-class family in the South Side of Chicago, raps about her own experiences of working hard to do well at Princeton and Harvard.  “We had to do overtime every night to make it tomorrow and everyone can really make their dream true,” she raps. “Hey, kid listening in Michigan, that could be you.”  Sam Reich, CollegeHumor’s head of video, said in a statement: “I think the country will join me in saying: ‘Mrs Obama, we think you should cut an album.’”
The first lady and SNL comedian Jay Pharoah collaborate on hip-hop song to encourage kids to higher college education as part of her Reach Higher campaign