I was driving home the other day, listening to a Kendrick Lamar song and a question popped into my head: did Barack Obama’s presidency have an impact on the hip-hop/rap genre?

Former President Obama was a well-known lover of that genre of music, as well as inviting artists to the White House, such as Lamar himself.

It felt like, to me, the last few years of his presidency, the genre began to rise to the top again.

“Hip-Hop music was prominently featured in Obama’s campaign,” Lakeyta M. Bonnette of salon.com said, “He declared he was a fan of Hip-Hop and even had a private meeting with controversial southern rap artist Ludacris.”

His presidency opened to door wider for artists to be more politically involved with their music. Artists like Young Jeezy, Ludacris, Big Boi, Jay-Z, Will. I. Am, T.I., Nas, Common, Scarface, Ice Cube, Chamillionarie, Souljah Boy and Bow Wow are considered to be artists to use their music for a political base, according to Bonnette.

“As a black man, I know that he has represented black people in a beautiful way, and we thank him for all his hard work, his commitment, his heart and his spirit,” said Common in an interview with CNN.

Obama often referenced Jay-Z’s lyrics and Kanye West in speeches, created Spotify playlists which included Nas, Chance the Rapper, Mos Def and Method Man and danced to “Hotline Bling” during an event at the White House.

"Obama always represents hip-hop in so many ways," said DJ Khaled to billboard.com. "His playlist is hip-hop. I've been to the White House. I'm hip-hop. It was a major key for me. He represents all cultures. That's what a president is supposed to do."

In 2016, Obama created the My Brother’s Keeper initiative. He invited a group of rappers to the White House to talk about criminal justice reform. The rappers were: J. Cole, Common, Ludacris, Wale, Pusha T, Busta Rhymes, DJ Khaled and Timbaland, according to xxlmag.com.

"I think the world, not just hip-hop owes him," said Kendrick Lamar in an interview with xxlmag.com, "We all have to give him his credit due for even allowing us into the building. We would probably never get inside that house ever again. Think about it like that. Rick Ross, Cole, Nicki Minaj, he really went for us to come experience it. This is something our grandparents always wanted to see, never thought in a million years, but [we can] pass it down to our generation to say, 'Alright, I’m in here and I’m finna use my power to let y'all see how this thing works and I'mma drop some knowledge on y'all that a man can’t drop on everybody else 'cause y'all have the most influence.'”

It’s safe to say that Obama’s presidency paved another path between music and politics. It gave artists the reassurance that their voice matters and it’s important to use their platform to speak on it.

“It was the first time that I could say that maybe, just maybe, the President of the United States and I could swap iTunes libraries and not too much would be different. Among many things that we would soon see, hip-hop was a part of President Obama’s life just as it was a part of ours,” wrote Cory Townes on thegrio.com.

Personally, I didn't begin expanding in that genre of music until his presidency, but I don't think I realized he was part of the reason until recently. I believe it gave Americans a glimpse into his personal life, which I think only made, and makes, him more relatable. It showed that, even though he was president, he hasn't forgotten who he was before that.