Michelle Obama Putting Together Hip-Hop Album

Michelle Obama is cooking up a new project for her “Let’s Move” campaign and it is probably nothing like you would guess. OK, maybe it’s something like you would guess. The First Lady has proven through her appearances on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon that she likes to keep things hip. She recently decided to sign on as the honorary chairwoman for the organization Partnership for a Healthier America. That organization teamed up with the Hip Hop Public Health Foundation in what seems to be a pretty convoluted partnership. The results are what matters, however, and the team-up will yield a free, 19-song album called Songs for a Healthier America.

That’s right, the lengthy collection will be free and, as the Partnership for a Healthier America site notes, the album is meant to get families “moving to the beat.” The album will drop on September 30, but for now, the video for the very first single off of the album has been released. It includes Jordin Sparks, Dr. Oz, Doug E. Fresh, Ryan Beatty, and the Hip Hop MD. You can check it out, below.

In the video, Obama pops up to talk about her own campaign, “Let’s Move,” which was put together to combat childhood obesity across the nation. It’s that campaign that this video seems to be specifically geared towards, with a classroom full of kids clapping, dancing, working out, running, and even eating healthy foods. The kids even get to help Jordin Sparks sing the track, called “Everybody.”

I wish we had actually gotten to see Obama take a stab at rapping in the video. After all, Dr. Oz takes a stab at the artistic medium. He also looks completely ridiculous in scrubs and a purple glove, all topped off with huge rings on his fingers. However, it’s all for a good cause. Maybe one of the other songs on the album will feature a more adventurous version of the First Lady.

The contributors on “Everybody” aren’t the only famous names on the album. According to HHPH, Ashanti, Matisyahu, Travis Barker, Ariana Grande, Ryan Beatty, Nils Lofgren, DMC, Iman Shumpert, Our Time Theater Company and many more. Other tracks on Songs for a Healthier America include “You are What you Eat (Salad Bar)” and “Veggie Luv.”

I’m not sure how effective the whole endeavor will be, but the key word in the equation is free. Maybe the kids will love it. We’ll have to wait and see when it drops next month.