Vietnamese rapper freestyles for a beatboxing Obama

President Obama capped his historic three-day visit to Vietnam with a town hall in Ho Chi Minh City, where he was unexpectedly serenaded by a young female rapper.

Suboi, a local known as Vietnam’s “Queen of Hip-Hop,” was called on to ask a question at the event, but the president interrupted her to request she do a freestyle for him.

“Do you need a little beat?” Obama asked, briefly beatboxing a sample bass line.

The 26-year-old, whose real name is Hàng Lâm Trang Anh, asked if the president would prefer Vietnamese or English.

“Vietnamese,” Obama replied. “I won’t know what it means.”

Suboi then obliged with a short performance as the crowd clapped to provide a backbeat.

Afterward, Suboi explained that her verses were about “rich people in big houses” not being happy, adding that people often dismiss her as a hip-hop artist because she’s a “cute girl.”

“Well, that’s true in the United States too,” Obama said. “There’s always been, sort of, sexism and gender stereotypes in the music industry, like every other part of life.”

Rap music, the president explained, began as an expression by poor African-Americans and has now become a global art form.

“Imagine if at the time that rap was starting off that the government had said ‘no’ because some of the things you say are offensive, or some of the lyrics are rude or you’re cursing too much,” he said. “That connection that we’ve seen now in hip-hop culture around the world wouldn’t exist. So, you’ve got to let people express themselves. That’s part of what a modern 21st-century culture is all about.”