Hip-hop star Jay-Z is lending his support to U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama by holding two free concerts in his honor.

The rapper - real name Shawn Carter - hopes to encourage young people to vote for the Democrat at the upcoming November (08) elections.

The free shows will take place in Detroit, Michigan on Saturday (04Oct08) and in Miami, Florida on Sunday (05Oct08). Tickets will be distributed through Obama's local campaign offices, according to Allhiphop.com.

Obama recently praised the modern generation of hip-hop stars - insisting stars such as Jay-Z and Kanye West are real businessmen, not just musicians.

He told MTV.com, "In the past, musicians often times were commodities. They were just shuffled around they did well, t they didn't have the vision to say, 'I'm going to build a business. I'm going to build my own studio. I'm going to create my own production operations.' I think they're a lot more sophisticated than in the past, and that is a wonderful thing." (LR/WNWCM&WNWCAH/LJ)

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