April 26, 2009, 2 p.m. - Hip-hop icon Jay-Z says that President Barack Obama's election marks a decline of the "gangsta" image in the black and Latino communities.

The rapper and businessman made the comments during a wide-ranging interview with Cigar Aficionado magazine.

"Obama represents so much hope for blacks and Latinos," the rapper told the magazine.

"The hope he represents is bigger than any of the huge problems he could possibly correct," he said. "When you have positive role models, you can change your life for the better. The day Obama got elected, the gangsta became less relevant."