Today could quite
possibly be the most important day in America’s history. With the upcoming
elections and the state of the world, it seems that Hip-Hop’s political consciousness,
long thought to be dormant, has been reawakened.
Between rapper’s
making bold statements in their lyrics, grassroots Hip-Hop movements were mobilized
throughout the country and the more mainstream efforts of Puff and Russell’s
voter registration drives have altered the course of the election without a
doubt.
We pulled together
some of the top minds in Hip-Hop and asked them exactly what November 2nd, 2004
means.
Nas
When it comes to voting, there is nobody there that is going to take care of
my people. I’m willing to vote for somebody from our community that really cares
for the people. I don’t hear anything human in the conversations from the candidates.
I care about people and childrens future and I’m a realist. So, if we are going
to vote, vote for somebody from our community and somebody that really cares
about our struggle."
Lil Kim
It’s a part of history to go out and vote in this election. A lot of the
issues are health benefits for us in the ‘hood. We’ve got so much
construction going on in New York, and we have so many minority people who have
been living in those areas for years. I just think that if there’s gonna
be a change, you got to figure out where to fit everybody comfortably. Health
benefits, insurance, liabilities, all that. You have to really pay attention
to that. Sometimes the presidents get so caught up in making their own money
and just making the world and the economy bigger for themselves.
Method
Man
F**k both them mother f**kers. I’ma play Soulcom2 online like everybody else.
F**k Bush and Kerry. Both them n***a’s is cowards.
Willie
D.
The election is rigged. It’s already been determined who’s gonna
win. (Who’s gonna win?) Bush. ‘Cause he stole the election one time,
he can do it again. We can vote, but it’s already written. It’s
bigger than us.
Benzino
Right now Kerry or Bush are not addressing the issues that are affecting me
or you directly, I’m not trying to represent neither one of them. I’m
not gonna be doing too much voting this year. Vote for Benzino. Vote for Zino.
Don’t get me wrong, city council and as far as all the lower government
spots, get out there. But as far as this presidency thing, I’m not feeling
neither one of them.
Wyclef
Really, the first thing you have to do is educate people on voting. I think
part of English, part of history class, like you have American History, they
should have a course to teach kids from when they was little, what Democrats
and Republicans are. What is a Socialist? What is a Communist? And if they don’t
want to be a part of any of that, they don’t have to be. I think it starts
off with the education from when they young.
Jermaine Dupri
Kerry, man. That’s who I got. I’m tired of all the rappers
trying to act political, and be politically correct.
Jackie
O
If you don’t vote, you can’t complain. Me, myself, I’m a convicted
felon, but I had my rights restored. It’s a very good thing for people
to do, for people who had their rights taken away, to be able to vote on Election
Day. It’s very important.
Young Buck
We going over there taking them people’s oil. If dude [George Bush] get
into office this year, we might not be here again to be all the way real with
the you.
Grafh
Vote for the lesser of two evils. Get Bush out of there. You gotta vote. You
gotta voice, you gotta speak. I think that right now it’s good that Hip-Hop
is definitely supporting what’s going on. And telling kids to go out there
and vote, because a lot of kids don’t know that their voice really does
count—sometimes. I believe the kids should go out there and vote, because
a decision is gonna get make whether you vote or not. So you might as well put
your hands in it.
DMC
I am voting for Kerry. We have to get Bush out. This is my slogan: V-O-T-E Vote
Out The Enemy!
Ice-T
"Hip-Hop is political. We got a power structure right here. Do not vote
for Bush. He’ll kill us all. The n***a is the anti-Christ. Get that mother f***ker
the f**k out of there. F**k him, for real.
J. Period
The way I look at it, November 2nd is the day of reckoning. This is the day
when all your frustrations with the state of this country come down to one question:
what are you gonna do about it? I’m getting up early for Hip-Hop, cuz this election
represents a real chance to show this country the power of our voice. I’m flying
out the crib on a mission, like this whole thing comes down to me… and I am
gonna vote.
Bumpy Johnson
I am voting for Kerry. You would have to be a damn fool not to.
Ms. Jade
I think whatever kids see celebrities do, they follow. So I think that was a
good way to get people involved in Hip-Hop. But I think they need to give them
a little more insight besides Vote or Die. Like, give them some information.
Dave Mays
I would say, that, while it’s a good first step to go out and get people
excited by registering to vote and voting, it’s a lot more complicated
than that if there gonna really change anything. Our [The Source] concern has
been that there’s a lot of hype about voting, but there’s no real
education. No understanding of how we can use the power to vote. We really want
something changed for ourselves, our community, our children, and our lives.
All the issues that we know we know are messed up in this country; we should
have a voice in. And that’s really what’s been missing out there.
Pitbull
"It’s simple. You don’t vote, you don’t get heard. In my ‘hood, we
say stop crying about it, be about it."
?love of
The Roots
The Democrats are just passive Republicans anyway and clearly Bush is the worse
of two evils."
Doug E.
Fresh
“At this time, the artist community has to learn the issues, put themselves
out there and get involved. Standing in the middle of the road is not good enough.
We all have to take a stand.
Beanie
Sigel
I don’t know, just don’t vote for Bush. That’s my thoughts.
F**k Bush!