Tef Poe & T-Dubb-O Fight The Power As St. Louis Politics Shift Again

Hip-Hop and the Hustle for Power in St. Louis: Ten years after Ferguson, Tef Poe and T-Dubb-O borrow a bit fromi Kendrick Lamar to create a climate for political power in their city.

Ten years ago, the dead body of 18-year-old Michael Brown Jr. lay for four hours on Canfield Drive in the scorching heat of Ferguson, Missouri. The moment would forever alter the trajectory of the Midwestern city and also the nation’s racial reckoning. The Ferguson “uprising” was one of the early, significant flash points of the Black Lives Matter movement. A new generation of politically awakened organizers and artists emerged.

The distance between Ferguson and St. Louis is about 15 miles. 

Tef Poe and T-Dubb-O, St. Louis natives and products of this new movement, continue to be lightning rods in the city’s latest battle. A recent mayoral race that has pulled St. Louis into a new social and political civil war.

“This has been possibly the most controversial mayoral race in the history of Saint Louis,” said Tef Poe, a rap artist that has frequented AllHipHop. “For Black St. Louis, it’s been a lesson about our power, our narrative, and where we really are 10 years after the death of Mike Brown Jr. and the Ferguson uprising.”

At the center of the 2025 maelstrom was Mayor Tishaura Jones, the city’s first Black woman to hold the office.

Her election was hailed as a symbolic and strategic victory for the city long that was divided by race, class, and power. For Poe explained how organized a closed-door meeting between Jones and 50 of “the most powerful Black men in the city.”

“I chose my heart over the politics in this scenario,” he said. “Tishaura Jones is a Black woman like my mother. She looks like one of my sisters.”

Jones’s opponent, white alderwoman Cara Spencer, was an instant opp to the St. Louis’s Black activist community. Poe cited her alliances with corporate interests and law enforcement. All of this – and more – stoked fears of regressive policies. In particular, she supported a proposed bill to ban open carry that critics viewed as racially biased.

“I was asked to speak against that bill,” said T-Dubb-O, who was the only non-elected voice on a 2023 town hall panel. “My statements made her look like the closet racist she is. In return, she sent police at me… my car was surrounded, and me and my homie were arrested.”

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Though no charges were filed, the incident rippled. St. Louis’s Hip-Hop resistance once again stood tall in the face of hostility. Calls to Cara Spencer’s office were not immediately returned.

As Spencer’s campaign gained traction, Poe dropped “Ghost of Ivory Perry,” an original track invoking the spirit of the late civil rights leader. Perry fought injustice in the city for decades. The song offers the same aggressive energy Poe gave as a 106 & Park Freestyle Friday battle rap champion.

“In my city, it’s my job to always die on the cross with Black St. Louis,” Poe said. “We used Hip-Hop to attack a mayoral candidate the same way Kendrick went at Drake.”

The comparison isn’t casual. Poe openly borrowed instrumentals from Kendrick Lamar’s “tv off” and “Not Like Us” to inspire voters. Ultimately, only 18 percent of the city cast ballots in the primary, but Tef said they helped up that number.

“It was a kamikaze mission from the start,” Poe admitted. “But we fought. Despite how many millions of dollars they spent, they could never actually defeat the trenches.”

In interviews and on social media, Poe and T-Dubb-O accused Spencer of “styling” on the city’s Black population. They offered front-facing progressive optics, but partnered with the very systems that have historically marginalized Black people. When Spencer’s camp called the police in response to Poe’s song and immediately criminalized the protest.

“Now I go from raising awareness to being in direct conflict with the system over my rap lyrics,” Poe said. The investigation, eventually dropped, echoed an earlier effort by Spencer to involve law enforcement in T-Dubb-O’s protest activities. Wild behavior, but not if one considers the current political environment.

“It’s not only an attack on Black people,” said Dubb. “But specifically Black women in political positions of power.”

Jones ultimately lost her re-election bid, but the fight begins anew. Poe says there is precedence for this a battle. Both men say the mission was and continues to be about legacy.

“In the history books 100 years from now,” Poe said, “they’ll say Hip-Hop stood up when the Black woman mayor was under attack.”

The aftermath is continues to unfold. From the front lines of Ferguson the struggle for a new St. Louis persists.

“We’ll never stop resisting tyranny and oppression,” Poe said. “Hip-Hop is a weapon — and we proved it.”

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Here are statements from Tef Poe and T-Dubb-O in their entirety.

Tef Poe.

This has been possibly the most controversial mayoral race in the history of Saint Louis. For Black St. Louis, it’s been a lesson about our power, our narrative, and where we really are—ten years after the death of Mike Brown Jr. and the Ferguson uprising.

Tishaura Jones, our first Black woman mayor in history, was elected on the heels of the community and the backbone of the Black movement. I’ve disagreed with her on a few things, but ultimately, on a local level, Black people deserve Black leadership.

Her opponent partnered with several corporations that deeply reflect the white power infrastructure we’ve always had to fight in St. Louis. I grew up here, so I know what a public lynching looks like—and that’s exactly what they intended to happen this time around.

I organized a meeting between the mayor and 50 of the most powerful Black men in the city. We talked, we met, and we reconciled. I chose my heart over politics in this scenario. Tishaura Jones is a Black woman like my mother. She looks like one of my sisters. She’s a single mom herself, so I identified with parts of her story.

After the meeting, the brothers gave me the green light. From there, I could proceed to do whatever I needed to do for us to have a fighter’s chance in this situation. In the primary, only 18% of the city voted—and a lot of these racist white folks were basically styling on us.

Tishaura’s opponent was a white woman named Cara Spencer. Her campaign slogan might as well have been “Make St. Louis Great Again.” And after we met, in my mind I said, we have to double down on the fact that Spencer is the enemy. She was guilty, in my mind, of using propaganda to manipulate the Black community.

So I said, let’s go to war. And I was nervous to do this because I knew we would have to polarize the entire city—kinda geographically place Saint Louis into a state of civil war, socially and politically.

Either you’re with us or you’re not. Black St. Louis—they’re finally upping the ante and coming for us! If the mayor was going to fight, then we wanted to fight with her. Differences to the side, understanding that this was a straight political hit job.

The first track I released was produced by Hugo Bawse, titled “Ghost of Ivory Perry.” I personally felt like this race was symbolic—whether or not we were going into the hall of fame as organizers in our city. Ivory Perry is a legendary Saint Louis organizer who fought these same forces all his life.

It was an honor to name the song after him because it made me feel like I briefly resurrected one of our ancestors to help us join the fight. But this was the song that initially sparked a reaction from Spencer. I’m a retired 106 & Park Freestyle Friday battle rapper—so we know how to agitate.

We know how to reshape narrative. And I said to myself, what if I use this same type of momentum to raise awareness and at least vilify Cara Spencer to the Black millennial community of voters in Saint Louis as much as possible? Some people in our community considered this selling out. It was a kamikaze mission from the start… but in my city, it’s my job to always die on the cross with Black St. Louis.

So we used Hip-Hop to attack a mayoral candidate the same way Kendrick went at Drake. I picked my side, and it was Black St. Louis—for what it was worth. The community responded saying, “keep going”—so I kept going.

Sunday morning, my lawyer informed me that I was placed under an open investigation, which was shortly closed after it was determined that my constitutional rights would be in violation if law enforcement pursued anything over a couple of political rap songs. Now, I went from raising awareness to being in direct conflict with the system over my lyrics.

I used Kendrick beats because they carried the energy I felt was necessary for the moment. I doubled down, knowing I was ultimately using the moment to tell my city—no matter how this goes down, we fought. And despite how many millions of dollars they spent, they could never actually defeat the trenches. Tishaura Jones lost tonight, but we fought—and in the history books 100 years from now, they’ll say Hip-Hop stood up when the Black woman mayor was under attack.

Needless to say, I was inspired—by Tupac, K. Dot, Nipsey. And in general, I know there are unseen consequences for doing something like this. Especially since Cara Spencer got the police involved. We broke the matrix for a weekend in Saint Louis and caused complete pandemonium in the city for a second. If nothing else, that speaks to the true power of our culture. And even though Tishaura Jones lost, we did our best to give her an Honorable Discharge in the eyes of our people.

We’ll never stop resisting tyranny and oppression. Hip-Hop is a weapon—and we proved it can be used nonviolently to get our point across. People are saying nothing like this has ever happened before: a rap battle against the future mayor, being used to electrify the politics of an entire city.

T-Dubb-O.

This started in 2023.

I was asked by a few aldermen to speak at a town hall and give testimony against a bill proposed by Cara Spencer that would ban the state right to open carry in the city of St. Louis.

I was the only non-elected person given free rein to speak because of my knowledge of Second Amendment rights and my understanding that limiting those rights wouldn’t reduce crime. My statements made her look like the closet racist she is. In return, she sent the police after me. She claimed she felt threatened by me. My car was surrounded by police, and me and my homie were arrested. We were let go three hours later.

I was supposed to do a show at the art museum with DJ Trackstar and Poe that night. But after jail, I wasn’t in the mood. Cara showed up again looking for me—with police.

Fast forward, she announced her mayoral campaign. This lady had intentions of major gentrification and no real plan for Black citizens. Poe dropped a record, and she pulled the same “cry wolf” act. Called the chief on Poe, but our lawyer got on it ASAP and killed the investigation before they did him like they did me.

This wasn’t just an attack on Black people—it was specifically an attack on Black women in political positions of power. So we decided to link up and turn this s### up a notch. This is what Hip-Hop should be doing in these moments—and who better to lead the charge than the two emcees who’ve been leading it for the last decade?