(AllHipHop News) Kanye West isn’t the only rap star who will flirt with a political career, as rapper Akinyele plans to run for the position of Mayor of Miami Beach.
The rapper is serious about his bid to run just in time for the upcoming August 30 primary elections for Mayor, which occurs every two years.
“There’s no one here to represent us,” Akinyele said. “We are trying to integrate history right now. [I’m not saying the Mayor isn’t doing a great job now, but this Mayor might not be the Mayor forever,” Akinyele said.
Akinyele’s bid for Mayor of Miami Beach comes as a response to the backlash over his plans to open his KOD/VLive establishment on the lower portion of glitzy Ocean Drive.
He opened the first King of Diamonds in Florida in Miami Gardens, in 2008.
The new KOD/VLive establishment is right on Ocean Drive and in walking distance from popular destinations like Wet Willies and The Clevelander.
Akinyele’s new establishment is a soul food restaurant/club. It is also reportedly the first black owned business on that famous part of the strip.
The news of KOD/VLive p##### off the local residents, who protested the business’ opening on South Beach, claiming the influx of rappers, athletes and celebrities to KOD/VLive will undoubtedly compound the area’s woes.
Philip Levine, the current Mayor of Miami Beach, claimed the opening would only add to a growing tax bill for police officers to patrol that area of the strip, which has seen a spike in crime over the past few years.
Mayor Levine even proposed banning alcohol sales after 2:00AM, with the aim of reducing the crimes that have been plaguing Ocean Drive.
“I feel like this is just a modern-day lynching that’s happening here, and that’s the elephant in the room,” Akinyele told the Miami Herald shortly after the dispute erupted. “We’re just a black-owned establishment, and that’s what they can’t come to the realization with.”
Akinyele, who is known for the club anthem “Put It In Your Mouth” and his verse on Main Source’s “Live At The Barbeque,” will officially open the club this month, after securing all the needed permits.
Akinyele hopes to unseat Mayor Levine from office in 2017, when his term is up.
The entire ordeal is being chronicled in a series titled “The King Of South Beach.” Check out Episode 4, where Akinyele announces he is running for Mayor of Miami Beach.
