PITTSBURGH – Hip-hop could put the next president in the White House.
Before you call this an exaggeration – like Lamborghini rhymes from a broke rapper – know that in the crucial electoral state of Pennsylvania, the organization 1Hood Power has imported a Hall of Fame rap roster to mobilize voters. Fat Joe, Jeezy, Common, Cordae, Bun B, Redman, Method Man, and Lupe Fiasco have all come to Pittsburgh to discuss what’s at stake on Election Day. Actors Kerry Washington, Brian Tyree Henry, and Viola Davis also have answered 1Hood’s call to action.
The rappers brought decades of influence, legions of listeners, and more than 24 million combined Instagram followers to the state that will probably decide whether Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump wins the Nov. 5 election. In 2020, Joe Biden beat Trump by 80,555 votes in Pennsylvania. This year, it should be much closer, with current Pennsylvania polls showing Harris and Trump tied. So every bar that these artists spit on stage, every quote that they delivered on a panel, carries weight.
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“We use hip-hop culture to build community power,” Jasiri X, rapper, founder and CEO of 1Hood, told me. “Utilizing the swag, utilizing all the artistic stuff that comes with hip-hop to actually make a difference in the lives of our community.”
As Jeezy said in the Andscape documentary Hip-Hop and the White House, the culture and the president have been rocking with each other from the jump. From the New York City Breakers performing at Ronald Reagan’s 1984 inaugural gala to Harris hosting Lil Wayne, Remy Ma and other rappers for a “hip-hop house party” at her official residence last year to celebrate the genre’s 50th anniversary, politicians and rappers have long used each other for popularity and clout.
Trump is no exception — he welcomed rapper Kanye West into the Oval Office, pardoned Lil Wayne and Kodak Black, who then supported him, and is now backed by major stars like Sexyy Red and Benny The Butcher. But to date, there have been no consistent, organized efforts from hip-hop on Trump’s behalf, which makes what Jasiri X and 1Hood are doing more pivotal.
Another notable aspect of the 1Hood movement is how it works from the ground up. 1Hood has helped elect city council members, county executives, and judges who support Black and Hispanic communities. In 2021, the organization helped elect the first Black mayor in Pittsburgh’s history, which has a Black population of about 23.1% in 2022. In 2022, 1Hood helped make Summer Lee the first Black woman to represent Pennsylvania in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Now Jasiri X and his team have the ear of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, having worked on the transition team that helped staff Shapiro’s administration. And they can put rap legends and movie stars on the same stage – like Tuesday night, when Jasiri X interviewed Davis at a Pittsburgh theater to turn out voters. 1Hood will also broadcast the conversation with Davis along with others from the group’s summit, “Black and Brown Men & the Vote,” starting Nov. 1 on the Breakbeat Media YouTube page.
“We’re hoping that we can move the culture to Pennsylvania becoming the deciding state,” Jasiri X said. “Obviously I’m somebody that wants Kamala Harris to win. I definitely don’t want Trump to win. And so we were able to do that in 2020 – the win in Pennsylvania is what put Joe Biden in the White House. So we’re hoping we can do the same thing for this election.”
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Bakari Kitwana, an author and longtime hip-hop political organizer, cosigned the importance of 1Hood’s work. “They’re doing it at a community grassroots level where they’re mobilizing people, getting input back from the community and being in conversation with the community,” Kitwana said. “They’ve built up a level of credibility within the community as a trusted voice, as people who ain’t out here hustling for their own benefit. And so because of that, I think the work has the potential to go much further.”
Jasiri X has his eyes on that horizon.
“What if we begin to build policies that will actually change the conditions of these communities so they’re no longer places that produce all of this violence and harm?” he said. “We have the power to do that.
“We’re the No. 1 genre of music in the world. We have the power to change and influence not only the next leader of the United States, but actually influence the policies that affect our communities every day. That’s what I would love to see.”
Jesse Washington is a journalist and documentary filmmaker. He still gets buckets.
