Simmons: Hip-Hop Generation Must Vote
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The hip-hop generation must educate itself and head to the polls in this fall's election, according to speakers at the Hip-Hop Summit (search), which drew artists and others from the music industry.
Rap mogul Russell Simmons (search), whose Hip-Hop Summit Action Network puts on the traveling event, said the young must make a difference in their communities and the world.
"Those of us who work in the hip-hop industry know this is the best generation in the world," Simmons told a crowd of music fans Saturday at the Fox Theatre. "And come November, they are going to see that this is the most powerful generation that the world has seen."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Simmons said the power of hip-hop comes from its ability to unite people of different races and religions.
"It's very important that we flex these muscles in November," he said.
The Hip-Hop Team Vote (search) effort holds voter registration drives at summit cities.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}It recently registered 50,000 voters in Los Angeles and 80,000 in Philadelphia. Midway through Saturday's event, the group said it had signed up at least 70,000 Michigan voters — including 40,000 in Detroit.