A self-described Hip-Hop activist and congressional candidate aims to recruit some of the genre’s biggest names, rapper Busta Rhymes, to help launch a new political party dedicated to solving urban-area issues.
Jineea Butler, founder of the Hip-Hop Union, is laying the groundwork to launch the New American Party — a political party chiefly focused on representing interests of urban communities throughout the state of New York.
“We’re looking for somebody that can energize the vote so we can clear the 50,000 votes (needed to secure a guaranteed ballot line the next four years) and someone who resonates with millennials and young folks,” Butler, who is running as a Republican against Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) in the 13th congressional district of New York, told the New York Daily News.
Veteran rapper Busta Rhymes has been approached by representatives of the New American Party to run for governor of New York, but has not yet agreed to accept the party’s nomination. Butler says LL Cool J is another high-profile rapper the party seeks to recruit — he too has been non-committal about the initiative.
“We’re looking for somebody that can energize the vote so we can clear the 50,000 votes (needed to secure a guaranteed ballot line the next four years) and someone who resonates with millennials and young folks,” said Butler.
“We’re juggling a bunch of candidates we can look at from the hip-hop community,” the Hip-Hop activist said. “Hip-hop changed the world 40, 45 years ago when it started. It just gave people an absolute freedom of speech. We want to use that same principle with a strong agenda that addresses economic disparity and prosperity-driven initiatives.”
In order for the New American Party to be allowed to nominate candidates in New York state elections, Butler will have to collect 15,000 signatures before the August 21 deadline.
“America needs something else. We’re fighting against each other,” Butler told the New York paper. “We’ve come too far in this country to go back to racism. Hip-hop brought people together.”
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