With top rappers like Cardi B imploring fans to get out and vote to make the changes they want to see in the world, a wave of political engagement seems to be overtaking hip-hop from within. Even older artists who never seemed politically involved are looking to make a difference in that respect, including West Coast G-Funk godfather, Snoop Dogg, who told Big Boy’s Neighborhood that he intends to vote in 2020 after a lifetime spent bypassing the polls. Snoop, however, had a reason for missing out on election days past — he didn’t think he could vote because of his criminal record.
“I ain’t never voted a day in my life, but this year I think I’m a get out and vote ’cause I can’t stand to see this punk in office,” he revealed. He explained that the reason he never had was, “”For many years, they had me brainwashed thinking that you couldn’t vote because you had a criminal record. I didn’t know that. My record’s been expunged. So now I can vote.”
Snoop stressed the importance of participation in the process along with protesting online and in the streets. “We gotta make a difference,” he said. “”You can’t talk about it and not be about it. I can’t tell you to do and then don’t go do it. Everybody know I’m a frontliner. I ain’t gon’ tell you to do something that I didn’t do. If I tell you to do something, I done did it already.”
Watch Snoop’s interview with Big Boy above.
