When Kendrick Lamar made a stance against voting, it may have surprised everyone for a number of reasons. First, K-Dot tries his best to stay away from everything political unless it's in his music and second, it's the sheer statement he made.
"I don't do voting," he said.
As a leader of not only a Hip-hop movement but an increasing cultural movement, Lamar's comments were deemed valuable enough for a rebuttal, a big rebuttal. That counter-statement came from Rob “Biko” Baker, Executive Director of the League of Young Voters Education Fund.
According to AllHipHop.com, Baker's response came because of Kendrick's potential influence on voters inside his fanbase and he made the following statement:
“I respect Kendrick Lamar’s opinion. He isn’t the only young leader frustrated with the state of the political process. But, by not participating in this and future elections, Kendrick Lamar is giving the very people he is frustrated with the more free reign to continue to pull the levers they way they want to.
“This past weekend, I hung out with my family members who live in Kendrick’s hometown, Compton, California. If Kendrick inspired his neighbors to think seriously about the strength of their vote, we could begin to alter the popular discourse, and more importantly, the economic policy of local and statewide government. I’ve seen it happen before, and I believe poor people in Compton can be mobilized to improve their living conditions.
“We have to stop thinking about ourselves as individual actors, and take our collective strength more seriously.
“I would love to chop it up with him.” – Rob “Biko” Baker
Kendrick Lamar has yet to respond.
[via AllHipHop]
