As the hip-hop summit rolls on, Russell Simmons has proclaimed St. Louis a new part of history. Alongside Nelly, Reverend Run, Remy Martin, Jadaksiss, Free, Loon, Doug E. Fresh, Layzie Bone and many others, nearly 9,000 people ages 18-35 came to the Missouri Black Expo. Designated a key state in the upcoming presidential election, the Get Out the Vote initiative was more successful than they hoped.
As host of the Summit representing his home town Nelly hosted all the events including a four hour panel discussion where hip-hop artists answered questions from the audience. Artists encouraged young people on the reason why voting is important as well as receiving a good education. “I had the courage not to listen to those who tried to deter me from staying in school and graduating,” Nelly emphasized. “Today, we are here to help you learn courage to try and make a change in your lives”. After registering a record number 114,000 new young voters, Anheuser-Busch presented a check for $10,000 to Nelly’s charity foundation.
“The St. Louis Hip-Hop Summit was a perfect example of HSAN’s theme, “Taking Back Responsibility,” exclaimed HSAN Chairman, Russell Simmons. “We’re proud of the artists who donated their time and energy and we’re very proud of the thousands of youth who responded in such record-setting numbers to register to vote.”
