Photo: Vote or Else / Brandon "BMike" Odums
A group of powerful rappers and motivational community leaders have banded together to encourage people to vote in the final days before the election.
On Friday, November 1, Vote Or Else dropped its anticipated EP featuring eight fresh tracks. The project, which was spearheaded by Marvin Bing of Mobilize Justice and Pastor Mike McBride of Black Church PAC, holds collaborations between some of the most influential voices in Hip-Hop. It opens with the lead single "Still Here" with Benny The Butcher, Jay Electronica, Freeway, and Black Thought. From there, other respected wordsmiths like Bun B, Havoc of Mobb Deep, Styles P and Beanie Sigel spit bars about making a difference.
"Culture has always been and always will be a defining thing," Marvin Bing tells iHeart. "A thing that brings together people, places, issues, and communities. This project was created from a place of understanding together through our culture and our sound and our language we could reach people otherwise not connected or listening to the mainstream political establishment."
Marvin Bing serves as executive producer of the EP alongside Pastor Mike and Chace Infinite with A&R Wayne “Wayno” Clark and associate producers Shaheem Reid & Perfect Storm. Vote or Else also holds contributions from today's prominent MC's like Smoke DZA, Westside Boogie, Boldy James, Jadakiss' son Jaewon, Busta Rhymes' son Trillian, Symba, Boldy James and more. Beatmakers like Havoc, Helluva, Chris Store, Playa Haze and Plu20 Nash serve up hard-hitting instrumentals throughout the project. The Mobb Deep producer recently told iHeart how he felt about working on the EP.
"We're just trying to do our part," he said. "The artists are like, 'Let’s talk about the issues we are really dealing with and how we are working with our communities.' Our brothers and sisters need to band together to really talk, educate, and fight for what we want and use our voices and votes to make it happen. It’s Vote or else!"
Listen to Vote or Else and watch his interview with Angie Martinez below. Make sure to vote on November 5!