Rapper Yon Gravy is making a pitch to young people who are undecided about voting.
“Girls are going to like you,” he said in an interview with the Daily Cardinal, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s student newspaper, last week. “Try it.”
On Wednesday, Yong Gravy, 28, performed a free concert at a venue near the university where he began his musical career as a student. He then led a parade of about 750 people to a polling place in Madison, of which 400 voted, event organizers said.
The concert was part of the Party to the Polls Purple Tour, a nonpartisan series of events aimed at promoting voter turnout among young people and in areas with high voter turnout. This is one of many efforts being rolled out in the final days of the campaign by both sides to engage members of Generation Z, who are actively voting.
The tour, which included 50 events in 16 states, was organized by the Civic Responsibility Project, a nonpartisan nonprofit that promotes civic engagement, and Daybreak, an organization that hosts low-key daytime dance parties. Organizers say the event had attracted 25,000 participants as of Friday.
Last week, rapper Lil Jon headlined events that drew about 900 people in Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada. On Monday, singer and rapper Cordae is scheduled to perform in State College, Pennsylvania.
“It was really amazing to see a Lil Jon concert outside my dorm at 11 a.m. and 1,000 kids streaming and having a dance party,” said the founder of the Civic Responsibility Project. said Ashley Spillane, former Rock the President. Vote.
The aim was not just to tell young people they should vote, she added, but to get them to “actually care.” The event’s registration page advertises both pole dancers and “pole dancers.”
In the final weeks of the campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald J. Trump put up boldface names seeking support and recognition. Beyoncé, Eminem, Bruce Springsteen and others rallied behind Harris. Trump appeared at Madison Square Garden on Sunday with Hulk Hogan and Dr. Phil, and recently sat down for a three-hour interview with podcaster Joe Rogan.
Daybreaker founder and CEO Radha Agrawal said the “Party to the Polls Purple” tour creates personal connections to cities and campuses with large numbers of young potential voters. The focus is on organizing events with celebrities.
Although the event is nonpartisan, some of the celebrities appearing have previously supported candidates. Kerry Washington, who danced on a Milwaukee sidewalk at a Purple Tour event on Sunday, hosted the final night of the Democratic National Convention in August. Lil Jon memorably performed “Turn Down for What” during each state’s roll call.
Yung Gravy, a loose-haired rapper from Minnesota born Matthew Hauri, is better known for his trolling on TikTok than his sense of civic engagement. Although he has not explicitly endorsed any candidate, he said in an interview with the Daily Cardinal that he supports abortion rights.
He added that as a musician, he usually avoided getting involved in politics, but as a student living in the battleground state of Wisconsin, he became more active. According to average polls, Harris and Trump are closely tied, with Harris holding a 1-point lead.
In a statement, he said it was meaningful to encourage students from his alma mater to vote. “This was different than a normal show for me,” he said.
