Jineea Butler, a Republican congressional candidate for New York’s 13th District, is in the process of trying to create a new hip-hop based political party, and she’s asked LL Cool J and Busta Rhymes to be party leaders.
Butler is also the founder of the Hip Hop Union and said both legendary rappers would be able to get younger people excited about the political process. At this time, however, neither LL or Busta have responded.
“We’re looking for somebody that can energize the vote, so we can clear the 50,000 votes and someone who resonates with millennials and young folks,” she explained.
The line will be called the New American Party and Butler said she wanted to start it because she feels Republicans have given up on building a relationship with the Black community. She also said Democrats are aware of this and as a result, have taken the Black vote for granted.
To officially start the line, the congressional candidate will need 15,000 signatures across New York State by Aug. 21, and she believes it can be pulled off, despite the time constraints.
“Part of what we want to show is that we can pull out large numbers in a short amount of time, that people can get involved in the political spectrum, and it’s worth the investment into the opportunity,” she said. “We’ve already got boots on the ground on this.”
Eric Barrier, from the legendary rap duo Eric B. & Rakim is assisting Butler in creating the line and besides Busta and LL, Ja Rule is being considered for a party leadership position. That’s because he recently got involved in a protest against New York City Public Housing for its living conditions.
“We’re juggling a bunch of candidates we can look at from the hip-hop community,” Butler explained. “Hip-hop changed the world 40, 45 years ago when it started. It just gave people an absolute freedom of speech. We want to use that same principle with a strong agenda that addresses economic disparity and prosperity-driven initiatives.”
“This would work right now in America,” she added. “America needs something else. We’re fighting against each other. We’ve come too far in this country to go back to racism. Hip hop brought people together … The African-American community, we want to leverage our vote. Right now, we’re just being abused.”
