Kamala Harris invited a few of rap’s prime artists, from Lil Wayne to Slick Rick, to carry out on Saturday at her house in Washington, D.C., for what she known as “the first-ever hip-hop house party at the Office of the Vice President of the United States.”
Harris celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of hip-hop from a stage constructed on her garden with a visitor checklist of rap luminaries, together with Common, Doug E. Fresh, MC Lyte and Fat Joe.
“Hip-hop is the ultimate American art form,” Harris instructed the viewers. “Hip-hop now shapes nearly every aspect of America’s popular culture, and it reflects the incredible diversity and ingenuity of the American people. It combines rhythms from the continent of Africa, from the Caribbean, from Latin America, with the sounds of soul and gospel and R&B and funk to create something entirely new.”
“And to be clear, hip-hop culture is America’s culture,” she continued. “It is a genre. It is music and melody and rhyme. And hip-hop is also an ethos of strength and self-determination, of ambition and aspiration, of pride, power and purpose.”
Harris, who was born in Oakland, California, stated she grew up listening to hip-hop music, realizing every phrase to the basic hit “Rapper’s Delight” and likewise blasting albums by fellow Oaklander Too Short — who carried out Saturday — throughout her faculty years at Howard University.
“And why did we all love our hip-hop so much? Well, one reason is it speaks truth, raw, unfiltered, without apology,” Harris stated onstage.
The vice chairman danced alongside her husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, who joked about his previous nickname being Doug E. Fresh. Emhoff then identified that the actual Doug E. Fresh was set to carry out at the occasion.
Lil Wayne closed the multi-hour live performance with a efficiency of his hits “A Milli,” “Mrs. Officer” and “Uproar.” He thanked Harris and the White House for inviting him. “I appreciate this. My mom appreciates this too,” he stated.
Harris partnered with the Recording Academy’s Black Music Collective and Live Nation Urban to placed on the commemoration, which marked the primary time a sitting vice chairman has hosted a celebration of this type. More than 400 friends attended, together with Jennifer Hudson, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Yvette Nicole Brown, Roland Martin, Jesse Collins, Tamika Mallory and Recording Academy CEO and president Harvey Mason Jr., who launched Harris to the stage. Actor-comedian Deon Cole hosted the occasion.
Other performers Saturday included Jeezy, Remy Ma, D-Nice, Wale, Black Alley Band and Saba.
Mesfin Fekadu contributed to this report.
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