Diddy Gets Political: The Birth of "Vote or Die"

Finding Obamica, Vol. 4

Caught between the acerbic comedic cross-hairs of The Daily Show's Jon Stewart -- the angriest man on cable TV -- and South Park -- the angriest cartoon on cable TV -- Sean "Diddy" Combs's 2004 political awareness initiative, "Vote Or Die," was assaulted with a banana clip of rapid fire derision. At the time, I had my suspicions, too. I thought "Vote Or Die" -- as relevant as a youth voter drive was on the surface -- was another attempt by Puff to Madonna-fy his public persona. Puff's fictional construct in real-time, using the 2004 Bush-Kerry Presidential race to extend the shelf-life of his Diddian masquerade.

However, as much as I tried to dismiss this as mere Hip Hop P.T. Barnum-ism, an Eyes on the Prize alarm went off in my head; Vote Or Die began to play out subconsciously as a historical Circus Of The Damned. Selma. Barking police dogs and fire hydrants tearing flesh. Steel black batons breaking black folks bones. Mahogany bodies suspended and swinging from tall Georgia pines like obscene holiday ornaments. The bullet controlled the ballot, because more often than not, the bullet bored into a person's temple so that the ballot would never be cast.

I'm not the only person who thought there was authentic political commerce beyond Puff's shiny window dressing. In a thought-provoking essay (posted on 22 September 2005), American University adjunct professor Dr. Maya Rockeymoore, synced the urgency of "Vote Or Die" with the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina, on her The Black Commentator blog. Dr. Rockeymoore states:

"Vote or Die!" was the provocative imperative Hip Hop impresario Sean "Diddy" Combs issued to young would-be voters during the 2004 presidential election cycle. At the time, some ridiculed Combs for sensationalism but now the slogan seems more like a haunting foreshadowing of things that would come.

Today as the human toll continues to rise in the Gulf Coast region we must reflect on the debacle and how American voting behavior added to the death and devastation in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Maybe the aggressive marketing approach of "Vote Or Die" was Combs's own pop-culture filtering of the bloody and racist stench of the ghosts of Mississippi past. Maybe on some intuitive level, Sean Combs understood what our folks understood in the '60s. The decisions made in the voting booths and the ballot boxes could be the delivery room or the cold morgue of our lives, as we choose an American President. Maybe Puff recognized that's why the martyrs of the civil rights movement were most assuredly, always ready to die. Or maybe this scribe doth project too much.

Anyhoo, this was 2004: four years ahead of the curve of Obamica. Four years ahead of -- to pilfer an Andy Warhol title for one of his attention-grabbing art exhibitions -- The Plastic Fantastic Inevitable of 4 November 2008. In 2004, Barack Obama was still the junior senator from Illinois, a dapper and eager hype-man for the Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry at the Fleet Center in Boston. Obama the MC with one dope mix tape -- his eloquent and moving memoir, Dreams From My Father -- whose keynote address rocked the unsuspecting crowd, with the promise of a possible great contender (in a future galaxy far, far, away...come on now, a Black President???) looking to reclaim the American Dream with his Kenya-to-Kansas, bush-land meets the heartland, audacity of hope.

As we celebrate our new American President -- that same bright-eyed junior senator from Illinois, Barack Hussein Obama, who electrified those conventioneers the night of July 27th, 2004 -- in it looks like Sean Combs and "Vote Or Die" was right on with the light on. Like Russell Simmons -- who is the pioneer superconductor in the connectivity between the energies of Hip Hop and Politics -- Puff took a gamble and it paid off, even if a lot of folks don't realize it yet. The voter registration drives of both the Hip Hop Action Network and Vote Or Die, drove the MTV-VH1-BET-Facebook-Myspace-Friendster Millennial generation to the polls. These are kids -- white, black, Asian, Latino, and multiracial -- who grew up being comfortable watching Puff, and Jay-Z, Dr. Dre, Master P, and 50 Cent making strong moves to the basket in the boardrooms and on stage. Young African American men in positions of real corporate power. The Millennials sent text messages to their friends before and during election day. They talked to their parents at the dinner table: It's about Obama, Mom and Dad. He's telling us, and we're telling you, We Are The Change We Have Been Waiting For.

In this last installment of my interview with Sean John Combs, he puts this history-making event into context, in a way that is simple, yet compelling and powerful. He is the first icon in Hip Hop that has even talked about it with such candor, including the ridicule he received four years ago during the early days of "Vote Or Die". It is an interview I will remember for a long time, just as this era of Obamica will change this country, and the global landscape, for years to come.

Comments

[spiderbucket]

Having Paris Hilton be a part of it and then she didn't even vote made it hard for me to take the campaign seriously. Like most of Diddy's ventures (including his own name) are born of chasing fads and trying to be relevant. I can't wait until you get to interview someone with substance - we both deserve better.

[PatA]

Hmmmmmmm. I am a 65 year old woman and I got it~ It was/is one of the most powerful
"get out and vote" messages that I've heard in my entire life. I'm really proud of Mr. Combs.

[highcountryprogressive]

Rev Yearwood, who has written recently for the Huffington Post, was the co-creator of "Vote Or Die" with Diddy.

You should take a look at his work and the work of his organization.
www.hiphopcaucus.org. He shows that "Vote Or Die" was part of a much
bigger movement than people think. Diddy's leadership was part of a
bigger effort than the highly visible 2004 campaign.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-lennox-yearwood/ask-what-you-can-do-for-y_b_176464.html

[Barry Michael Cooper - Huffpost Blogger]

I agree. Looking at the fruition of the 2008 Presidential campaign--and the election of President Barack Obama--the "Vote or Die" movement was more important than most people realize. Or maybe they realize and want to dismiss it. But, needless to say, it was a groundbreaking youth
voter initiative. Kudos to Rev. Yearwood and Sean Combs:it was a real strong move to the basket in
this game of the American Dream...

[project youthanize]

This was an important movement to engage young people in the political process. Engagement begins with pop culture but shouldn't end there...

www.projectyouthanize.org

[Barry Michael Cooper - Huffpost Blogger]

Good point. Very good point. Thank you for your insight.