The Coming Revolution

With his deep voice and fluid delivery, Davey D is an instantly recognizable voice on the radio. He is a hip-hop historian, a journalist, a DJ and an activist, among other things. Raised in a household that encouraged political involvement, Davey D came to California from the Bronx to attend U.C. Berkeley and never looked back. He has been a Bay Area radio staple ever since, representing a generation of young listeners whose political views are often marginalized in mainstream media. He is currently Webmaster of Davey D's Hip Hop Corner (www.daveyd.com) and the host of Hard Knock Radio on KPFA in Berkeley.

WireTap: How old were you when you first voted?

Davey D: I was 18. I mean, my first official election. I voted a lot more when I was younger for school elections. Voting was something that was taught to me in the house. You know, my mom would put us through various exercises just to deal with the concept of voting.

WT: What do you think can be done to motivate those least likely to vote?

DD: I think the most important thing you have to consider when getting people to vote is that it's part of a bigger strategy to turn things around or move things in a particular direction. In a lot of circles, political discussion is often looked down upon or made fun of or you hear people make ridiculous assertions, like some people might say you're trying to be white or some people might say, "That's old folks' stuff." I've always been taught that to not be political is political. So with my work in media, on radio, in writing, I've always tried to introduce political issues as if they were a part of normal, everyday conversation. I wouldn't say, "Well, we're going to have a political discussion today." I would make it part of the fabric of whatever I am talking about.

Today we're conditioned to gossip a lot. When I was younger, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck wouldn't have been this interesting. And now it can be the lead story on your evening news. People wanna know who slept with who and why and what the dirty details were. I try to treat political issues -- especially when dealing with politicians -- the same way.

The other thing I make a point of doing with my radio show is going after the key newsmakers so people can hear directly from them. And then, when I have those newsmakers, I don't let them [have] a free pass. When I have an elected official on and I ask a question and they give me some roundabout answer, I'm usually gonna stop them and ask them to really break it down. And I'm going to explain to them that most of the people in the audience do not understand this jargon that you're using. In other words, don't go on my show where I'm reaching 18- to-34-year-olds and start talking about retirement benefits.

WT: Lots of people have been talking about the hip-hop vote. All of a sudden, there are all these hip-hop voting events… I know Russell Simmons had one and there's one this June [the National Hip Hop Convention, June 16-19, in Newark, New Jersey]. I want to hear your opinion on their legitimacy, on their potential for change.

DD: In the African-American community, and maybe in the Latino community, maybe various others, the majority of people are under 30. And 18 to 34-year-olds, in media circles, are one of the most desirable demographics. Everything from radio to television is centered around whatever tactics and approaches are going to be needed to reach that audience, the hip-hop generation, so when you put that together, you have people going, "We got to get the hip-hop vote."

I think folks have keyed in on the fact that hip-hop aesthetics have resonated with folks all around the globe and the styles, the fashions, the mannerisms are often imitated. Or, [if they can] get people to buy certain styles of clothes or wear their clothing a certain way, maybe we can harness that same influence and maybe get them to vote a certain way.