The ticket to one of the hottest rap shows in Oakland this weekend is your voter registration. Hosted by Mistah F.A.B. at the Oakland Technical High School auditorium, the Oakland Do It For the Town millennial voter engagement concert on Oct. 20 stars street rap stalwarts J. Stalin and Sleepy D, as well as H.U. and iStevie.
In recent months, The Town’s hip-hop scene has gotten politically active in a new way. Mistah F.A.B. has been campaigning for City Council candidate Kenzie Smith, who co-owns Mistah F.A.B.’s Dope Era Magazine and was the target of May’s viral BBQ Becky incident. A populist, outsider candidate, Smith is running against longtime city councilmember Abel Guillen for the District 2 seat, which encompasses the east side of Lake Merritt.
In September, while hosting the main stage at Hiero Day, Mistah F.A.B. brought Smith out to address the crowd. “He runnin’ for city council, man, for us to make a change so we can have one of our own making the decisions so they don’t push us out, so we can at least have a voice in all this,” F.A.B. told the audience.
While not explicitly a campaign event for Smith, the free show will register concert-goers to vote at the door.
