EDITORIAL
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Election Day is new on the horizon and there are still millions of ballots slated to be cast to elect not only the next President of the United States but other key races. Hip-Hop Wired will attempt to bring Election Day into greater view and share what we’ve learned in the time leading up to the big day.
Tuesday is Election Day and polls will open bright and early across the United States until the later part of the evening. Naturally, much of the focus has been on the top of the ticket, with Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump squaring off for the Democratic Party and Republican Party respectively. Below, we’ll do our best to capture what the polls and election experts are saying as time narrows down.
The Polls Are Largely Tied With Some Exceptions
Source: Michael M. Santiago / Getty
Polls are but a sample size of actual voters but the data within is just as heavily scrutinized as comments made by candidates on the campaign trail. New national poll numbers have shown that the race is still virtually tied but there are slight variables that deserve a mention.
The most recent ABC News/Ipsos poll reveals that Harris holds a 49-46% edge over Trump and according to this report, this is been a constant result from this particular poll. The economy, border security, and rising costs are at the top of list for those who were polled. The poll also shows that independent voters are in favor of Harris at 49-44% over Trump. Harris also is enjoying the support of Black men at a rate of 76% and 87% for Black women in the ABC News/Ipsos poll.
NBC News released its final poll numbers on Sunday (November 2) and the results show a deadlocked 49-49% for both candidates, with the poll indicating rallying numbers for Harris around her stance on abortion and her campaign’s plan for the middle class. For Trump, poll results show that voters are worried about the direction of the country and the state of the economy. Harris is largely keeping things close with her large 87-9% lead among Black voters and voters under 30, who support the vice president 57 to 41% over Trump.
A shocking turn of events was the results of the Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll. Iowa, a state most assumed would fall to Trump, suddenly showed via its poll that Harris is leading there at a rate of 47% to 44% among likely voters. However, Trump still holds a massive edge among independent men but Harris still holds sway over women voters in Iowa.
Today (November 4), Emerson College Polling/The Hill released its final numbers which showed that seven critical swing states will come down to the final minute before polls close before the race for either candidate can be properly called. Michigan numbers show that Harris enjoys a two-point edge over Trump with 50% to 48%. In Nevada, the candidates are tied at 48% among likely voters, and 49% in Wisconsin. In this poll, Trump is up by one point in Georgia at 49% to 48%, which is a state he lost in 2020. Trump also enjoys one-point leads in North Carolina and Pennsylvania at 49% to 48% for both states. In Arizona, Trump enjoys a 50% to 48% lead there.
Other Races To Watch
Source: Loren Elliott / Getty
The race for the Maryland seat in the U.S. Senate between Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks and former Gov. Larry Hogan might not have a lot of drama as we near Election Day. Alsobrooks, a Democrat, is highly favored in almost all polls in the blue state. Hogan, a Republican, ran a campaign that distanced him from Donald Trump but it appears thus far that won’t be enough to get the votes to earn the seat. If she wins, Alsobrooks will become Maryland’s first Black U.S. Senator.
In Washington, Democratic Party D.C. Council member Trayon White Sr. (Ward 8) is running for a third term against Republican Nate Derenge. This is an interesting race given that White is facing federal bribery charges. However, White has the advantage of being the incumbent in a blue-leaning city and could see an easy path to victory.
The U.S. Senate is currently controlled by Democrats, with just a handful of independents voting alongside them. But it appears that by most measures, even if Alsobrooks gains her seat, Montana’s Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat, isn’t projected to win against Republican Tim Sheehy. Ohio’s U.S. Senate seat race is too close to call with Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Republican Bernie Moreno virtually tied.
Republicans maintain a slight majority of the House with 220 seats to the Democrats 212 and several races across the nation are projecting big gains for the GOP. Considering the shape of state and local races, a Trump victory could see the former president returning to a White House with full party control of Congress and can exact many of the wide-ranging policies he’s mentioned on the campaign trail.
What Happens Now
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An expected “Hail Mary” of campaign ads have been the order of business for both presidential candidates and the same can be said of state and local races that we’ve observed in the mid-Atlantic. With some reported issues of ballot box tampering, voters being turned away, and general apathy among the undecided, if this race is even remotely close, it’s possible that the final findings could drag on for months.
In a race that often placed personality and personal grievances ahead of policy, everything is now in the power of voters to determine who they want to lead this country for the next four years, and how laws will be passed and measured in their respective neighborhoods. Early voting turnout numbers have been massive and the polls will be packed with lines all day Tuesday.
Hip-Hop Wired will be monitoring all the happenings this week.
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Photo: Getty
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Source: Chip Somodevilla / Getty
By now you’ve heard of Donald Trump’s latest stunt of plastering the side of a garbage truck with his campaign’s logo in an attempt to own the libs at the expense of a Joe Biden gaffe. But social media is quick with the punch back, with “Garbage Farce One” trending, and it’s hilarious.
Whoever on Team Trump came up with the idea of their Cheeto Overlord cozying up to a garbage truck in Green Bay, Wiscnsin might not really be gang gang. Just saying.
Add to that Trump in a struggle attempt at dressing up like a sanitation worker—a legit blue color job no one should be ashamed of, by the way—and the slander was inevitable. The hypocrisy is that Trump has referred to the United States as a garbage dump for immigrants and he’s even said much worse. Yet the snowflakes are having a meltdown because Biden allegedly dragged them. For the record, Biden said he misspoke, something Trump has never even bothered to say after, for example, referring to immigrants as vermin.
As for the stunt, the fact people hopped on calling what surely would have been a Decepticon in the Transformers universe as Garbage Force One is comically on brand.
Don’t take our word for it, peep the reactions in the gallery.
This is comedy pure gold. Garbage Force One. 😂😂😂 #HappyHalloween https://t.co/PT2A5h644V
— Sheri 👩🦰 (@redsheri1) October 31, 2024
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The news of Brownsville rapper KA’s passing, also known as Kaseem Ryan, continues to shock his fans and collaborators alike. In the days since the news went viral, many in Hip-Hop are trying to make sense of the loss and find time to celebrate KA’s audio art as he intended.
I am not beholden to religious doctrine nor do I invest much time in esoteric possibilities of fate, but something continues to nag me about the death of Kaseem Ryan. I was listening to the Brooklyn rapper’s latest album, The Thief Next To Jesus on the morning of the day that the news of his death was posted on social media.
I was listening to the album to find a song to add to our ongoing CRT FRSH playlist series at Hip-Hop Wired, but also just enjoying hearing the FDNY firefighter presenting ideas of how Christianity is a hallmark of the Black community while continuing to grapple out loud with the religion being used as a tool to keep the enslaved in fear of the masters.
Beyond the dissection of Christianity as a whole, KA also deftly examines how the music and art that the masses consume might have deeper consequences that we’re unwilling to face. Yes, music and its enjoyment is a subjective experience but being inundated with certain messages does permeate the senses far more than anyone would admit.
I was not unfamiliar with Ryan’s work as someone who is an avowed Hip-Hop nerd. These days, the volume at which music is released today doesn’t allow me to know every nook and cranny of the so-called “mainstream” or “underground” scenes, but in the 1990s, it was far easier to keep up.
Also back then, I was an active rapper, most especially the sort that would be in freestyle “ciphers” and battles while also making my meager attempts at recorded material. At my core, I was a fan first and I picked up rhyming as a means to get closer to the music.
Natural Elements, currently comprised of L Swift (now Swigga Da Don), A-Butta, and Mr. Voodoo, featured more members and one of them was KA, who later left the group as he felt he didn’t measure up as a rapper in comparison to his compatriots. The group’s 1994 debut The EP was very much a product of its time and wore its rugged street-born style with pride.
The style of Hip-Hop then, especially on the independent side, was replete with heavy basslines, horn stab samples, en masse choruses, and an emphasis on lyrical superiority over direction or substance. The goal for many toiling outside the label structure was to be the nicest in their respective lanes.
Reinvention is not a new concept in the history of Hip-Hop music. One of our most famous examples of this is the late, great MF DOOM, who began his career as Zev Love X as a member of KMD (Kausing Much Damage). Like DOOM before him, KA found a late 1990s surge of creativity which culminated in the formation of Nightbreed alongside the late Kev, and of the unreleased music one can find online, it was clear that he stepped his game up tremendously.
Time would pass before we would hear Ryan’s gravelly vocals again, and admittedly, I was reconnected to the lyricist by way of GZA’s “Firehouse” track from the Wu-Tang Clan swordsman’s Pro Tools album. As I later learned, GZA, a fellow Brooklynite, discovered Ryan’s debut album, Iron Works, and invited him to a recording session.
It feels trite to say that the rest is history but, it truly was a historic run of critically acclaimed albums that would commence. I treated every KA drop like a spiritual experience and whatever ability as a writer I thought I had was easily dwarfed by the mighty pen of the Iron Works honcho. There have been times when I’ve been listening to an album such as 2016’s Honor Killed The Samurai where I would stop the track or else fall into a heap of emotions.
Everything about KA felt authentic, tangible, personal, vulnerable, and ultimately human. It would be some time before I discovered that his day job was that of saving lives as a firefighter. I dare say Kaseem Ryan saved my life and that of countless others via his selfless flood of self-expression, creativity, and missives that should be studied by anyone who claims to love this culture.
As I’m writing this, the tears are forming at the corners of my eyes but my heart is beating strong knowing that the music KA gave to the world was done in a manner that was befitting of all the outpouring of love we’ve seen on social media in the past week and more.
Talented acts such as Chuck Strangers, billy woods, Open Mike Eagle, Roc Marci, Pink Siifu, and far too many acts to name all had similar stories of their run-ins with Ryan or their connection to his music. And it wasn’t just the lyrics. Just like his collaborator Roc Marciano, KA didn’t need to outsource production as an adept producer himself but his collaborative works with producers Preservation, Aminoss, and Roc Marci matched his sonic ethos perfectly.
I’ve undertaken the impossible task of gathering one song each from KA’s projects over the years along with a feature verse, opening with the aforementioned “Firehouse” as a primer for the uninitiated. I hope that upon hearing the music you’ll do what I urge everyone else to do if they ever talk shop with me. Just dive in, allow yourself to feel every bar, and try to walk upright as KA did despite the wickedness of the world at large.
Rest Powerfully In Peace to Kaseem Ryan.
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Photo: Images Obtained From www.brownsvilleka.com
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Donald Trump remains in a tight race with Vice President Kamala Harris which ends in just under a month, and the stakes are rising higher than ever. In a new interview, Donald Trump attacked immigrants with a vile comment suggesting that they are “bad genes” in the country who have a genetic predisposition to murder.
Donald Trump appeared on The Hugh Hewitt Show on Monday (October 7) and immediately seized upon the xenophobic fears of his supporters by aiming attacks at Vice President Harris and immigration policies enacted under President Joe Biden. Furthering his stances on the southern border and attempting to frame Harris as a communist, Trump went on a verbal tear that many are currently decrying.
“When you look at the things that she proposes, they’re so far off she has no clue. How about allowing people to come to an open border, 13,000 of which were murderers,” Trump says.
He added, “Many of them murdered far more than one person, and they’re now happily living in the United States. You know, now a murderer, I believe this, it’s in their genes. And we got a lot of bad genes in our country right now. They left, they had 425,000 people come into our country that shouldn’t be here, that are criminals.”
Trump’s comments were found to be appalling by others in the media, including the panelists of the Morning Joe show on MSNBC, which discussed the matter on the Tuesday morning broadcast of the program. Across X, others observed Trump’s chat with Hewitt and considered his words offensive and a rallying cry for fascism among other digs.
Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt, perhaps realizing how much of a gaffe this could be considering Election Day is fast approaching, countered in a statement that Donald Trump was referring to murderers and not migrants but it appears the damage is done.
Across X, formerly Twitter, many are discussing Donald Trump’s “bad genes” quip. We’ve got reactions listed below.
JUST NOW: @realDonaldTrump leans heavily into race science by telling @hughhewitt that you can tell whether migrants are predisposed to committing murder by “their genes.”
“We got a lot of bad genes in our country right now,” he adds. pic.twitter.com/t722iYq4Hm
— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) October 7, 2024
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Photo: Getty
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Donald Trump might enjoy favorable support among his base but the race for the White House against his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, remains tightly contested. However, Donald Trump took things to a shocking level when he essentially endorsed police brutality to stamp out crime.
Donald Trump was in Pennsylvania on Sunday (September 29) and delivered a speech that should have been focused on his policies but devolved into him spouting debunked claims of crime rising under President Joe Biden’s administration and more talking points that he’s largely remained committed to. However, things took a dark turn when the former president suggested the police be allowed to use rough tactics to stop crime, especially in the world of retail theft.
“See, we have to let the police do their job,” Trump began. “And if they have to be extraordinarily rough…and you know the funny thing about all of that stuff. Look at the department stores. You see these guys walking out with an air conditioner and a refrigerator on their backs.”
The Trump faithful applauded on cue during this speech segment the business mogul continued to deliver his dangerous rhetoric.
“And the police aren’t allowed to do their job,” Trump continued. “They’re told if you do anything, you’re going to lose your pension, you’re going to lose your family, your house, your car. The police want to do it. The Border Patrol wants to do it. They’re not allowed to do it because the liberal left won’t let them do it.”
He continued to double down on the threat of police violence against theft, once again to the approving cheers of his supporters.
“One rough hour, and I mean real rough, the word will get out, and it will end immediately, end immediately. You know, it will end immediately,” Trump said.
On X, formerly Twitter, observers have likened Donald Trump’s support of concentrated and lawless police violence to the film franchise, The Purge, in which for 24 hours, crimes can be committed without consequences.
We’ve got reactions listed below.
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Photo: Getty
1. Regardless of what people are framing it as, it’s scary to imagine.
2. Worth a watch.
4. Some more talking points about what Trump may allegedly be angling for.
10. Instead of reducing it to name-calling, just keep educating. It’s all new information for some.
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Source: The Washington Post / Getty
Donald Trump has officially declined to participate in a second presidential debate against Vice President Kamala Harris and in true Trump fashion, he has defaulted to the Land of Delulu in explaining why he has refused.
Trump is out here claiming he won the first debate.
That’s right, y’all. Despite the fact that it has been widely accepted by people on both sides of the political aisle that Harris molly-whopped Trump on the debate stage Tuesday night, the commander-in-fake-dog-and-cat-recues claims he won’t accept Harris’ challenge to a second debate because “polls clearly show that I won the debate…”
“When a prizefighter loses a fight, the first words out of his mouth are, ‘I WANT A REMATCH.’ Polls clearly show that I won the Debate against Comrade Kamala Harris, the Democrats’ Radical Left Candidate, on Tuesday night, and she immediately called for a Second Debate,” Trump posted on his comically-named platform, Truth Social.”
For the record, even the most generous polls from reputable sources have Karris dog-walking Trump by double-digit percentage points. Trump keeps posting screenshots of unscientific polls from Newsmax and other online sources that erroneously have more than 90% of respondents saying the guy who claimed Harris “wants to do transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison” won the debate, but those polls clearly don’t reflect the electorate — or reality.
It’s no surprise that Trump doesn’t want to debate Harris again. He made a fool of himself by ranting about fictional post-birth abortions and equally fictional pet-eating immigrants. Trump was transparently afraid to debate Harris the first time — and she ultimately proved he had reason to be — so of course he doesn’t want to put himself through it again.
Anyway, the fine folks on X were not buying Trump’s claim that he’s only declining a second debate because he “clearly” won the first, and they have responded by calling him the chicken-sh*t that he clearly is.
Check out the reactions below.
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Source: Jamie Squire / Getty
Boy, I tell ya’ — Taylor Swift publicly endorsed Kamala Harris after the vice president dog-walked unhinged pet protector Donald Trump during the presidential debate Tuesday night, and the MAGA world had been in shambles ever since.
Trump tried to clap back at Swift’s endorsement during a Fox News call where he mentioned, “I actually like Mrs. Mahomes much better” than Swift, referring to NFL great Patrick Mahomes‘ wife, who is apparently a Trump supporter.
This prompted a reporter to ask Mahomes whether he too would like to offer a public endorsement of Trump, to which he essentially replied: “Nah — cancel that noise. You should go vote though.”
“I don’t want my place and my platform to be used to endorse a candidate or do whatever, either way,” Mahomes said during the Wednesday press conference. “I think my place is to inform people to get registered to vote. It’s to inform people to do their own research and then make the best decision for them and their family.”
“You’ve seen my history,” he continued. “I’ve come up with people from every aspect of life, from every background, and the best thing about football locker rooms and kind of how I’ve grown up in baseball locker rooms is people can come together and achieve something and achieve a common goal. We talked about it a while back. If we can do that as a nation, we can get the best out of each other, so that’s something I do every single day.”
So, basically, Mahomes decided to Kumbaya his way out of explicitly declaring his support for Trump or Harris. After all, we saw what happened when WNBA phenom Caitlin Clark “liked” Swift’s post endorsing Harris and MAGA minions across the white-suprema-net told her to shut up and dribble.
In fact, Clark responded to the backlash pretty much the same way Mahomes responded to the inquiry about who he endorses: by declining to explicitly endorse either candidate and, instead, telling people to go out and vote.
“I think for myself, I have my amazing platform, so I think the biggest thing will be just encourage people to register to vote,” she said. “It’s the second time I can vote in a election; at 22, I could vote when I was 18. I can do that, that’s the biggest thing I can do with the platform that I have. And that’s the same thing Taylor did. And I think continue to educate yourself with the candidates that we have, the policies that they’re supporting. I think that’s the biggest thing you can do, and that’s what I would recommend to every single person that has that opportunity in our country.”
Yeah, the athletes are out here either dodging MAGA bullets and anti-MAGA bullets alike.
Must be exhausting. Couldn’t be me.
Man, F**k Trump. Harris 2024!
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Months ago, it was reported that an indictment was imminent in relation to the investigation that authorities had opened up on Diddy, and though that day has yet to come, it seems like the feds are working hard to cross their T’s and dot their I’s before laying down the law on “Brother Love.”
According to TMZ, feds are looking into a specific hotel in Miami as they continue to look for evidence of wrongdoing on Diddy’s behalf and subpoenaed not only the hotel for their records relating to Diddy’s stay, but also named 50 Cent’s baby mama, Daphne Joy, in the subpoena as well. As you may or may not remember, Joy being involved in Diddy’s shenanigans led to a weird back-and-forth between Stevie J and 50 Cent earlier this year that didn’t materialize to much past a few social media posts.
But now that she’s back in the spotlight in this new subpoena, one can only wonder if 50 will once again begin to troll either his baby mama or Diddy as he’s known to do. But until that happens (or not), authorities will continue to comb for more evidence as the investigation into Diddy continues to heat up.
Per TMZ:
The subpoena specifies the period from January 1, 2008, to the present, asking for check-in and check-out dates, room numbers, guest preferences and requests, and billing information, including room service.
Federal prosecutors also requested email and mailing addresses and phone numbers, along with forms of payment, such as cash and credit cards.
Prosecutors further asked for computer IP addresses and logins for the individuals, as well as copies of their identifications and vehicle information. What’s more, the feds inquired about surveillance footage at the hotel.
The new subpoena was issued only a couple weeks ago … so it looks like the authorities are still hard at work on the Diddy probe.
While Diddy was able to settle with Cassie, he still has a few other lawsuits he’s currently fighting in court in hopes of getting them dismissed, including the one that basically started this avalanche, the Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones suit.
How this ends is anyone’s guess. But we’re pretty sure Diddy himself either knows he’ll be cleared of all charges, or if he is eyeing a flight to a country, allegedly, that will not extradite him to the U.S. should he become a wanted man.
What do y’all think about this latest development? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Source: CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / Getty
Gus Walz is the son of Minnesota Governor and VP candidate Tim Walz. The 17-year-old won the hearts of millions when during the Democratic National Convention he displayed raw emotion, clapping “That’s my dad!” during his father’s speech on Wednesday (August 21) night.
While the goodwill was already flowing, Gus Walz’s legend only grew when many then learned that when he was becoming a teen he was diagnosed with a nonverbal learning disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. As you would guess, the Walz family was nothing but supportive, telling People magazine, “It took time, but what became so immediately clear to us was that Gus’ condition is not a setback — it’s his secret power.”
Nevertheless, people on the conservative right proceeded to show their asses on social media and actually mocked Gus Walz for daring to show emotion during his father’s stirring moment when he accepted the VP nomination. The worst of the bunch was easily Ann Coulter, who wrote “Talk about weird…” as a caption of a picture of Gus in tears. Of course, Coulter eventually deleted her tweet after immense backlash, but nothing is ever wiped away on the Internets.
Coulter was not an anomaly, with many a troglodyte co-signing her foolishness with similar attacks. But despite Elon Musk’s X becoming a cesspool of hate, the overwhelming reactions have been nothing but support and love for Gus Walz and his family. Social media is filled with people smacking down the attacks with accounts about their own lives with neurodivergent children and while disparaging the lack of human decency Coulter and her ilk routinely display.
See some of the more passionate reactions in the gallery.
3. Never forget.
7. Posting for archival purpose because they will deny it.
8. It’s personal.
9. We won’t condone everything written here, but we understand.
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Source: CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / Getty
Gus Walz is the son of Minnesota Governor and VP candidate Tim Walz. The 17-year-old won the hearts of millions when during the Democratic National Convention he displayed raw emotion, clapping “That’s my dad!” during his father’s speech on Wednesday (August 21) night.
While the goodwill was already flowing, Gus Walz’s legend only grew when many then learned that when he was becoming a teen he was diagnosed with a nonverbal learning disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. As you would guess, the Walz family was nothing but supportive, telling People magazine, “It took time, but what became so immediately clear to us was that Gus’ condition is not a setback — it’s his secret power.”
Nevertheless, people on the conservative right proceeded to show their asses on social media and actually mocked Gus Walz for daring to show emotion during his father’s stirring moment when he accepted the VP nomination. The worst of the bunch was easily Ann Coulter, who wrote “Talk about weird…” as a caption of a picture of Gus in tears. Of course, Coulter eventually deleted her tweet after immense backlash, but nothing is ever wiped away on the Internets.
Coulter was not an anomaly, with many a troglodyte co-signing her foolishness with similar attacks. But despite Elon Musk’s X becoming a cesspool of hate, the overwhelming reactions have been nothing but support and love for Gus Walz and his family. Social media is filled with people smacking down the attacks with accounts about their own lives with neurodivergent children and while disparaging the lack of human decency Coulter and her ilk routinely display.
See some of the more passionate reactions in the gallery.
3. Never forget.
7. Posting for archival purpose because they will deny it.
8. It’s personal.
9. We won’t condone everything written here, but we understand.