here aren't many issues that would bring together former New York governor Mario Cuomo, rap artist Q-Tip, and supermodel Veronica Webb for a live panel discussion on the Internet. What attracted them to the forum was the question of how to get urban youths to the polls. The three joined with rap producer Russell Simmons and Uptown Records president Heavy-De to promote Rap the Vote, a campaign that uses rap as a positive force to register 18- to 35-year-old voters.Rap the Vote is the brainchild of Omar Bradley, the mayor of Compton, a suburb of Los Angeles. He formed the Rap the Vote Foundation to produce rap concerts for which voter registration is the admission ticket. "Rap, in my opinion, is the only force that is universally reaching the unreachable generation," the mayor said in 1995, noting that less than 3 percent of eligible voters between 18 and 35 are actually registered. "When thousands of young people come together to register and vote, drawn by the vibrant sounds of their heroes, America will take a second look at the fate of the hip-hop generation." For the organizers of Rap the Vote, there is little doubt about the best way to promote the movement. "The Internet is the most democratic form of communication we have," says Russell Simmons. "Traditional forms of media are a one-way thing, and for the media-savvy generation that's coming up today, that's a tremendous turn-off. The Internet is all about participation. Rap the Vote is all about participation. The two are natural partners."
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