From Brooklyn corners, burnin branches of sticky
Spread love, Biggie, Brooklyn, hippie
I pity, the fool with jewels like Mr. T
With long history in my borough, they borrow
With no intentions of returnin, tomorrow
Brooklyn, we go hard! We go hard!
In his latest album, international rap artist Jay-Z brought his old stomping ground on the world stage in his track “Brooklyn Go Hard.” But it’s the superstar’s U.S. tour that may impact Brooklyn in more ways than just adding the name to potentially millions of playlists – the tour may impact local politics.
Rep. Yvette Clark, Democrat of New York’s Congressional District 11 in Brooklyn, will get an early campaign boost – at least financially – next month at a fundraiser event tied with Jay-Z and his BP3 Concert in Washington, D.C.
Sure, Beyonce’s husband might be feeling love for Brooklyn (just see how closely he still identifies to the borough – lyrically), or maybe it’s love for the work the democratic congresswoman has done there. But there’s also a little politics going on worth noting. The concert, managed by Live Nation, a global live entertainment company whose roster includes Madonna and Kylie Minogue, is lobbying Congress on H.R. 848, a performance rights act, which Ms. Clarke has co-sponsored.
Several others of Ms. Clarke’s New York City congressional colleagues also co-sponsored the bill – among them Joseph Crowley, Carolyn Maloney, Jarrold Nadler and Anthony Weiner – though they are not getting the same treatment by Jay-Z (perhaps other Live Nation artists will fundraise for them).
But there are other representatives benefiting from Jay-Z’s March concert in Washington. Joining Ms. Clarke that evening are election campaigns for Sanford Bishop of Georgia, Andre Carson of Indiana. At this time, neither of them have co-sponsored the bill above.
A contact for Ms. Clarke reelection campaign could not be reached before this posting went live.
Tickets for the Jay-Z-Clarke concert will cost a pretty penny in this sluggish economy: $1500 for one ticket or, for an additional thousand dollars, the ticket buyer can get a second one – and won’t have to go alone.