Hip Hop Caucus 2004. In 2003 and 2004 he was the Political and Grassroots Director for Russell Simmons' Hip Hop Summit Action Network, as well as a Senior Consultant to Jay-Z's Citizen Change "Voice Your Choice" campaign. Respect My Vote! is a voter mobilization campaign that aims to educate, register and mobilize young people of color between the ages of 18-39 who live in urban communities, do not attend college, people with felony records who are unaware of their voting rights, and students at historically black colleges and universities. In 2008, the Hip Hop Caucus and the hip hop artist T.I. launched the
Native American hip hop been of great influence due to the many social issues present in indigenous communities. Artists such as John Trudell (with his spoken word poetry), Mildred Bailey (with her contributions to jazz in the 1930s) and Russell Means (with what he calls his rap-ajo music) have been of some influence with their artistic endeavors. In 2013, longtime Native Hip Hop advocate MANIK started the Nativehiphop Festival in Vancouver B.C. Canada. This is an annual 3 day festival which includes all elements of hip hop. It features Native Graf artists, b-boys, DJs, MCs and many others elements. Melle Mel, the first rapper