And dance. This is an hour and 10 minutes. Maxine waters, the most powerful black woman in america from the 43rd congressional district, lets give a big round of applause to maxine for her time. Wow, lets give a hand for everybody. [applause]. Icht im so proud to see all of you here. We have been presenting young gifted and black for many years, but i wanted you to know this is the 50th anniversary of hiphop. I also want you to know im the oldest person in america who loves hiphop. [laughter] and so, this is happy 50 years this anniversary, to an art form that has inspired us so much and inspired so much of the world. Now, ive had to defend hiphop and rap since long before it became this global phenomenon, since infancy, and when i was elected to congress in 1991, many politicians, including black politicians were either distancing themselves, or trying to sensor rap music. The same year, during a senate hearing, there were members of congress wanting to sensor rap music and so i decided to go to the senate and visit them. I read snoop doogie dogs lyrics to help my colleagues understand if they could hear the lyrics that were profound, and the pain, not merely criticizing america. I believe in freedom of speech and opinions without it being currents censored. The influence of hiphop on our culture was created and supported new talent and new art forms. It has been a great economic engine and so, i want you to know that there are many members of congress who do support and have learned, but some of our younger members came with the understanding. I want you first to recognize that we have some of them in the audience and so with that, im going to introduce mccaina williams from georgia. [cheers and applause] she gets it. And then we have another special mature woman like myself and shes here not only because she understands, but shes got a grandson thats going to do something very special for you today and thats going to be a little bit of surprise. And with that, ladies and gentlemen, tip t. I. Harris. Come on out. The man is here. The man is here. T. I. Is here in the building. T. I. Is in the building. All right. Come on, let me here you. Ladies and gentlemen, join in, tip t. I. , yolanda yoyo whitaker. Come on out. Weve got to find somebody. Okay, all right. Okay. Now, i know all of you know a lo the about these fantastic artists, but im going to remind you, tip t. I. Harris is an actor, philanthropist, multiple billboard, bet, American Music awards and countless blockbuster movies and top rated Television Shows including dhi, t. I. And tiny, american gangsters and marvels ant man to name a few. Tip t. I. Harris is an artist entrepreneur and activist amassed a Business Empire to include a record label, a 10yearold clothing line, and a cue, Real Estate Holding company. Production company, nonprofit organization, owner, founder of trap music museum. Cofounder of bankhead seafood, owner of super sound studios, investor and more. [cheers and applause] t. I. Has served on the mayor of atlantas Transition Team focused on policy and legislation and currently serves on the Reimagining Atlanta Task force aimed at creating and restored practices and a Community Driven approach to address the incarceration, and hes been recognized most recently as a thought leader at the United States capital and during operation hopes and Forbes Magazine and business conferences. His Community Focus is around driving economic mobility and equity in vulnerable, underserved communities. T. I. Has been awarded the voice of culture award and is the host of a number one rated podcast with tip t. I. Harris, come on, lets hear it. [applause] that and a lot more. And now, yolanda yoyo whitaker. I want you to know that dr. Yolanda yoyo whitaker is a cast member of love and hiphop hollywood affectionately known as auntie yoyo in south los angeles. And her big break came on ice cubes video, and you cant play with me with my yoyo. Bonnie and clyde scenes with ice cube in her iconic hit song roman da call and brandys i want to be down, remix with mc light and queen latifah. Is mc light in the audience . I think shes on her way her, we want her to join us when she comes in. Her debut make way for the motherload and i want you to know theres a lot more, introduced her confident attitude along with the formation of the intelligence black Womens Organization to the virtue space helping young girls to love themselves as an actress appeared in the oscar nominated boyz in the hood and 90s sitcom martin, and yoyo can be seen roller rink duchess, and a e and rock the bell production, host of be there live and down right delicious with yoyo on aspire tv and also served as cohost on vh1, miss rap supreme. And yoyo makes her mark on the cohost of cafe mocha, and number one nationally syndicated radio show women of color and alongside lonnie love and broadcaster, the fourtime grammy Award Winning show is heard in over 40 markets across the United States of america. Ladies and gentlemen, give her a big round of applause. [applause] it is my distinct honor and pleasure not only to be here celebrating the 50th Year Anniversary of hip hops, but giants in the industry that contributed so much not only because they have talent, but because theyve contributed from their hearts because they believe in our people, they believe in our community, and theyve always fought and worked to give back. And so, with that, im going to start with t. I. Who are you, tip t. I. . laughter im a mothers son, my wifes husband, and my childrens father. I come from atlanta, the west side. Also known as bankhead, more specifically center hill and i have been a creative since eight or nine years old. I have fought my way from where i was in life to be able to live my dreams, you know, by creating songs, using my life experience, performing on stages, telling stories of our generation and using my the lessons of my life as Cautionary Tales to the next generation and other generations to follow. And so [applause] go ahead, come on, give a round of applause. [applause] did you have the support of your family when you first started or did they say youre crazy, you dont know what youre doing . A little bit of both. [laughter] i had the support, they supported it as much as they could understand it. At the time i would say it was probably 89, 91, 92, you know, i was a preteen getting, you know, just trying to find my way into a studio. When i saw Jermaine Dupri release or when he introduced crisscross to the world and i saw dallas awe continue introduce abc to the world and that let me know, i dont to wait until im grown to do this and i began to connect the dots and kind of try to put my path, you know, together to make it here and i was challenged by my uncle. My uncle said okay, if you want to rap, this is what you want to do. I tell you what, you learn everything it is that you can about the business of music and ill make sure you have everything you need behind you to get there and so very good. applause thats when i dove into, you know, books like passions all you need to know about the music business. Hit me, and other music Business Books you know, at 11, 12 years old, but i said, maybe even younger than that, maybe nine or 10 years old. And by the time i finished the books, my uncle was doing 10 years and he would never keep up his end of the bargain. But i had the knowledge though, now what im saying and when i was able to find my first opportunity, i knew what was a good deal, what was a bad deal and i knew what it took to negotiate my first contract. Wow. Praise god for your uncle. Yeah, praise god for. Well, let me ask you this, what did it feel like for the first time in the studio . You were walking in, looking at equipment. You didnt know what it was, you didnt know how to worked. So what did you do . I sat and listened and learned. You know, i always been someone who was i love to learn, you know, and im in a new situation, you know, finding my way to learn to do new things and i had the pleasure the first studio he ever walked in was owned by reggie from brick. If you remember the group brick, yeah, so he lived in atlanta along with the group and it was called 25 60. On bill hill in atlanta and so you know, i walked in and reggie, you know, hes a guitar player and hes sitting there, you know, playing his guitar, oh, so you want to record, huh . You know . And he taught me and back then it was two inch reels, reel to reel and you had to get it right the first take. And there wasnt a lot of money to burn on the studio time so i had to have it together before i even, you know, got in the booth. Yeah, yeah. And you know, i just kind of took to it like a duck to water and you know, ive been doing it ever since. When did you really know youre a poet . Well, i was inspired, you know, by all the people who opened doors for me including dr. Yoyo here. [laughter] you know, the first song i remember memorizing that i knew by heart was ll cool j, im bad. You know, and then you know, ice cube, nwa, you know, others would come to follow some of them i wont mention. But i stay up and watch it was a show, it was a channel called the box and i dont know how many of you are old enough to remember, some of you are old enough to remember. The box, you sit up all night and wait for your favorite video to come on and id stay up and watch it, and i would buy i spent a lot of time in new york, a lot of summers i spent in new york and go on broadway and buy deejay clue tapes and run tapes, and i would just challenge myself to write rap in school just to see if i could do it. And the first time i did it, it impressed all of my classmates, they didnt believe i did it so they challenged me to do it again so the cafeteria table every lunch period that was my thing, you know . And i think thats when i knew. Well, about the time that you had started to really progress and understand really what you wanted to do, it was about the time that gangster rap was flourishing. No, gangster rap pre dates me. Oh, you mean to tell me you didnt start it . I didnt start gangster rap. I didnt start gangster rap. So how did you manage with the criticism and, remember basically was heading up this whole effort to censor. How did you traverse that . How did you deal with that . And i remember tupac talking about miss tucker and i remember watching my brother lou campbell and the two live crew going to the Supreme Court on indictment to fight for their First Amendment rights and winning, you know, and i remember all of those fights that opened doors and blazed trails for me to be able to, you know, utilize this platform and make a way for myself and my family. Can i just Say Something . I remember that very well. You do . Please chime in. I remember ill wait, ill wait. Well call on you yoyo. I remember when i was called on to talk about why i support it and they said that all they said, they didnt say hiphop, they didnt say rap, they used the word gansta rap. What are you talking about . And i said well, its the language that i heard my preachers use. If they can use it, others can use it. I didnt hear about it for the first time with a rap. I heard about it for the first time in the community and so thats a great point. Thats a great point. Because every time i speak on behalf of hiphop, gansta rap music, trap music every time i speak on behalf of it, i remind people its always been a genuine honest expression about whats going on in the lives and in the communities of the people who are performing. And if you want to change the lyrics you must first change the conditions. [applause] well said. Yoyo, doctor, you heard what t. I. Said about you inspired him and he was watching you and a few others and as he began to grow, he understood a lot more about what rap is all about and the power of it. Ive been knowing you since you were 17. 17 years old. And ive watched you and youve been in the community. Youre from South Central l. A. Youve worked with one of my programs and here you are, now doing better even than you did at the height of your career. You look fabulous, you sound good. [applause] talk to us. When did you begin to know who you were . What is it all about . Thank you. Love to hear you talk, t. I. People thinking hiphop, we all know each other, its great to hear your story and thank you, congresswoman waters, auntie maxine. I realized who i was early in the game, a young girl from south los angeles, tapping into music since sixth great. Bret hart, 1580, save the music. Signed with ice cube in 90. When i realized the power of hiphop is when we started travelling. I was a young girl fresh out of high school, had never been too many places. Didnt realize how powerful music was at that time. Even i didnt know the demographic of the music, i didnt know what Radio Station was going to play our music, who was going to listen to our music, i didnt know how far the music would reach. I didnt know nothing. I was 17 years old, i just graduated, and ice cube was leading the way, production company, best on the west. One of 15 girls in the l. A. That was battling. Rap wasnt for girls. I was battling every nutrition and lunch. I realized the power of hiphop when we started touring. I did cubes first americas most wanted tour. And then he produced, you cant play with my yoyo, which went crazy, especially on the east coast. We traveled a lot. I had an Organization Called the intelligent black womans coalition, that patricia helped to build. And i realized in counseling, how many girls were going through so much. I didnt realize there was abuse in the home. I didnt know what mental abuse was and what physical abuse was, and Emotional Abuse and i want today continue that and so they helped me create the intelligent black Womens Coalition and helped me speak all over the world, detention centers, group homes. Mind you, and this was all humongous, cube was humongous. He had this big hit and he had yoyo, i mean, and people love that because they wasnt expecting women and i came out talking and kicking and so i realized how powerful hiphop was when i heard the response from the audience. Yeah. Wow. And so [applause] you were in south l. A. , a lot was going on. You were discovering yourself and other things that could be done that happened to young girls, et cetera. When did you first go into a studio . I went to i went, well, fresh out of high school. I mean, we went into a small studio, home studio. I want straight from high school to professional. I went straight to echo sounds and straight from the Preparatory High School to new york to meet sylvia rome. So yoyo, you came along when there were not a lot of girls and women in hiphop and it was frowned on. Yeah. What are you doing . What are you saying . You said those bad words, on and on and on. How did you deal with that . I knew they werent talking to me, you know . The hood had a language that we spoke and like i said, he couldnt see the forest from the trees. I was in it and i never got a chance to look outside of it until i started travelling and having conversations and talking to people. Journalists used to say all the time, are you a role model . I remember the first time that tupac situation happened where all of the press was saying, this guy said he listened to this music and he killed this guy because he was listening to tupacs lyrics and said, could that happen, yoyo . Made you think, wait, im an artist, could somebody you know, so the power of of course it can happen, people have their own minds, lets say that and be clear. The power of hiphop, i forgot the question now, i went too far. Done went too far along the way. I think that i realized that i realized that speaking up for women, being and understanding what hiphop was, because we were doing the work. We were doing the work. Im talking to journalists, were not role models, its not up to us to raise your kids made me realize, oh, wait, we do have a responsible. Before, were just young kids doing something. Hiphop was new. How did we know what we were doing. I mean, it was new and not even i dont think the labels knew what they were doing, you know. They were signing these artists and respecting these cliques to bring the music to them and not even understanding, it wasnt until the explosion of hiphop that people even knew, okay, oh, wait, we are role models, oh, oh, im like a muhammad ali from South Central los angeles, im saying, but the kids look up to me, okay so now you have people who you get it, you get in it, you you get it and understand your position. A theres a lot of people its contradiction to their character, they never get it roll with the punches, but a lot of people like t. I. And myself understood the assignment once we understand the power which helped us be successful and greater than every thought we could be. Well, let me just say that there are a lot of young people who are coming along, they look up to you guys, you motivate and inspire them. Many of them have talent, but they dont know how to connect with those who could be helpful to them. I had a wonderful experience recently. I had a young intern, his name is aaron lindsey, hes an alumni from howard university. Okay. And he graduated with a bba degree in marketing, he is currently a strategy or strategic analyst consultant for essential federal services and is also a mainstream placement and music producer. Aaron was one of 15 to be selected to the warner music fellow scholarship programs at howard university. He is worked with numerous artists throughout his seven years of experience and has ambitions of being signed as a music producer. In addition, aaron had the wonderful opportunity to intern with my office, congresswoman waters, aaron, come out on stage, we want to see who you are. Come on aaron. Welcome aaron, because this is a young man with a dream. This is a young man with talent. This is a young man thats going places. Now, having come into my office as interns come in, oftentimes theyre utilized for some very basic services, answering the phone, et cetera, et cetera. I dont really like that. I like for them to be involved in public policy, or in issues or in projects, and so, i talk with them and i started talking with aaron and somehow it got into a conversation about his development of beats, and then i started talking with him in the way that hed been thinking, woman being able to talk with him about hiphop and music and et cetera and he got excited about it and started telling me more and more and then i told him, youre going to be with us young, gifted and black. Youre going to be with us and youre going to show us what it is that has captivated you and makes you think that youve got some beats. Youre going to have somebody listen to you who are going to tell you about those beats that youre going to show us today that youre going to hear. Are you ready for that . Im ready, im ready. I want to know if your grandmother ready for it . Stand up. His granny is here to see her grandson perform and i want you to know that shes a substantive member of congress, shes a Congress Woman with an agenda in education and shes fantastic. [applause] all right, grandma. And so, well, maybe ill just ask you to move on over. Yes, maam. Yes, maam. Were going to go ahead and get started, everybody. I hope you all can just follow me along as i work my way back here, so as congresswoman waters has already mentioned ive been producing for seven years so some of the artists ive been in, bea bugman, she was on empire and Sunshine Anderson an and everybody knows. Im excited for you to hear some of the tracks and see if t. I. And yoyo want to spin a little over them. Well go ahead and get started. All right. Were going to go ahead and get started real quick. Here is the first one. Turn it up. Aaron, aaron. Okay. We are going to take a little bit of a break here, im going to talk to t. I. And yoyo. I think its dope, it was dope. Is he definitely has talent. He definitely has talent, i think. Wow, and i saw that as the beats continued you all started there. And so, tell me in your world, in the way that you do, i know something about improvising from the old school, but do you see it and do you feel it that way the same way that the old blues artists and others used to do it. I would say its quite similar. You have to to paint a picture you have to see something first, you know what i mean . You to be the first to see something in order to paint a picture for someone else and usually, those visions come from experiences and things that youve seen before, whether its things that youve gone through or things youve seen others go through. Other times, its things that you open to see. You know, sometimes its an ambitious vision, you know . You know, just hopeful, futuristic vision, insight that you would like to share with the rest of the world. And sometimes the music speaks to me. You know, i can hear, sometimes i can hear the music, its like the music has lyrics already. I can hear the music, you know, saying something to me by the melody, the energy of the song, the energy of the track. The instruments you chose to use, the way you ride something out. I write when im washing dishes, till i hear it, listen to it, put on ear phones because i want to hear all of it, and you know, start singing. Like right in there. Yeah, all right. It starts saying something after you listen to it over and over, so the words actually create itself. For me, i create the hook first and then i write the lyrics so im a hook and a lyrics person so the music speaks to me. T. I. , do you write, youre a good writer . Yeah really write, i just really . You mean to tell me that you get inspired and youre thinking and youre just start to go put it together in your head . Yeah. Wow. [laughter] no, i have to write. I tell that im free styling and i would write my battle rap ahead of time in preparation in case somebody wanted to battle me and i always take tidbits, if i think of something ill jot it down and use it for later because i have a notebook of ideas that can go to this, but no, i have to write my lyrics. I dont mean like i can, i have before, it depends on the song and how near and dear the subject matter is to my heart. I would like pace the floor, you know, for minutes and come up with something and then id go in there and id say what i had memorized and wherever i stopped, i pick up from there and then do some more, and until the song is done. But rhyming is hard. Because you know, i had a friend that died and he was a young man in south l. A. And he was a poet. And, but he had never, you know, had an opportunity to expose his talent or anything like that, but in the neighborhood we could always call on him and hed get up and rhyme. And so when he passed i thought i would pay tribute to him and i would write something for, you know, about him. Okay. And i did and id come up with a word and itd take me hours to find something to rhyme with it. What. That means im not a poet so how do you, how do you get the rhyme and get it to match . Poetry doesnt have to rhyme. No, no, it just has to be a thought. It has to be a thought and it has to evoke emotion. I mean, most commonly, it rhymes. Yes. But it doesnt always have to, but once you get into it, you can become a word bender. You know what im saying . I think, let me see like, you know, shore and floor is supposed to rhyme, right . But with my accent if i wanted to say sho and flow, i could you know what i mean . I like the process of writing. Writing is a process and ive learned that every the years with the yoyo school of hiphop how to get as in english through hiphop with yoyo. I realized in South Central working off of vermont, we had 100 kids to join our program and the director called me up and he said yoyo how did you get so many young black boys to join your Summer Program when we have a Summer Program all year long and we cant get them in there and he said so many of our young black men are dropping out of school and Literacy Rate is low and we had an overflow how to write lyrics and how to make beats. I said really, i went and talked to ernie smith who wrote the journal on ebonics, and a professor out of jersey, burton county and i spoke a hiphop literacy professor out of ohio state university. We accumulate came up with a curriculum teaching kids how to turn sentences into paragraphs and paragraphs into essays into hiphop with a process me as a writer, i wasnt a perfect writer, i wasnt perfect in puncuation, i wasnt perfect with my vocabulary if i ever left my rhyme book in the studio id say weve got to go back. Weve got to go back because i was so afraid that people would judge me by the way i was writing. Thats my technique, i had a thick rhyme book and i lost it. And i said ill never write im never writing down again. So now i just, i created it, i need it, so i never lose it. Wow. Ive got some tupac notebooks at home. For real . Yeah, pac would always write at my house and we have a bunch of notebooks. And t. I. , yoyo, i said earlier a lot of young people you inspire and would like to be in the business some may be in the audience. For all i know. Do we have any young people in the audiencements may i Say Something, i want to say this, anyone with a dream should follow it, but i would like to give a prerequisite. There are so many rappers, there are so many singers, there are so many producers, there are not enough managers, there are not enough tour promoters, there are not enough marketing people, so many other areas because every successful artist whether its me oreo or yoyo, every other artist, have a team of people around them that propel them forward and are just as important to their career as they are. I like that you say that because you only like in movies you only see the characters on the screen, action, but when you watch the credits go up, you see all the credits who help the movie get produced, so everybody everybody wants to do the thing that, you know, that is in front of the camera, that the light shines on you, but somebody got to hold the light, you hear me . I see maxines been doing this for almost 25 years, she wants to see the audience, the audience. And and as we continue, i just wanted to say that to put it on whoevers mind out there. If youre sitting next to the person that stands up here and gets on stage, understood after one person succeeds that creates a job for at least about five, six, seven other people around you. I have always said that hiphop has been extraordinarily important in fueling our economy and so there are a lot of people, i think, in the audience who understand some of what you just said and i have met some young people in college who want to be lawyers, you know, for a hiphop person and i know a lot of people want to be secure and love that job, but there are all of these different positions. Right. That are available that are needed, management and et cetera. And so, first of all, you came here today to see t. I. And to see yoyo. How many people love hiphop . Let me see you. [cheers and applause] just love hiphop. Now, t. I. Just talked about some of those professions. How many people are working in some way in this profession or you aspire to, youre thinking about it, you would love to have a position in it . Raise your hand. All right. All right. How many people, how many people want to rap . Any young people . Come on up here. Come here, come here. [laughter] come on up here. Come here. [inaudible conversations] whats your name . Whats your name . My name is darnell stewart. I came here to visit my boy right here, weve been making music since i dont know how long. So i definitely aspire to be something great. We are going to do it and you all bear witness. Okay, it starts right here. All right. Give me a beat. Let me get a beat. You want a beat. Yeah, i dont have to are we going to improvise a beat or bet you back over . Come on, come on. Okay. Okay. Let me get a better beat, come on, you all. Come on, come on the person im sitting with my people in the audience. My black folks. Ill play the beat. Let me get the beat. Im going to give him a beat. Sound like a lawyer in the making. No, no, aint no lawyer. Ive got this. Its all good. Youre about to improvise real quick, its all good. Oh, oh. Ive got you. While hes getting the beat. How many people really love hiphop from the point of dancing and youve learned some all right, i guess what were going to get a beat going. Were going to get some rap going, i need two dancers on the stage. Get some dancers, yeah. Come on up here. Yeah, and we need two dancers. And excuse me. Come on up here. Come on up here. Come on up here. Come on up here. I dont dance, so okay. All right. Hey this is the 50th anniversary of hiphop, not just rap, but dance and clothing and style and everything. And so, aaron. Are these your boys up here . No. No, i mean, jamel is. Lets start with the beat. Lets go with the beat and lets see what they can do. A little free style for you. Im going to play a good one. All right. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Okay. All right. Aaron, aaron, hold the beat for a minute. We have some young enterprising people who came here and they brought their own mics. I heard about you, where are you . Where are they . [inaudible conversations] bring them up. Get them up. You know what i love about t. I. And hiphop. Theres not a lot of hiphop guys. She loves t. I. Theres not a lot of hiphop guys that talk about community. They get in it. And he talks about it and vocal which i admire a lot and i dont get a chance to tell you that, but in the hiphop community. We need our men to be more vocal about whats going on. Thank you. And i appreciate it and do the work. Thank you. Thank you for saying that about him because ive seen him debate a right wing republican woman, tore her up, yeah. Yeah. Lets go, lets go. I dont take pleasure. Yeah, you do. The truth it kind of tends itself, you know what im saying . I think that i take great privilege, pride, honor and im humbled to be led by god to be a voice for the voiceless, you know what i mean . Yeah. So i love you, too. [applause] business hiphop didnt always power, hiphop didnt always power and thats why i love congresswoman waters because we were so young in it that we needed leadership. We needed someone in position, in power, in politics to help us define what we were doing because it was almost like we do something somebody a favor and getting in trouble for being famous and having this journey of life, but people, women, strong women and men who defended hiphop, dr. Eric dyson, helped us defend what it was we were talking about, having some understanding what its like and the power of hiphop, the power of hiphop, i always hell congresswoman water i always tell congresswoman waters, the power of hip top came from people like her. Always in some way, form or fashion came from women. By the way, youre married to a very talented woman. I am, yes. And she has done very well and do you guys ever Work Together . Do we Work Together . Yes. I mean, you mean on music . Yes. Yeah, we have, we have. Nothing that shes bouncing. Now what i mean . She tells meow to do my thing, now what im saying . Im just joking, but im serious. [laughter] she do, but she dont. I mean, you know, shes definitely listened to every a legendary songwriter and performer and ive been a fan of hers since i can remember since she first came out and we we have worked together, havent necessarily presented it to the world yet. Okay, all right. Im glad we sing in the shower all the time together. [laughter] im so pleased that you appreciate her and know that shes bossy because she do that sometimes. Yeah, thats right, thats right. Whos got the microphones out there. Okay, you want to show us what you can do. Oh, no. inaudible im sorry, whos got the mic. Okay, all right. Who came with the microphone who wanted to show what they could do . Oh. Oh. [inaudible conversations] is there a microphone over there . [laughter] here we go. One two, one two. Hey, guys, my name is jazzy, im going to sing for a little bit. Your love is a one in a million and goes on and on and on you give me a really good feeling, all day long your love, your love oh, goes on and on and on you give me a really good feeling all day long woo thank you, thank you. Follow me jaszy, mango like your favorite fruit. When we wait for the next person with their microphone, let me tell the crowd last night at a number of events by caucus, dancing was going on. And we mature people didnt know anything about this cowboy dance you all are doing. Who does about this cowboy dance. Anybody know the cowboy dance . Huh . Excuse me. If you know something about the cowboy dance, raise your hand. Okay. We saw it when it was doing it altogether. She was really carry on that night. I remember her. We dont have anybody whos willing to get up and do it, but you dont do it by yourself, to what the song is. Jerusalema. Do you know this song . I know the genre of this music. Oh, is that right . Output the music to my phone. We are trying to get the music up. [applause] all right. Wow. Let me tell you something. All of this came from this genre that was produced in hiphop. It opened up, you know, people and make people feel more comfortable with expressing themselves in so many ways. And you saw, this was intergenerational, and thats great. Give them a big round of applause. [applause] and so with that i i want to k you so much for being here. Thank you for having me. Thank you so much for being here. But youre not getting away from here without violating your contract and doing something. I just did it. I just did it. They did out of respect for all of the ladies in my elders in the audience [laughing] im going to maintain and intellectual conversation. [laughing] but i appreciate, i appreciate, nursing, moderation and my strong point. I get carried away easily, but listen. I think its a much. Youre welcome. I have an enormous amount of love, admiration, respect and appreciation for what you do for the country, for the generation. [applause] thank you so much, doctor yoyo. You dig what im saying . Thank you for inspired me. Thank you for opening the doors from the ba. 2 what i love what i love to do for a living. Hiphop saved my life and any time anyone ever criticizes the genre i believe its because they dont want to be held accountable for the things that are taking place in the community. They just want to pretend as though it doesnt exist. And anytime someone criticizes hiphop artists, by saying things like well, youre not living like that still, and youre still talking about those things. Its hypocritical. Well, i would compare it to a recovering alcoholic. If a recovering alcoholic, if a person had been in alcoholics 20 years and theyve been clean for 20 years now, the 20 years that theyve been clean, on the 20th year they would still be able to articulate what it felt like to be drunk. It would still be able to articulate what ill call tasted like. They would still be able to articulate all of the things that our cult did to their lives. They would still be able to recall all of the bad experiences, and to earn the right to do so with their sobriety. Thats their testimony. Their testimony is not just for them but its for others to know that there is a way out. Thats right, thats right. [applause] this is our testimony of the testimony is used to help inspire, encourage, and to engage others as they make their way out of the conditions that we were fortunate enough to make it out of. So thank you all for your time. Wow. Give him a big round of applause. Thank you. [applause] thank you. Thank you so much. Yoyo, i saw you in our dean a couple of weeks ago, and you were on stage gardena. I was admiring you in a way a lot of people were, and you wrapped, you did that, but you know what . Your body movement. You were all down. I keep telling my kids and go to stop i look at the video, i did it again . She was just excuse me . Excuse me, yoyo. We would you show a little bitw do you make your body move like that . [applause] give her a round of applause. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, theyve been so gracious with their time. They came here to be with us. You know they could be a a lot of other places make a lot of money. You know we dont have any money. [laughing] and so they came and they of shared with you their vision and their wisdom. And so appreciative of that because we need to interact with our successful people in the entertainment and athletic world also. We need to be able to hear from them about how they became whom they are. And so give them a big round of applause. [applause] and as we wrap up okay, before we go and before we hear a few more beats as we walked out, we have some sponsors. We have some sponsors that are here. I would like you to come up and take a few minutes just to say why you sponsor young gifted. Nelson, where are you . Introduces self and tell why you guys do that. Take a few minutes. Hi everybody. Thank you so much to the incredible legend on the stage. Its an honor to join you for im charlene, the bp in partnership at nielsen, and its our honor and pleasure to sponsor this young black gathering together again after so many years, and we really something automotive met with nielsen but we are behind a lot of the readings and the market data that you heard in the incredible intros. So from streaming your number one Television Show including your favorite Radio Station thats us. We know the power of the black community and the black culture because we are measuring we have people you every single day, that includes over the last few years the evolution of hip hop our data showing more than 96,000 artists around the world. So something that started in the black neighborhoods of nyc, we know that six out of ten folks in the south say nothing hiphop is the number one genre that there listening to. We know that over 149 countries that we track now have at least when hiphop artist in this genre. And on top of hiphop being such an incredible and powerful genre, theres over 100 subgenres know. We talk about afro beat, rap, singers conclude that the all that is sprouting from this incredible art form that as the congresswoman said in the beginning was trying to be held down. But over its evolution it is now given voice to the voice us as we heard earlier but its also now the soundtrack of the mainstream. So get its our honor and privilege to be part of todays programming. If you get on the low from nielsen please open it up is always money in there. Fill out the survey and continue to use your power, are buying power as black america living next to true children dollars by 2025. 2 trillion amazement we provide we know that our culture is the culture. It will continue to influence media content, how brands advertise, how we show up on screen, what youre listening to so continue to make those demands about how you want to be represented. Let folks know and we are excited to continue to put our data behind the power of the black community. Thank you so much. [applause] the of the sponsor is please come forward, tell us he you are and what you do. Good afternoon, everybody. [applause] my name is jason from the Senior Vice President of art is Celebrity Relations at title. What a sense of honor to be her this afternoon sharing the space with you all. Thank you, congressman waters for everything youve done for commuting especially for young people. At title our mission is economic environment for the Artist Community and want to continue in that same spirit. I want to get a special shout it to one of our title rising artists here today. I i also want to acknowledge the legends on stage t. I. , yoyo comes you guys have inspired me just like you guys inspired each other, you know, hiphop is bigger is what some of the state state. The sport of stop and like its up to school and a couple hours later thats a new, couple hours later im hearing from you being able to speak to you today so thank you for everything yell contribute to the game. Thank you hiphop and in celebrg 50 years and thank you all. Have a good day. [applause] i would like to thank you for the work that you do. Thank you so very much. [applause] we appreciate you. Now, t. I. , yoyo, lot of very, very interesting responsible important people in the audience, and we certainly dont know them all and we cant name them all. But there is someone that i would just like you to know about. We did three workshops i did one on the Financial Services work shops on closing the wealth gap and access to credit. The second one was on innocent and exonerated, about all of the blacks who get in prison, dont a fancy lawyers and a lot of money to defendant and end up doing extraordinary time. And, of course, this one come in the audience of young lady, please come here for one moment. [applause] she has got a book out, im promoting little bit. You say you are, what happened in a few minutes but the 21st and how you been able speedy my name is that im a criminal justice [cheers and applause] thank you. Thank you. Im a criminal justice advocate and i was sentenced to 24 and half years as a firsttime nonviolent drug offenders. I listed accountant i got caught up with a guy sold drugs. After myself and seven was pregnant i gave birth to myself while its in carteret. I will go through the whole story. I have a book called child but im so grateful to congresswoman waters, you talk about telling stories, since ive been home over the almost 20 some years that ive been home ive been sharing the story help other people people while i was inside tongass woman waters heard about my story and she got involved and i can remember the million women march and she was on stage. I was in the tv room in prison watching her speak, and when she mentioned my name, it just met so much, not just with me but the population present at the time were women and they knew that she cared about as fish utterback and she was going to advocate for his criminal justice reform. [applause] and so since ive been home shes always had me at the cbc in front row meeting people with movers and shakers. So maxing, congresswoman waters, thank you for all of what you do. [applause] always. And the have movie come out that i always forget to mention that the movie will be out in the beginning of next year. I would love to talk you about that. [applause] thank you. Yes. And in my movie a friend of mine who still incarcerated, and shes serving two licenses plus figures for her that her characters in a move and were trying to get her get well. Michelle west. Free michelle west. [applause] and so it so important, kemba work with us and reducing mandatory minimum sentencing. We still have a way to go on that but she came here every year when she was out, when we brought in judges and everybody else to do something about mandatory minimum sentences. And now she is spending her time working to make sure that she helps those who have been falsely incarcerated to get out using the Innocence Project and two of the projects that we brought in that it doing this work. Give her another round of applause. [applause] okay. All right. Thank you so much. We are not just going to walk out of here. Were going to walk out to your beat, so lets hear the beat as we exit, and thank both t. I. , tip t. I. And yoyo for being here today. The. S senate is back at 3 p. M. Eastern for theirst vo of the year. Lawmakers are expected to vote later today at 5 30 p. M. Eastern to to advancedent bidens nomination of the uses the court judge forouern texas. He is supported by both of his own stateepublican senators john cornyn and ted cruz. House retur tuesday at 6 30 p. M. Eastern. Members will vote to establish a quorum to begin a legislative work on the second session of 118th congress. Watch live coveref the house on cspan, the senate on can a quick reminder you can watch all of our congressional coverage with our free video app cspan or online at cspan. Org. 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