Hip-Hop artist Moeazy performed at the Your Voice Your Vote concert on Friday night. In keeping with the election theme, he asked the audience to “rock the vote.”
The Jonah Levine Experience performed at Your Voice Your Vote, a concert held by the Cultural Affairs Commission, on Friday night. This musical event was designed to inform young people about the importance of voting in the upcoming elections.
As singer-songwriter Goapele took the stage in Ackerman Grand Ballroom on Friday night, a small crowd cheered and sang along to her soulful songs.
Between sets, Goapele asked the audience the most important question of the night: “How many people are registered to vote?”
With only two weeks left until Election Day, today is the last day for Californians to register to vote and make their voices heard.
The Cultural Affairs Commission held the “Your Voice Your Vote” event in order to promote voter registration and encourage young people between the ages of 18 and 24 to exercise their right to vote.
Since people within this age bracket typically have the lowest voter turnout among all other age groups, “Your Voice Your Vote” aims to inform young people and college students about issues by providing pamphlets and talking to students.
Jonah Levine and his 10-piece group, the Funky Dope Music Collective, were the first to take the stage and performed instrumental music that incorporated elements of jazz, R&B, funk and rock music.
Led by Levine on the trombone, the group’s performance included drums, electric guitar, keyboard, violin, saxophone and tambourine.
Levine, a third-year ethnomusicology and jazz studies student, said that this particular group of musicians had never played together as a band before but were excited to come together for a good cause.
“When I heard about the event I knew exactly who to call to perform with me,” Levine said.
“It’s a really cool event to get people voting. If you like good music, why wouldn’t you come?”
Cultural Affairs Commissioner Taylor Mason, a fourth-year international development studies student, said that there were many factors to consider when it came time to choose who would perform during the concert.
“We wanted to make sure that we emphasized student voice,” Mason said.
“We couldn’t throw up these people that are supposed to represent students and represent their concerns without having actual students there, so we had Jonah (Levine) come up with his very diverse group of friends who are amazing performers.”
The Funky Dope Music Collective was followed by Washington, D.C. hip-hop artist Maurice Gaye, better known by his stage name Moeazy, who encouraged students to “rock the vote.” Gaye rapped some of his latest songs including “Spotlight.”
After his performance, Gaye mingled with the crowd and spent time talking to students before Goapele took the stage.
“I loved being here and I thought it was awesome. The crowd had so much energy,” Gaye said.
“This was my first time at UCLA too, so it was a great experience.”
The crowd became even more energetic when Goapele and her band came out for the final performance of the evening.
The music was more lyric-driven and soulful, and Goapele showed her incredible vocal range as she hit several high notes. Dressed in a “Vote Obama” tank top, Goapele was the only performer who clearly displayed who she will be voting for. She also reminded the audience of the power of voting.
“If you’re encouraging (your friends) to vote, I really feel like it’s going to make an impact,” Goapele said. “I feel like in this room is the energy that’s going to keep this country moving in the right direction.”
Students were also able to obtain voter registration forms and learn more about the candidates and issues pertaining to this year’s election thanks to representatives from Bruin Democrats and Bruin Republicans who had a table set up with voter information.
Katie Mellon, a third-year economics and political science student, said distributing educational materials and providing information on voter registration is one of the most effective ways of ensuring that young voters make informed decisions on Election Day.
Since both political parties were represented, students were able to learn about both sides of the issues that affect them in order to make a more informed decision.
Liz Friedman, a fourth-year physics student and president of Bruin Democrats, also said that this event was a chance for the political groups on campus to reach out to new students who might be interested in becoming involved with these organizations.
“We are giving out voter guides and making sure that everyone is registered, but we’re also finding people who haven’t seen us on campus before and haven’t been to our events,” Friedman said.
While the turnout was not what the organizers had been hoping for because only about one quarter of Ackerman Grand Ballroom was filled, students who did attend were able to hear lively music and, in a sense, celebrate their right to vote.
Between each set of musical performances, members of the United States Student Association talked about the facts and provided statistics to encourage and empower young voters. For example, 17 million young people have become eligible to vote since the last election, which makes for a total of 46 million young voters this November.
Two USSA members also gave testimonials as representatives of undocumented students who cannot vote and rely on those who can to make their voices heard.
Students said they came to this event for a variety of reasons ranging from hearing their friends’ music to promoting voter registration and lobbying for important legislation.
Regardless of their motives for attending, this event was an opportunity for students to hear music from a mixture of genres and learn more about the power behind the youth vote while also being inspired by the words of performers like Goapele.
While she sang about love and relationships, Goapele also improvised some lyrics to send a message about speaking up by voting.
Email Seikaly at aseikaly@media.ucla.edu.