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 st