By james art Rapper and University of Wisconsin alum Yung Gravy is back in Madison this Wednesday as part of a nonpartisan get-out-the-vote campaign. Daybreaker’s National ‘Party to the Election’ Purple tour” aims to encourage people across the country to vote.
The event, attended by about 300 people, kicked off with a performance by Yung Gravy at Liquid Madison. From there, Jung Gravy led attendees to the Memorial Union to vote in early voting, which began in Madison on Tuesday.
At the polls, he met and took pictures with voters waiting in line and shook hands with poll workers, said District 8 Alderman and event co-host MGR Govindarajan.
The purpose of the event was to make voting easy and fun for students, MGR said.
“In Wisconsin in particular, the students hold all the power, especially at UW-Madison,” MGR said. “We’ve seen in the last few elections that turnout on this campus is what makes or breaks an election for one party or another.”
Audrey Simon, a junior at UW who was in line to see Jung Gravy for the fourth time, said she is one of his biggest fans and hopes to meet him.
Simon added that she was glad to be able to change her registration from Minnesota, her home state, to Wisconsin so she could vote in a swing state.
“It’s good that I was able to register here so that I can make a bigger impact with my voice, although every voice has an impact,” Simon said.
During the performance, the DJ who played alongside Yung Gravy picked Simon from the crowd to come on stage, where she helped him play music and hugged Yung Gravy.
“It was the craziest thing in my life,” Simon said after returning from the stage. “I am really going to die. It’s a dream come true.”
MGR said Yung Gravy’s fun music and background as a UW student allowed students to feel connected to the event and encouraged them to vote.
“UW-Madison students bring a lot of power, and having this vote, making it easy and accessible and fun, I think that’s what really drives home the point that your power matters,” MGR said.