Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Hell's Kitchen Rapper Films Election-Themed Video in 'Oval Office'

By Maya Rajamani | October 22, 2016 12:52pm | Updated on October 24, 2016 2:43pm

The Hell’s Kitchen rapper who's used his home turf as the backdrop for a series of music videos paid a trip to the Oval Office for his latest pursuit.

“So obviously I didn’t actually film it in the White House,” 23-year-old Marlon Craft said of his latest video, “Politickin,’” which has garnered more than 8,000 views on YouTube since it dropped ahead of Wednesday's presidential debate.

An online music hub he’s collaborating with called TeamBackPack works out of the YouTube Space inside Chelsea Market, which has a studio set up as the presidential office for election season, he said.

“[TeamBackPack’s president] was just like, ‘Yo, I saw this and thought of you — I think we could do something dope here,’ and I was like, ‘Hell yeah,’” Craft said.

The Manhattan Plaza rapper wrote the song — which he describes as a “call to action” — in one sitting, he said.

“It would have been really easy for me to just go and say f--- Trump for two minutes, and get a lot of clicks on Facebook, but I wanted to do something that I thought added my own voice, and synthesized the feelings that a lot of people have [had] in this election,” he said.

The song raises issues with both candidates, but Craft hopes listeners don’t confuse its message with apathy.

“Even though we’re in New York [and] it’s gonna go blue, I’m not gonna sit [the election] out, because these things affect people’s lives,” he said.

Though the rapper isn’t a fan of Hillary Clinton, he plans to cast his vote for her in November.

“At least she’s an intelligent and qualified woman — all you gotta do is watch a debate,” he said.

“Trump’s… a narcissist, he’s a bigot, he’s a misogynist, all of these things,” Craft added. “I’m voting for Hillary Clinton, because I’m not an a--hole.”