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2 Chainz has achieved a lot of success as a hip hop artist and by all accounts has "made it," but that wasn't always the case. He grew up poor living in low income housing and sold drugs at an early age to make ends meet. His criminal activities led to several convictions and he lost his right to vote.
Now as a spokesperson for Respect My Vote, Tity Boi encourages urban youth and felons to get out and vote.
He appeared on BET's new show Don't Sleep and talked with host host, T. J. Holmes, about how he learned he could be reinstated as a voter despite his criminal record and why felons should be given another chance if convicted at an early age.
"I just feel like everyone deserves a second chance depending on the crime of course," 2 Chainz told Holmes. "Being that I was 15, I feel like I wasn't mature enough. I feel like I could have succumbed to some kind of peer pressure. It was always older people around. That's not an excuse none of the things that took place. But just for me I feel like if someone makes mistakes as early as 18 or before they can even drive. I feel like they should be given another opportunity depending on how severe the case was."
He goes on to explain how an encounter with a woman recruiting people to vote in 2008 showed him how he could be reinstated as a voter.
Unfortunately, if you live in Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, Tennessee, Virginia or Wyoming you can't get your right to vote back if you have a felony conviction.
According to the Huffington Post, those states "deny the right to vote not only to inmates but also to those on parole and probation and those who have completed their sentences."
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