Jay-Z, Diddy, & Nas Endorse Ray McGuire For NYC Mayor

Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

Jay-Z, Diddy, & Nas Endorse Ray McGuire For NYC Mayor

Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

Andrew Yang, who once vied to be “the first ex-goth president,” has recently refocused his efforts on becoming mayor of New York City. It seems to be a more attainable goal. Despite seemingly trolling the city’s more cynical residents with his social media posts, Yang is leading in most polls. He even got MC Jin to record a campaign song for him. Between that and Donald Glover’s previous support for Yang’s presidential campaign, you might be tempted to call him a favorite of the hip-hop community. However, his opponent Ray McGuire just scored a significant win in that column.

As NY1 reports, Jay-Z, Nas, and Diddy have come together to endorse McGuire’s candidacy. In a campaign video that also includes music executive and businessman Steve Stoute and radio personality Angie Martinez, the trio of New York rappers — who between them hail from Brooklyn, Queens, and Harlem — express their support for McGuire, one of the longest tenured Black executives on Wall Street as well as an Obama campaign finance bundler. Diddy says his relationship with McGuire goes back 30 years. Jay says before McGuire announced his bid for mayor, he had been hoping McGuire would run a new fund he was starting for Black and brown people. Nas says the city is broken and everything McGuire is saying is what he wants to hear.

This particular assortment of people represents a significant show of solidarity. Jay and Nas famously feuded for years. In protest of the crucifixion scene in Diddy and Nas’ “Hate Me Now” video, Diddy once burst into Stoute’s office and cracked a champagne bottle over his head, resulting in a lawsuit that was settled out of court. It seems they now all agree on one thing: Ray McGuire should be mayor of New York City. According to a recent New York Times report, McGuire is also a favorite of the NYC business community — which may also have something to do with the support from moguls Jay, Diddy, and Nas — but he has yet to gain significant traction in the Democratic race. In most polls Yang leads by a strong margin, followed by the likes of Eric Adams, Maya Wiley, Scott Stringer, and Kathryn Garcia. However, there’s still time for McGuire to make some noise before the June 22 primary.

Watch the rappers’ endorsement video below.

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