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"Forget turning up the volume. Hip-hop artists across the nation are asking you to &amp;quot;turn up the vote.&amp;quot; Today, Terrence J, the host of BET&amp;#039;s 106 &amp;amp;amp; Park, registered to vote for the first time while speaking in Philly about a statewide effort to get young, eligible citizens to register before the Pennsylvania primary on April 22. The registration deadline in Pennsylvania is March 24, but you can learn more about other states&amp;#039; deadlines at declareyourself.com. Terrence J was joined by Russell Simmons, hip-hop stars Jim Jones and Freeway, and representatives from the Hip-Hop Research and Education Fund, PowerPAC, the Hip-Hop Summit Network, the Youth and College Division of the NAACP, the United States Student Association (USSA), and local Philly radio networks in support of &amp;quot;Hip-Hop Team Vote: Turn Up the Vote,&amp;quot; a national campaign dedicated to getting youth educated and mobilized when it comes to voting. The nonpartisan coalition has held an estimated 74 Hip-Hop Summits throughout the country. The first was held in Philly and hosted by Philly native Will Smith. Some of the many other hip-hop artists who&amp;#039;ve since jumped on board are Jay-Z, Chris Brown, Snoop Dog, Eve, Rihanna, and Ciara. Though the speakers at today&amp;#039;s conference and the many hip-hop artists involved come from different backgrounds, areas, and organizations, they all have one common goal: to get U.S. citizens ages 18 to 34 voting, and many advocates say it&amp;#039;s more critical now than ever. &amp;quot;You will see that young people will make a dramatic difference in this primary. Young people have to consider the idea of conflict resolution. Young people are the ones who are fighting in the war,&amp;quot; says Simmons, who advises young voters to think about issues like the war, the environment, and poverty when choosing a candidate in the upcoming election. He also adds that it&amp;#039;s important for young people to vote because they&amp;#039;re more open-minded and even closer to some of these issues than adults. To join the Hip-Hop Team Vote and find out about upcoming summits, check out hsan.org. If you&amp;#039;re 18 or older and not registered to vote, what&amp;#039;s been holding you back? If not, do you regret not being able to vote in the upcoming election? Sound off below! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.seventeen.com/celebrity/a27976/turn-up-the-vote-032108/>