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Turn down for ... what?! Lil Jon helps Georgia delegation announce votes for Harris

By Stephen Fowler,
Sarah McCammon
Published August 20, 2024 at 8:33 PM EDT
Rapper Lil Jon (R) performs with the Georgia delegation during the Ceremonial Roll Call of States on the second day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on August 20, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois.
Chip Somodevilla
/
Getty Images
Rapper Lil Jon (R) performs with the Georgia delegation during the Ceremonial Roll Call of States on the second day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on August 20, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois.

The NPR Network will be reporting live from Chicago throughout the week bringing you the latest on the Democratic National Convention.

Atlanta's own award-winning rapper Lil Jon helped spice up the DNC roll call by introducing Georgia's delegation.

Performing "Turn Down for What" and "Get Low," the Peach State native had one of the flashier entries in the ceremonial roll call.

Lil Jon headlined the Georgia Democrats' Monday night kickoff, themed "Window to the Walz" at a Chicago nightclub.

"Mr. Secretary, the South got something to say," Rep. Nikema Williams, Democratic Party of Georgia chairwoman said. "Y'all, when we send Kamala Harris to the White House, she'll fight for our freedom to vote, our reproductive freedom and our freedom to thrive in the spirit of 'good trouble,' Georgia cast 123 votes for the next president."

Delegates to the Democratic National Convention held a ceremonial — and celebratory — roll call vote to mark what they’d already made official earlier this month with a virtual vote: Vice President Kamala Harris’ selection as the party’s presidential nominee.

The unconventional roll call was facilitated by a DJ, with a unique songs playing as the call moved from state to state: "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd for Alabama, for example. Florida's song was "Won't Back Down" by Tom Petty (possibly a snarky reference to the Never Back Down, Inc., super PAC, set up to encourage Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' unsuccessful presidential candidacy?).

Loud cheers went up from the convention crowd as the voting moved from state to state. Participants announced their support for Harris and Walz, and touted their individual states' accomplishments, including the Hawaii delegation, which noted its status as the birthplace of former President Obama, and Illinois, where Obama won the first victory of his presidential campaign in the 2008 caucuses.

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Elections
Stephen Fowler
Stephen Fowler is a political reporter with NPR's Washington Desk and will be covering the 2024 election based in the South. Before joining NPR, he spent more than seven years at Georgia Public Broadcasting as its political reporter and host of the Battleground: Ballot Box podcast, which covered voting rights and legal fallout from the 2020 presidential election, the evolution of the Republican Party and other changes driving Georgia's growing prominence in American politics. His reporting has appeared everywhere from the Center for Public Integrity and the Columbia Journalism Review to the PBS NewsHour and ProPublica.
Sarah McCammon
Sarah McCammon is a National Correspondent covering the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast for NPR. Her work focuses on political, social and cultural divides in America, including abortion and reproductive rights, and the intersections of politics and religion. She's also a frequent guest host for NPR news magazines, podcasts and special coverage.