Rapper 2 Chainz has had to abandon plans to run for mayor in his native College Park, Georgia after failing to meet eligibility criteria.
2Chainz, real name Tauheed Epps, discussed his political ambitions in 2015, when he admitted he was seriously considering taking a break from music to run for office after receiving encouragement from fans and locals.
2 Chainz has since learned he falls short of the basic requirements to run for the city’s top job, but he’s sure he would have won if he was given the opportunity to challenge incumbent Jack Longino, who has held the post since 1996.
“If I decided to do something like that (run for office), I would win, easily,” the confident rapper said, “but I didn’t meet a few of the pre-requisites as far as staying in the same county I grew up in, and things of that nature, so I saved them (from embarrassment).”
The hip-hop star has instead turned his attention to helping locals by sharing his wealth with those in need through his charity, the TRU Foundation.
Over the last couple of years, 2 Chainz has surprised needy families with new homes, paid a disabled soldier’s rent for a year, and presented a poverty-stricken family with the keys to a new car.
And the rapper is planning to continue his acts of generosity to make sure struggling members of the community “don’t feel like they’re left out or forgotten about”.
“I don’t have any stories of somebody (famous) coming back (to College Park) when I was young, and coming to the neighbourhood and playing football, dropping off (vans) full of furniture and paying bills off for someone who is really in need – not want, but in need,” he told U.S. talk show The View. “And so I think it’s at a point (where), I’m getting all these blessings, I’m selling merch (merchandise), I’m doing tours around the world, I’m just being very successful, so to me it’s important that I show God that I appreciate it by helping out others.”
