An organization new to Hillsborough County is removing the need to choose whether going out means heading to the club or the polls on Tuesday.
The organization, DJs at the Polls, was founded in Philadelphia in 2009, and has since expanded into 24 states.
Among the 5,000 polling locations they'll be at Tuesday are 26 in Tampa and other locations in Hillsborough. It's the first time they've visited the area.
Founder Anton Moore started the project while working on a Black Entertainment Television show called “Rap City.” It highlighted hip-hop artists, giving rappers a platform to share their music.
After working on the show, Moore decided to try bringing the DJ community into politics.
“I wonder what it would be like by putting the DJ at a polling location, and once we did it, I was able to see the vibe and just the overall excitement, and it went from there,” Moore said.
The initiative is meant to get people voting in elections that shape their community. Moore said that means creating an environment they want to be a part of.
“I remember this one lady; she saw a commotion, and she was driving. She was like ‘I’ve never seen something like this, this is amazing.’ Then she said, ‘I forgot to vote! Let me vote,’” Moore said.
“She went in, voted, came out, and she was doing the electric slide.”
The project also helps communities by using local DJs.
“They play at home locations within the neighborhood because if you look at it, your DJ is like that curator. It brings people together,” Moore said.
DJMoney813 is one of the Tampa natives who will be playing for voters Tuesday.
He was one of 2,000 DJs out of a 9,000-person applicant pool selected to create a sonic environment at the poll.
DJMoney813 has been DJ’ing for 26 years and is currently studying at Full Sail University in Winter Park.
He said he’s looking forward to Tuesday.
“This is something that I take (as) very special and I'm putting it (as) one of my benchmarks as a DJ,” he said.
He will be at three polling locations, encouraging people to participate.
“I’ll bring the vibe, you bring the vote,” he wrote in an Instagram post.
He'll play outside the polling places at the Port Tampa Bay Cruise Terminal 6 from : 7 to 10 a.m., the Grove Bible Chapel in Brandon from noon to 2:30 p.m., and Centro Cristiano Hispano in Brandon from 4to 7 p.m.
“It's fun. It's cool. It's exciting. It's not boring,” Moore said. “Because I think the more we get people to vote, the better off it is for democracy.”
DJ at the Polls locations in Tampa:
- Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church, 6100 Memorial Highway
- Cuban Civic Club, 10905 Memorial Highway
- Gandy Civic Association, 4207 W. Oklahoma Ave.
- Loretta Ingraham Community Center, 1615 N. Hubert Ave.
- The Sons of Italy Hall Lodge 1251, 3315 W. Lemon St.
- David M. Barksdale Center, 1801 N. Lincoln Ave.
- Igreja Batista da Paz, 7601 Jackson Springs Road
- Bay West Club, 9315 Memorial Highway
- St. Joseph Vietnamese Parish, 5601 Hanley Road
- Tampa Korean Seventh Day Adventist, 7215 Sheldon Road
- West Shore Baptist Church, 305 N. Manhattan Ave.
- Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, 7001 12th Ave S
- Restore Family Church, 4001 W. Henry Ave.
- Tampa Garden Club, 2629 Bayshore Blvd.
- Palma Ceia United Methodist Church, 3723 W. Bay to Bay Blvd.
- Port Tampa Bay Cruise Terminal 6, 1333 McKay St.
- Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 501 S. Dale Mabry Highway
- Tampa Shores Baptist Church, 8307 Double Branch Road
- Cordelia B. Hunt Community Center, 4810 N. Himes Ave.
- Covenant Life Church Tampa, 3511 W. Bay to Bay Blvd.
- Concord Baptist Church, 2224 Corrine St.
- Team House, 6207 S. Dale Mabry Highway
- Kate Jackson Community Center, 821 S. Rome Ave.
- South Tampa Fellowship, Davis Islands Campus, 97 Biscayne Ave.
- Northwest Tampa Church of Christ, 7259 Sheldon Road
- Christ the King Catholic Church, 821 S. Dale Mabry Highway
