Hip-Hop voter drive coming to L.A.

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- The Hip-Hop Summit Action Network national voter registration drive is heading for Southern California, network chairman Russell Simmons said Thursday.

Simmons will be joined by producer Andre Harrell and "Rush Hour" director Brett Ratner at a benefit concert Saturday in Beverly Hills, featuring appearances by recording artists Miri Ben-Ari, Chaka Khan and India.Arie.

The event -- intended to persuade young people to register to vote -- will also feature appearances by supermodel Tyra Banks, actress Vivica Fox, director Penny Marshall, actor Seth Green and singers Macy Gray and Nelly.

The celebrity line-up also includes comic Tommy Davidson, singer Shakira, actress Raven Simone, producer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and singer Ziggy Marley.

The Hip-Hop Summit Action Network is a non-partisan, non-profit coalition of hip-hop artists, record industry executives and community activists. Saturday's event is sponsored by PlayStation 2 -- which has also sponsored five previous stops on the voter registration tour. Organizers said the tour has so far rgistered hundreds of thousands of new voters.