Brad Jordan, known by many as Scarface, is trading in his rap career for a life in politics.
Last month, the 48-year-old Houston resident announced his plans to run for Houston City Council in District D, a seat that was once held by Rep. Dwight Boykins who is now running for mayor.
“He’s responsible for me feeling the way I’m feeling,” Jordan told Fader. “I wanna continue his work.”
Born and raised in the District D, which is on Houston’s South Side, Jordan explains that he witnessed a lot of people struggle coming up, including himself. Now, as a grown adult with a platform, he says he wants to do something to help change the conditions for those in the underserved community of his hometown.
“As I got older I noticed that there was still a lot of struggling going on,” he said. “If it wasn’t drugs, it was no jobs. If it wasn’t no jobs, it was people out loitering, hanging out, getting in trouble. I’m 48 years old and that’s been going on before me. I wanna take it upon myself to fix the situation.”
If elected to city council, Jordan says he will work to make the neighborhood safer for the elderly by creating harsher penalties for people who commit crimes against seniors. He said he will also get rid of illegal dumping, fix the neighborhood’s drainage problem, fix the potholes in the community, build up the abandoned houses and work to introduce young people to different trade careers they can pursue.
“I remember my uncle used to work pouring concrete and as a plumber. Now, I don’t see uncles working as plumbers or pouring concrete no more,” he says. “Let’s open up some trades for these youngsters that are getting out of school that are not gonna go to college.”
Jordan continues by saying that his run for city council is just an entry point into a long-standing career in politics, where he hopes to one day run for mayor and governor.
When asked if he’s officially putting his music career behind him, the Houston native responded, “I mean, for me it’s done. I like the idea of politics.”
Photo credit: Max Magerkurth