July 2019 | Rolling Stone | 59
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Hack the Electoral College
The Rivian Electric Pickup
HOT DEMOCRACY SAVEHot Sound
Sad, Beautiful
Chicago Drill
OR MUCH OF the past decade, drill
music has been one of rap’s most
innovative subgenres. Abrasive,
bombastic and relentless, the
Chicago sound told the story of an embattled
city through the eyes of its youngest inhabi-
tants, including Chief Keef, Lil Durk and Fredo
Santana. Lately, though, Chicago’s rap scene is
beginning to thaw.
The city’s new vanguard is trading in brutal
staccato bars for a new form of drill built on
brooding, pretty melodies. Instead of nihilism,
these new songs drip with regret, weariness and,
crucially, hope.
“I was listening to
all the drill music
in Chicago,” says
Calboy, 20, whose
“Envy Me” is a
hauntingly beauti-
ful sample-driven
track. “When I re-
ally got down into
the streets and got
to losing homies, I
didn’t wanna hear
that shit no more.”
Joining Calboy
at the forefront
is Polo G, whose
“Finer Things” is
a cleareyed dedi-
cation to finding
a better life, and
Lil Zay Osama, breaking out of the local scene
thanks to the mournful “Changed Up.” “The
melodic-type music was new to people,” Lil Zay
says. “It’s a unique way to express yourself. It
just makes people feel good.” CHARLES HOLMESN 2000, George W.
Bush became the first
candidate since 1888
to lose the popular
vote and win the Electoral Col-
lege. When he was re- elected,
in 2004, Dr. John Koza got
serious about fixing the system
he says renders “three-quarters
of the people of the United
States... politically irrelevant.”
A former Stanford professor,
Koza came up with a work-
around: the National Popular
Vote interstate compact. The
Constitution says that ratherthan being chosen by citizens
directly, the president must be
elected by at least 270 votes
from 538 electors (a compro-
mise to accommodate the
slaveholding South). How those
electors award their votes,
though, is up to each state.
Koza’s proposal is simple:
Any state that enters the com-
pact agrees that its votes will
go to the winner of the national
popular vote rather than the
winner of the popular vote in
their particular state. Since
another popular-vote loser wonin 2016, there has been interest
in reform from Democratic
states. Five have signed on in
the past year, bringing the total
to 15 plus D.C. — 196 electoral
votes — with bills introduced
in 16 other states this year.
Koza says the compact
could meet the threshold by
2024, and he is confident that
will set off epic litigation. But
once states with enough elec-
toral votes sign on, the Elec-
toral College could be finished
— without abolishing the
Electoral College. TESSA STUARTHOT RIDEET READY for a country crossover to rival “Old Town Road”: The pickup truck is going
emissions-free. The $69,000 R1T, coming in 2020 from Ford- and Amazon-funded
startup Rivian, uses a massive battery pack and four electric motors to produce
supercar-worthy speed: The near-silent truck should do zero to 60 in under three
seconds. Yet it’ll also haul major payloads and boast a range of up to 400 miles. Its design is
refreshingly minimalist. Instead of excessive chrome, the sleek body features clever Easter eggs
like a pass-through “gear tunnel” behind the back seats, with flip-down doors where you can sit
to put on ski boots or a wetsuit. “The R1T is a combination of disparate elements that does not
currently exist,” says Rivian creative director Larry Parker. “After we finished it, we felt like we
created something from the future.” JESSE WILLI
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