Kane Brown Addresses U.S. Senate About Rental Housing Crisis
Kane Brown took the podium on Sept. 12 in the U.S. Senate to talk to lawmakers about the rental housing crisis faced by low-income families across the nation. Growing up in Georgia, Brown says that he had no idea how serious the issue was when he was living in a car with his mother and brother.
The Senate hosted a congressional briefing to discuss the issue, and Brown was on the docket to speak based on his personal experience and involvement with an organization that is targeting this problem.
“We lived in eight or nine different houses, and six or seven different apartments growing up,” Brown told BET news in an interview before the congressional hearing. When the rising country star was 17, he moved to Nashville to pursue his musical dreams, and the ordeal became all too real to him. Working three jobs, Brown still struggled to pay his own rent.
“I was working at Lowes and Target then FedEx, and still did not have enough money to pay rent on my own,” Brown says.
Brown has teamed with Make Room to raise awareness about the growing epidemic of skyrocketing rent prices an unforgiving rental contracts.
"As a country we can do better. Our home should be a source of stability, not insecurity," the artist says. "This issue is personal for me ... even with a steady paycheck I couldn't pay rent."
Brown is currently celebrating the success of his latest single "What Ifs," a collaboration with schoolmate Lauren Alaina, which will be included on the release of a special edition of his eponymous album in October.
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