The rapper Eminem has demanded that Vivek Ramaswamy stop using his music on the campaign trail after the Republican presidential candidate launched into an impromptu rap performance of his hit song “Lose Yourself” during a stop in Iowa.
https://twitter.com/Jasonsstation94/status/1692690931248775234
Eminem Sends Cease And Desist Letter To Ramaswamy
Daily Mail reported that video went viral earlier this month in which Ramaswamy showed off his rap skills by performing “Lose Yourself” during a campaign stop at the Iowa State Fair. This didn’t sit well with Eminem, who immediately reached out to the music licenser BMI asking that Ramaswamy’s campaign have their license to use his music revoked.
On August 23, a BMI representative sent a letter to Ramaswamy’s campaign’s lawyer saying that the label had “received communications from Marshall B. Mathers, III, professionally known as Eminem, objecting to the Vivek Ramaswamy campaign’s use of Eminem’s musical compositions (the ‘Eminem Works’) and requesting that BMI remove all Eminem Works from the Agreement.”
The representative from BMI went on to say that “this letter serves as notice that the Eminem Works are excluded from the Agreement effective immediately.”
“BMI will consider any performance of the Eminem Works by the Vivek 2024 campaign from this date forward to be a material breach of the Agreement for which BMI reserves all rights and remedies with respect thereto,” the letter continued.
Eminem is only going to make Vivek Ramaswamy even more popular with this ridiculous order for him to stop rapping his songs. I can’t wait to see how this plays out in court. pic.twitter.com/4u1VCZFayA
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) August 28, 2023
Related: Trump Praises Ramaswamy After He Embarrasses DeSantis At Debate In Viral Hand-Raising Moment
Ramaswamy Responds
A spokesperson for Ramaswamy’s campaign responded to the cease and desist letter by saying, “Vivek just got on the stage and cut loose. To the American people’s chagrin, we will have to leave the rapping to the real slim shady.”
Ramaswamy himself also had a lighthearted reaction on Twitter.
“Will The REAL Slim Shady Please Stand Up? He didn’t just say what I think he did, did he? @Eminem,” he wrote alongside a screenshot of a report on the cease and desist letter.
Will The REAL Slim Shady Please Stand Up? He didn’t just say what I think he did, did he? @Eminem 😅 https://t.co/iOOuG6SU2D
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) August 28, 2023
During his time attending Harvard University, Ramaswamy was known for performing libertarian-themed raps under the stage name “Da Vek.” He has also been a fan of Eminem’s work for many years.
“I did not grow up in the circumstances he did,” Ramaswamy recently told The New York Times of Eminem. “But the idea of being an underdog, people having low expectations of you, that part speaks to me.”
Ramaswamy went on to say that Eminem, who is a white rapper, is a “guy in every sense who was not supposed to be doing what he did.”
https://twitter.com/DougWahl1/status/1696484436391477588
Related: Vivek Nails It: Goes All Out Against ‘Political Persecution’ Of Trump
Other Artists Stop Republicans From Using Their Music
It is unfortunately common for Republican politicians to receive cease and desist letters such as this one from musicians who are trying to be woke. CNBC reported that the former President Donald Trump has received such letters from many popular artists, including the Rolling Stones, Queen, Adele, Rihanna, and Pharrell Williams.
“I don’t think it has anything to do with money. It has to do with the political viewpoint of the artist or songwriter or publisher,” Chuck Rubin, founder of Artists Rights Enforcement Corporation, recently told Rolling Stone. “But they do have the right to either say yea or nay.”
That may be so, but given how incredibly biased the music industry is towards the left, it’s sad that Democrat lawmakers virtually never have to deal with this nonsense, and are free to make their events as hip and trendy as can be by featuring the latest hit songs.
Eminem can try and stop Ramaswamy from using his music all he wants to, but the viral video of the Republican candidate playing “Lose Yourself” will always live on. Perhaps Ramaswamy should look at this as a positive thing, as it could allow him to perform one of his own original raps next time!
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Stop referring to ‘RAP’ as ‘music’, it is not. Bach is music, Mozart, Beethoven, Queen, Deep Purple, Billy Joel, Loyd Webber, they are ‘music’.
Rap is not even poetry, it has no rhyme, no scansion, and no point.
It accurately reflects a culture and a generation, not to their commendation.
The fact that Vivek is/was a ‘Rapper’ should exclude him from any public position.