Eminem Tells Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy To Stop Using His Music

Eminem is telling Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to stop using his music in his campaign. BMI, the performing arts organization, told Ramaswamy at Eminem’s request, they will no longer be licensing the rapper’s music for his use for the campaign, according to CNN.

Over the weekend, Ramaswamy was performing “Lose Yourself” alongside Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds at the Iowa State Fair during an impromptu karaoke performance. BMI says it “received a communication from Marshall B. Mathers, III, professionally known as Eminem, objecting to the Vivek Ramaswamy campaign’s use of Eminem’s musical compositions,” according to a copy of the letter obtained by the outlet.

Ramaswamy campaign spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said the campaign will respect the request to stop using Eminem’s music in future campaigns.

“Vivek just got on the stage and cut loose,” McLaughlin said. “To the American people’s chagrin, we will have to leave the rapping to the real Slim Shady.” The polling site FiveThirtyEight currently projects that Ramaswamy would get less than 10% of the votes in the Republican primary.

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Ramaswamy

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" target="_blank" rel="noopener">responded Monday on X (formerly known as Twitter): “Will The REAL Slim Shady Please Stand Up? He didn’t just say what I think he did, did he?”

The letter was sent more than a week after Ramaswamy’s performance.

Ramaswamy also

Right before the 2004 election, Eminem released an anti-Bush song called "Mosh."

One of its lyrics was "No more blood for oil. We got our own battles to fight on our own soil."

Now he's angry that the the most anti-war candidate in the GOP primary sang his song at an event. https://t.co/jXtQv0YBS7

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) August 28, 2023" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reposted a user’s tweet that called out Eminem’s 2004 protest song “Mosh” which was the second single from his fifth studio album, Encore . It was released right before the 2004 election in which President George W. Bush defeated Democrat nominee John Kerry.  The song called for voters to not re-elect President George W. Bush.

Ramaswamy, who is 38, is the youngest presidential candidate currently running for office.

As for Eminem, last year he performed at the Super Bowl LVI alongside Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar, and 50 Cent. He also was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year. In addition, dropped an expanded edition of The Eminem Show to commemorate the album’s 20th anniversary.

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• Biggie and Tupac (2002)

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• Fade to Black (2004)

  Jay-Z is one of the best rappers ever. The New York native’s 2004 documentary Fade to Black shows fans how he got started. At the center of this film is Jay-Z’s sold-out Madison Square Garden concert in 2003… which, at the time, were supposed to be his final shows. There are appearances from his wife Beyoncé, Pharrell Williams, Kanye West and more. It took about 15 years for this documentary to be available to stream and it is worth the wait. You can stream Fade To Black on Tidal or Amazon Prime.

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• Nas: Time Is Illmatic (2014)

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• Eminem: Count Me In (2023)

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  Eminem has had quite a career in hip-hop and this documentary takes a look at many of his accolades. In 2022 he performed at the Super Bowl alongside Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, and 50 Cent. He was also inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last year for his contributions to hip-hop. You can stream Eminem: Count Me In on Amazon Prime Video.