(TheConservativeTimes.org) – Rapper Eminem is attempting to revoke Vivek Ramaswamy’s license to use his songs during campaign events, according to a letter sent to the music licenser BMI in an attempt to get the Ramaswamy campaign to stop using his work.
Ramaswamy had rapped Eminem’s “Lose Yourself,” one of the rapper’s most famous songs, at the Iowa State Fair in early August. A BMI representative then informed Ramaswamy’s attorney that the rapper had objected to the use of his songs by the presidential candidate, and that all uses of Eminem’s music are now no longer permitted, per Ramaswamy’s licensing agreement with BMI.
Using the stage name “Da Vek,” Ramaswamy reportedly performed rap songs in college, often using Eminem’s music, such as the song “Lose Yourself.” He also reportedly performed the song at a karaoke bar in Canada.
Ramaswamy remarked on Eminem’s music, saying that the rapper’s anti-establishment tone and people having low expectations of him made Ramaswamy connect with his music, despite having a vastly different lifestyle from the rapper. Ramaswamy’s father was an engineer while his mother was a geriatric psychologist, a far cry from Eminem’s upbringing in the inner city of Detroit, living with a single mother.
The news comes as Eminem interjected himself in political controversy in 2017 after releasing a freestyle rap bashing then-President Donald Trump, urging his fans to choose a side in the political debate. He also bashed the former president for supposedly not focusing on real issues, and instead choosing to get into tirades on Twitter.
Eminem is not the only artist to request political candidates to stop using their songs. In 2000, Sting requested then-presidential candidate George W. Bush not to use his songs on the campaign trail. Being a British artist, Sting was afraid that his songs being played at political rallies would be misconstrued as him taking sides in an American election, according to Sting’s manager Mike Copeland.
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