American hip hop sensation Marshall B Mathers III aka Eminem has sent cease-and-desist order to Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy after he performed his song ‘Lose Yourself’ during campaign trial, according to a cease and desist letter issued by the artist.
A video of Ramaswamy, singing along to Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” at the Iowa State Fair went viral earlier this month.
First reported by The Daily Mail, music licenser Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) stated that it had received an official request from Eminem, demanding that the 38-year-old candidate no longer use his music.
“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 issued by Eminem states.
Later, a Ramaswamy campaign spokeswoman, Tricia McLaughlin said, “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 who identifies as “Trump 2.0” used to rap libertarian-minded lyrics during his undergraduate days at Harvard, under the stage name “Da Vek”. “If you think debater-extraordinaire Vivek G. Ramaswamy ’07 is intense, you obviously haven’t met Da Vek,” The Crimson, Harvard’s student newspaper, had noted in 2006.
“I did not grow up in the circumstances he did,” Ramaswamy told The New York Times, discussing how he continues to identify with Eminem. “But the idea of being an underdog, people having low expectations of you, that part speaks to me.”
During the last two elections, well-known artists including Pharrell Williams, Rihanna, Aerosmith and Adele — as well as heirs of Prince — complained that their songs were played at Donald Trump rallies without their permission.