Why musicians can’t stand politicians liking their songs

I was amused to hear that Eminem has sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy – who ‘rapped’ in his youth under the name ‘Da Vek’ – warning him not to use the song ‘Lose Yourself’ again.  Ramaswamy sang it onstage at the Iowa State Fair whilst on the campaign trail two weeks ago.

Mr Em did allow Joe Biden to use ‘Lose Yourself’ in his 2020 presidential campaign for a television commercial though, and even shared it online with the caption: ‘One opportunity… #Vote.’ Bit of an unfortunate choice there – if any politician doesn’t need encouragement to lose himself, it’s the befuddled, bemused and bewildered Biden.

It’s interesting that Eminem has recreated himself as a gun-hating, abortion-supporting liberal – must be the money, as another rapper said – considering that he was once keen on using every gay and misogynistic slur under the sun. He even went so far as to pen the shocking lyric: ‘Blacks and whites they sometimes mix/But black girls only want your money ’cause they’re dumb chicks/Don’t date a black girl/If you do it once you won’t do it twice/Black girls are dumb, and white girls are good chicks.