Eminem stopped a Republican presidential candidate from using his music on the campaign trail. The Shady Records boss contacted BMI to remove his songs from the music rights organization’s deal with GOP hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy, who once rapped under the stage name “Da Vek.”
Earlier this month, Ramaswamy infamously performed Slim Shady’s song “Lose Yourself” at the Iowa State Fair. According to a letter obtained by the Daily Mail U.K, BMI sent a cease and desist to Ramaswamy on August 23.
“BMI has 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 and requesting that BMI remove all Eminem Works from the agreement,” a BMI lawyer informed Ramaswamy’s campaign. “This letter serves as notice that the Eminem Works are excluded from the agreement effectively immediately.”
The letter continued, “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.”
Eminem shut down Ramaswamy a few weeks after adding a new rapper to the Shady Records roster. The diamond-selling artist signed Ez Mil as part of a joint deal with Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Entertainment.
Check out AllHipHop’s interview with Ez Mil below.
