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Rapper Eminem tells GOP presidential candidate to stop using his music at campaign events | TribLIVE.com
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Rapper Eminem tells GOP presidential candidate to stop using his music at campaign events

Ryan Deto
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AP
Republican presidential candidate businessman Vivek Ramaswamy speaks at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines on Aug. 12, 2023.
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AP
Eminem performs during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 56 football game in Inglewood, Calif., on Feb. 13, 2022.

The real Slim Shady is standing up and telling a Republican presidential candidate to sit down.

Grammy Award-winning rapper Eminem recently sent a cease-and-desist letter to Vivek Ramaswamy. The GOP presidential candidate, who has been polling in third behind former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, is known for rapping Eminem’s songs on the campaign trail.

The Ramaswamy campaign told NBC News that the candidate will stop performing Eminmen’s songs. Ramaswamy, 38, rapped under the name “Da Vek” while he attended Harvard University in the mid-2000s. He gained some notoriety after rapping Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” this year at the Iowa State Fair.

In the cease-and-desist letter originally obtained by the Daily Mail, Marshall B. Mathers III, professionally known as Eminem, objected to Ramaswamy’s use of his songs and the music rights management service BMI any Eminem songs performed by the Ramaswamy campaign “to be a material breach of the agreement for which BMI reserves all rights and remedies with respect thereto.”

Ramaswamy has been rising in the Republican polls as of late. According to a Morning Consult poll, Ramaswamy was given top marks from Republican voters on his debate performance and he is getting about 10% of GOP voters’ support.Trump still holds a commanding lead in polls, with 58% of Republican voters preferring him, according to Morning Consult.

This isn’t the first time a political candidate has gotten in hot water with musical artists.

The Trump campaign has been asked by several artists to stop using their songs, including Elton John, Aerosmith and Adele. The campaign of former presidential candidate John McCain stopped using Abba’s “Take a Chance on Me” after the band sent McCain a cease-and-desist letter in 2008, while the same year R&B singer Sam Moore of the duo Sam & Dave asked Barack Obama to stop using the song “Hold On, I’m Comin’.”

Ryan Deto is a TribLive reporter covering politics, Pittsburgh and Allegheny County news. A native of California’s Bay Area, he joined the Trib in 2022 after spending more than six years covering Pittsburgh at the Pittsburgh City Paper, including serving as managing editor. He can be reached at rdeto@triblive.com.

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