Dr. Dre introduces Inductee Eminem onstage during the 37th Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at Microsoft Theater on November 05, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.
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Lawyers for rap legend Dr. Dre are demanding that Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene stop his using his music, after the controversial politician used the hit “Still D.R.E.”
“I don’t license my music to politicians, especially someone as divisive and hateful as this one,” Dre, who was born Andre Young, said in a statement.
Greene, who represents a district in northeast Georgia, has promoted the far-right and baseless conspiracy theory QAnon, and in February 2022 she spoke at a white nationalist event.
In December she said she would have “won” the Jan. 6 Capitol attack if she had planned it with former Trump aide Steve Bannon, which earned a rebuke from the White House as well as Democratic lawmakers.
The letter from Dre’s attorney, Howard King, dated Monday, demands that the Greene immediately cease and desist from using Dre’s music. The letter says she has been using it on social media.
“One might expect that, as a member of Congress, you would have a passing familiarity with the laws of our country. It’s possible, though, that laws governing intellectual property are a little too arcane and insufficiently populist for you to really have spent much time on,” the letter reads. “We’re writing because we think an actual lawmaker should be making laws not breaking laws, especially those embodied in the constitution by the founding fathers.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., conducts a news conference with members of the House Freedom Caucus outside the Capitol to oppose the Equality Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation, on Thursday February 25, 2021.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
Music publication Rolling Stone reported that the recognizable “Still D.R.E.” beat was used in a video posted to Twitter, which appears to have since been removed.
A spokesperson for Greene on Monday sent a response from the Congress member to Dr. Dre that read: “While I appreciate the creative chord progression, I would never play your words of violence against women and police officers, and your glorification of the thug life and drugs.”
— Phil Helsel contributed.