GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene stoked the ire of former N.W.A rapper Dr. Dre, when she used one of his hit songs at the background music of a video she posted on Twitter.
“It’s time to begin.. and they can’t stop what’s coming,” Greene captioned a video of herself taking a victory lap over Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s ascension to House Speaker after 15 failed ballots.
The nearly two-minute video, which was highly stylized, featured her office at the US Capitol with a sign that read, “There are two genders: Male & Female ‘Trust the Science!’”
Greene then strutted down the halls of Congress while Dr. Dre’s 1999 hit “Still D.R.E.” played in the background.
The rest of the video showed McCarthy’s acceptance speech and Greene by his side during speaker votes, in a clear flex about her rise to political power.
In one of their first acts as the House majority, Republicans defunded the IRS on Monday, by stripping the $72 billion allocated to hire 87,000 new Internal Revenue Service agents.
House Resolution 23, the Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection Act, passed with a 221 to 210 vote, to walk back the spending in the astronomically expensive Inflation Reduction Act.
Former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was not pleased by the reversal of policy.
“It is shameful, but not surprising, that House Republicans’ first order of business in this Congress is to protect corporate America and ultra-wealthy individuals who are illegally avoiding taxes,” she hissed in a statement.
“Last summer, Democrats proudly enacted the Inflation Reduction Act: a strong step toward tax fairness that improved taxpayer services for families and bolstered resources to ensure the wealthiest few and greediest corporations will pay what they owe,” she continued.
“Now, Republicans want to rip away these resources, which will drive up the deficit and let wealthy tax cheats off the hook.”
McCarthy was clearly enthused about the Republican led victory on Monday.
“This was our very first act of the new Congress, because government should work for you, not against you,” he tweeted triumphantly. “Promises made. Promises kept,”
While the house Democrats might not be able to “stop what’s coming,” Dr. Dre was certainly able to stop Greene from using his song.
His lawyers quickly slapped the Georgia Republican with a cease and desist letter on Monday.
“One might expect that, as a member of Congress, you would have a passing familiarity with the laws of our country,” his attorney Howard King wrote.
“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.”
“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,” the notice concluded.
Dr. Dre released a statement about the video to TMZ on Monday. “I don’t license my music to politicians, especially someone as divisive and hateful as this one,” he said.
According to the outlet, by early afternoon, Twitter had removed the video and briefly locked Greene out of her account for copyright infringement.
Never one to back down from a fight, Greene clapped back at the rapper in a statement of her own.
“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,” she snarked back.
The Georgia lawmaker received plenty of hate from woke Twitter over the video.
“Actually, they can stop ya. (Dr Dre just moves a little faster than Dr Justice!)” someone tweeted.
“Hopefully what’s coming is a lawsuit from Dr. Dre,” tweeted another liberal account.
“Marjorie Taylor Green isn’t illegally using my music! I personally approved this.” — Dr. Dre’ (actually George Santos),” one person posted in a jest.
“Word to your mother,” Snoop Dogg. (Also George Santos).”