MC Marco in the House (Foreign Affairs Committee).
Secretary of State and avowed rap enthusiast Marco Rubio once again showed his street cred in an official capacity Wednesday, this time using a Kanye West lyric to make a point about the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“It’s complex,” Rubio told the House Foreign Affairs Committee in reference to the conflict between the Jewish state and the Iran-backed terror group.
“This has been going on since OJ had Isotoners,” the secretary added, quoting a lyric from “Stronger,” off West’s 2007 album, “Graduation.”
“You know how long I’ve been on you?” goes the Grammy-winning track. “Since Prince was on Appolonia/Since OJ had Isotoners/Don’t act like I never told you.”
The Florida native has not shied away from spitting fire on other occasions, demonstrating his mastery of the genre.
In March, while speaking at a cabinet meeting shortly after the start of Operation Epic Fury against Iran, Rubio said: “Every day, the Department of War lets the drummer get wicked over every portion of Iran that has military capabilities.”
That reference was adapted from the 1990 Public Enemy classic “Welcome to the Terrordome” in which Chuck D. raps: “I’ve got so much trouble on my mind/Refuse to lose/Here’s your ticket/Hear the drummer get wicked.”
Rubio made references to two different hip-hop classics during a single press conference last month while standing in for White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt
Rubio characterized Iran’s leadership as “Insane in the Brain” — a direct reference to the 1993 Cypress Hill song of the same name — and warned that the Islamic Republic should “check themselves before they wreck themselves,” channeling rapper and actor Ice Cube’s 1992 hit “Check Yo Self.”
After Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro was captured by US forces Jan. 3, Rubio cribbed from the The Notorious B.I.G’s “Juicy” when he warned foreign adversaries not to doubt the Trump administration’s aggressive intentions: “If you don’t know, now you know.”
Rubio has long been a vocal rap fan, namedropping the recently deceased Afrika Bambaataa as one of his favorite artists in an interview with GQ in 2012.
In the same interview, the then-Florida senator shared his love for both Long Island-rooted Public Enemy and West Coast rap, heralding Tupac Shakur’s seminal “All Eyez On Me” as “One of the greatest rap albums ever.”
A State Department spokesperson did not respond to an inquiry about whether Rubio would take requests for his next drop.