Despite artists from across the spectrum voicing their complaints every time Donald Trump misappropriates their music to serve his political ambitions, the man just can’t seem to shake the habit. The latest musician he’s incensed with his unauthorized use is T.I., who reacted harshly to the former television host’s anti-Joe Biden jingle repurposing T.I.’s 2008 mega-hit “Whatever You Like.”
Trump, who loves reposting videos and memes that show support for him and/or derision of his opponents — no matter what the source — posted the video to his Snapchat Story. The lyrics of the song are swapped out on-screen, attacking Trump’s presumed opponent for the 2020 Presidential election. “I don’t want Joe Biden,” the lyrics read, upending the original lyrics, “I want yo’ body, need yo’ body.”
This man Trump DID NOT just use TI’s “Whatever You Like” as an ad against Joe Biden
What timeline is this? pic.twitter.com/shLyxL8gJW— T̵O̷M̴I̷E̶ (@TheOnlyTomie) May 26, 2020
Through representatives, T.I. issued a statement decrying the misuse of his track. It reads, “The video distorts lyrics from his #1 charting song by misrepresenting the lyrics through text language and distortion of his recorded voice. It goes without saying, that T.I. would not in any way ever support the divisive policies and destructive propaganda of Trump. The people of our country deserve far better than this.” The statement is pretty consistent with T.I.’s prior protests against Trump’s rhetoric and supporters.
Of course, the most distressing bit of the above story might be that Donald Trump still uses Snapchat, but considering how he uses Twitter, it’s probably best that he never figured out Instagram Stories — or God forbid, TikTok.
Listen to T.I.’s hit song “Whatever You Like” above.