Eminem has sent a cease-and-desist order to Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy, demanding he stop using the rapper's music in his campaign.

In a letter sent August 23 first obtained by the Daily Mail, music licensor Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) told Ramaswamy’s campaign lawyer that Eminem is “objecting to the Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign use of Eminem’s musical compositions (the ‘Eminem Works’) and requesting that BMI remove all Eminem Works from the Agreement.”

Eminem Shades Ramaswamy

According to the letter, Ramaswamy's campaign and BMI entered into a music licensing agreement with Eminem’s music on May 24, though it appears to have been without the artist's direct knowledge or consent, as many licensing agreements are often executed. BMI has since told The Hill that it has removed all of Eminem’s musical works from Ramaswamy's campaign license.

A representative for BMI said the letter “serves as notice that the Eminem Works are excluded from the Agreement effective immediately,” and further use of the rapper's music by Ramaswamy's campaign will be considered “material breach of the agreement.”

Ramaswamy went viral earlier this month when he sang along to Eminem’s “Lose Yourself" at the Iowa State Fair, which he later told Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is his favorite walkout song. Ramaswamy also told the New York Times that while attending Harvard University, he would perform under the stage name “Da Vek the Rapper."

Ramaswamy was previously criticized for his use of Eminem's music by Chicago rapper Rhymefest, who defeated Eminem in a freestyle contest in 1997. In an interview with CNN's Don Lemon, Rhymefest pointed out that Ramaswamy didn't seem to understand hip-hop culture, or even that of Black Americans, noting that he previously referred to Juneteenth as a "useless" holiday.

“It’s the rewriting and manipulation of Black history for Republican talking points that gets me,” he said, adding, “Everyone has a right to music. Everyone has a right to express themselves through the culture that helped formulate their passions, and hip-hop is a passionate calling. [But] he doesn’t understand the words or the meaning.”