Eminem’s “Not Afraid” appears in El-Sayed’s Election Day video
Complex says a Slim Shady representative told the outlet the campaign had made no outreach about using the track; the report does not establish whether another licensing route was used.
File photo: Eminem at the Concert for Valor on November 11, 2014; it is unrelated to El-Sayed’s campaign video. DoD News Features / EJ Hersom · CC BY 2.0 · Resized for display.
Eminem’s 2010 single “Not Afraid” soundtracks a 1-minute-18-second video Abdul El-Sayed’s Senate campaign posted on Election Day, November 3, Complex reported November 4. The outlet describes it as the campaign’s final get-out-the-vote ad.
The song’s appearance is not evidence of a personal endorsement
Complex says the video places footage of President Donald Trump and El-Sayed on a balcony against moments in the track, without establishing that the rapper personally participated in the campaign. The edit’s use of the song is the campaign’s choice; a soundtrack alone does not amount to an endorsement.
A Slim Shady representative told Complex that El-Sayed’s campaign had made no outreach about using the track. The report does not say whether any separate rights-holder channel was used, so the representative’s statement does not, on its own, establish whether the campaign had music clearance.
The placement lands amid a more tangled rap crossover: Eminem appeared on Kid Rock’s “Heal My Faith” in October, while Rock had publicly criticized El-Sayed. Complex also notes that Eminem licensed “Lose Yourself” for a Joe Biden get-out-the-vote ad in 2020; the outlet does not report an equivalent licensing arrangement for this video.
The campaign now has a result as well as a soundtrack: the Associated Press reported November 4 that El-Sayed won Michigan’s U.S. Senate race. The song’s appearance remains a reported detail about the campaign’s video, not proof of Eminem’s personal support.
Heat check
Slide it. Let go to vote.
