Vaccines

If there’s one thing MSNBC host Ari Melber is going to do, it’s force an awkward hip-hop quote in reference to complicated current events and political issues. Whether that’s a good thing or not is up to the viewer, but at least he’s trying to keep things relevant. His latest attempt came this afternoon during a segment on COVID-19 vaccine reluctance, into which Melber injected a quote taken from The Notorious B.I.G.’s 1997 Life After Death track “What’s Beef?”:

Beef is when your moms ain’t safe up in the streets
Beef is when I see you
Guaranteed to be in ICU

Melber clarifies that while COVID-19 isn’t exactly the same as having a street feud with the 6’2″, 395-pound, Brooklyn-bred rapper, it could conceivably go about as sideways. His point, of course, is that emergency rooms and intensive care units across the country are being overwhelmed with new cases of the vaccine — and that 99% of those cases are people who have not been vaccinated.

https://twitter.com/TheBeatWithAri/status/14284351382207897640

Melber’s quotes have been wide-ranging and deep; in recent months, he’s mined material from the likes of 21 Savage and Nicki Minaj, and while there are definitely plenty of rap fans who could seemingly do without his quotes, the fact that they nearly always go viral ensures that the important information and context he provides receive much-needed exposure.

Check out some of those responses below.

https://twitter.com/Shaka_Amandla/status/142804962729991373