MSNBC‘s Ari Melber has made a name for himself in the Hip-Hop community by injecting his live news reports and political commentary with rap lyrics. From Lil Uzi Vert to Pusha T, Melber has used quotes to contextualize everything from Joe Biden’s presidential run in 2020 to federal investigations, and recently, he even had an exclusive interview with Lil Baby that touches on the Atlanta rapper’s unwillingness to get back into political rap.
Now, Ari Melber has gone viral once again, as he used lyrics from the legendary Hip-Hop emcee The Notorious B.I.G. in a recent newscast.
Donald Bowers/Getty Images
“COVID is dangerous. It’s lethal. It’s a bit like the beef Notorious B.I.G. used to rap about,” the MSNBC anchor says in the video before reciting lyrics from the Notorious B.I.G.’s Life After Death standout track “What’s Beef.” “‘Beef is when your mom’s safe up in the streets/Beef is when I see you, guaranteed to be in ICU.'”
“Well when COVID sees you, you can end up in ICU,” Melber explains. “Maybe not at the same rate as Biggie’s beef, but that’s the point about risk. You don’t want to test these streets and risk ending up in the ICU.”
Check out Ari Melber’s “What’s Beef” and COVID-19 commentary below.
View this post on Instagram
Ari Melber also spoke with HipHopDX about his knack for bringing up topic-appropriate Hip-Hop lyrics while reporting the news, and he even predicts that other journalists will follow suit in the near future. “Usually it’s a song I know that pops into my head, so some topic or concept in the news just fits with a lyric, or wisdom from a song,” Melber explains. “It’s possible more journalists will start citing bars, the way they use sports analogies, which is cool with me.”
“As Drake said, ‘So many came up on a style that I made up, but if all I hear is me, then who should I be afraid of?'” Melber jokes.
Stay tuned to see which legendary Hip-Hop artist Ari Melber draws inspiration from next.
[via]