This post was originally published on this site.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio isn’t shy about his taste in music. The Secretary of State went on record during a recent podcast appearance on The Katie Miller Podcast to explain why he can’t get into country music, and it’s not what you’d expect from a politician.
“I love a lot of electronic music because it fuses classical increasingly,” Rubio said. “I like a lot of the remixes of like songs that you’ve heard over the past. There’s this EDM mix of ‘Ring of Fire’ which is really good.”
But when it comes to country? Rubio made his position crystal clear.
“I don’t hate it, okay? I’m not against it. I’m not anti-country music but that’s not my thing,” he explained. “I think it’s just very sad. Most of the songs are about like somebody whose wife and dog left them.”
His wife, Jeanette, pushed back against the criticism, suggesting he listen to artists like Morgan Wallen. But Rubio stood by his assessment of the genre’s emotional landscape.
When asked about his favorite rapper of all time, Rubio didn’t hesitate: Tupac.
“From an artistic standpoint, Tupac was very, very talented,” he said. “He was actually trained to be an actor as well. He went to an artistic high school and you could see that later on when he played a number of roles in movies over the years, including the one with Janet Jackson. He was a good actor. He was a good lyricist in terms of the lyrics that he wrote.”
Rubio emphasized that Tupac’s genius went beyond just music.
“I think he was a narrator more than anything else of a certain point of view and lifestyle and upbringing and worldview,” Rubio explained. “So I think of all time he’s probably my favorite.”
The Secretary of State also reflected on how Hip-Hop has evolved since the 90s.
“The whole Hip-Hop genre has changed quite a bit, and it’s not for the worse or the better. I’m just saying it’s changed,” he said. “But the 90s were great. The only problem with the 90s is they all were shooting at each other like for real. Like it wasn’t just in their lyrics, especially when the whole Death Row thing and the East Coast thing developed over time.”
Rubio grew up during that era and acknowledged the shift.
“I’m really not as familiar with the younger people that are out there now because the whole Hip-Hop genre has changed quite a bit,” he said. “So I grew up in that era, and it’s a little different than it is now, even though some of these guys still get in trouble.”
