Marco Rubio outs himself as a Tupac Shakur, N.W.A. fan

theGRIO REPORT - The 41-year-old senator professes his love for hip-hop artists like Afrika Bambaataa, N.W.A., Tupac Shakur, and most surprisingly, because of his conservative politics, Public Enemy...

TheGrio Staff

Nov 19, 2012

Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio has rapidly become the subject of speculation about a 2016 run for the presidency, especially after a recent visit he made to the early caucus state of Iowa.

And if a new interview in GQ magazine is any indication, Rubio is even making overtures to African-American voters too.

The 41-year-old senator professes his love for hip-hop artists like Afrika Bambaataa, N.W.A., Tupac Shakur, and most surprisingly, because of his conservative politics, Public Enemy.

“People forget how dominant Public Enemy became in the mid 80s. No one talks about how transformative they were. And then that led to the 90s and the sort of East Coast v. West Coast stuff, which is kinda when I came of age,” said Rubio.

Rubio is a big fan of the Tupac documentary Resurrection and he’s apparently more and old school guy because he doesn’t consider the work of Nicki Minaj and Kanye West “pure rap.”

And what and the GOP rising star’s favorite hip-hop songs?

“Straight Outta Compton” by N.W.A. “Killuminati” by Tupac. Eminem’s “Lose Yourself.”