The January 6th Capitol insurrection was an unholy calamafuck that resulted in an unprecedented second impeachment of Donald Trump. Those hoping to convict face an uphill battle, but if nothing else comes of it, the trial at least allowed Run the Jewels to fulfill their destiny. On February 10th, Rep. Stacey Plaskett quoted the lyrics “Truth is truth, whether denied or not,” entering the RTJ2 song “Early” into the official Congressional Record to make the case that — to summarize — Trump is guilty as fuck.
Plaskett is a representative of the US Virgin Islands, and she made a bit of history herself when she became the first non-voting delegate to join a team of House impeachment managers. On February 10th, she addressed Congress and opened with a quote from Wu-Tang maestro GZA. “The truth is usually seen and rarely heard” she began, continuing, “Truth is truth, whether denied or not. And the truth is, President Trump had spent months calling his supporters to a march on a specific day, at a specific time, at specific places to stop the certification. And leading up to the event, there were hundreds — hundreds — of posts online showing that his supporters took this as a call to arms to attack the Capitol.”
That first line, “The truth is usually seen and rarely heard,” comes from GZA’s song “Breaker, Breaker”. But with respect to Mr. The Genius, he hasn’t devoted his whole career to social justice in quite the same way. As for The Jewels, MC and producer El-P is very aware of participating in the democratic process. “welp apparently i was quoted during the impeachment trial today and i can’t say i didn’t see it coming,” he tweeted yesterday evening. He added, “ok i didn’t see it coming.” Check out a snippet of Plaskett’s speech below.
Editors’ Picks
Last October, Run the Jewels headlined Holy Calamavote, a get-out-the-vote event encouraging democratic participation. That same month, El-P’s partner Killer Mike accepted the first-ever Change Maker Award at the Billboard Music Awards. Last year, the dynamic duo unleashed RTJ4, one of our favorite albums of 2020.
welp apparently i was quoted during the impeachment trial today and i can’t say i didn’t see it coming. ok i didn’t see it coming. pic.twitter.com/4xcd297pcs
— el-p (@therealelp) February 12, 2021
During my presentation in the impeachment trial yesterday, I made two references from the hip hop genre: “The truth is usually seen and rarely heard” from GZA of the Wu-Tang Clan and “Truth is truth, whether denied or not,” from Run the Jewels. You can see it below: pic.twitter.com/uLUYp6H8nN
— Rep. Stacey Plaskett (@StaceyPlaskett) February 12, 2021