Marco Rubio Disputes Lil Wayne's Claim That He's 'The New Tupac'

Republican Senator Marco Rubio proves he is a hip hop fan as he shows off his knowledge of Lil Wayne and Tupac.

Entertainment website TMZ asked the Florida Senator, a known hip hop fan, about rapper Lil Wayne's claim that he is "the new Tupac".

The politician replied: "There is only one Tupac."

"Tupac lived in a different time. These guys have some message in what they're saying, but I think they're largely entertainers," he added.

"I think Tupac was more someone who was trying to inform us about what was going on, and he did it through entertainment."

The Senator declined to comment on which member of hip hop collective the Wu-Tang Clan was his favourite, but said he remembered them being mentioned on comedian Dave Chappelle's show.

TMZ spoke to Mr Rubio again later, with the Senator joking he was “the only member of the hip hop caucus in the south”.

When asked about the current state of hip hop, Mr Rubio said: “I think Jay Z says stuff in his music, he’s kind of the industry standard … but the thing about Lil Wayne is that it’s all about how much money he’s made or how much he’s making.

“That’s silly stuff that you probably wouldn’t have seen from Tupac. Tupac actually grew up, every year that went by his music got deeper and more introspective.

“Dear Momma, his song, is in the Library of Congress. They keep certain recordings to save them for posterity.

“It’s one of the most influential songs ever. It tells the story of the struggles a single mom growing up raising her son but it spoke to millions of people who went through that experience.

“Lil Wayne isn’t putting anything out there l like that. He may, and he could, he obviously has talent but that’s not the direction he’s decided to go.”

Footage courtesy of TMZ.com