Republicans Are Up In Arms Over Jay-Z's Trip To Cuba, So He Responded With A Vicious Track

Rapper Jay-Z released a new track on Thursday responding to Republican inquiries about his recent trip to Cuba with wife Beyoncé, bragging that President Barack Obama told him he would get "impeached."

Republicans are already seizing on one line from the new track, which Jay-Z released on his website — "I got White House clearance." U.S. citizens cannot travel to Cuba unless approved by the government. According to multiple reports, the Treasury Department said it approved the trip as part of an "educational" exchange.

Upon release of the new track, called "Open Letter," the Republican National Committee sent out an email questioning whether the White House had a hand in the approval. Subsequently facing questions on the topic from reporters, White House press secretary Jay Carney said that the White House didn't have anything to do with it.

"I guess nothing rhymes with Treasury," Carney joked, "because Treasury offers and gives licenses for travel, as you know, and the White House has nothing to do with it."

Jay-Z and Beyoncé have faced criticism from Florida lawmakers, including Republican Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balar, and Sen. Marco Rubio.

On the track, Jay-Z pushed back.

"Politicians never did s— for me, except lie to me, distort history," he raps. "They wanna give me jail time and a fine? Fine, let me commit a real crime."

Listen to the song and find the lyrics below (for what it's worth, the beat's solid):

And the lyrics:

Verse 1

I done turned Havana to Atlanta
Guayabera shirts and bandannas
Every time you think they got me I switch the planner
Bulletproof this, radio scanners
Ballin' 'til they ban us
You gettin' too much bread, they try to jam you
Boy from the hood but got White House clearance
Sorry y'all, I don't agree with y'all appearance
Politicians never did s— for me
Except lie to me, distort history
Wanna give me jail time and a fine
Fine, let me commit a real crime
I might buy a kilo for Chief Keef
Out of spite, I just might flood these streets
Hear the freedom in my speech
Got an onion from Universal, read it and weep
Would've brought the Nets to Brooklyn for free
Except I made millions off it, you f—n' dweeb
I still own the building, I'm still keeping my seat
Y'all buy that bulls—, you'd better keep y'all receipt
Obama said "chill, you gonna get me impeached"
But you don't need this s— anyway, chill with me on the beach

Verse 2

Ya'll almost want to start a revolution
You know whenever I'm threatened, I start shooting, bark
Catch a body, head to Houston
I'm in Cuba, I love Cubans
This communist talk is so confusing
When it's from China, the very mic that I'm using
Idiot wind, the Bob Dylan of rap music
You're an idiot, baby, you should become a student
Oh, you gonna learn today
Where the f— have you been
The world's under new management
The new role model, f— this Zoolander s—

UPDATE: Kanye West offers his thoughts on the track:

Twitter/@kanyewest