Los Angeles, California’s Murs is one of the most respected voices in Hip-Hop, partly because of his penchant for truthseeking and social commentary. In March, he released his tenth solo LP, Captain California, which addresses topics like mental health in the Black community (on “God Bless Kanye West”) and gentrification (on, fittingly, “G is for Gentrify”). But on a recent visit to Sway’s Universe, the MC spent a considerable chunk of time discussing more politically driven issues, particularly surrounding the Trump administration. He also dropped a verse that scorched American hegemony and the Whitewashing of history in a powerful way.

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At the 4:40 mark, Sway asks Murs what his take is on the political atmosphere of the day, to which he responds “a lot is rubbing me wrong.” Citing the Muslim ban, he then goes on to provide his West Coast perspective on the administration’s immigration policy, which he says is essentially widespread deportation. “My family’s had a business in South Central for 60 years, and we’ve seen the community go from predominantly Black to predominantly Latino. Everyone who works for my mother is of Mexican or El Salvadorian descent or maybe illegal immigrants, you know what I mean?,” he says. He also explains that many of the customers who patronize his family’s business are Latino, and so deporting their customers is obviously having a direct effect on their well-being.

A couple of minutes later, near the 6:14 mark, the group begins to discuss U.S. relations with Russia, about which Murs had some insightful things to say. “I went to Russia on tour, and it was amazing. But in the airport, and in the mall next to the Apple store, they have T-shirts with pictures of [Russian president Vladimir] Putin walking away from an exploding White House. They sell that. They’re not hiding it,” he recounts. “And this is Donald Trump’s friend. He has no good intentions for this country, obviously,” he says with a chuckle. However, he takes a more serious tone thereafter, explaining that the shirt’s design doesn’t reflect the vast majority of Russian people’s views. “It’s some propaganda that they’re trying to push, obviously,” he argues. “And to know that [the man portrayed on those shirts] is someone our president is having cordial conversation with? We gotta be careful with that.”

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The political discourse continues past the 8:00 mark, though in the form of raps. “I got some bars for Donald Trump,” Murs says before launching into an a capella performance:

“Psycho, psycho, the president’s a psycho/Fuck Donald Trump, I’ll hit the punk with my rifle/Sike! No, I’m playin’/Y’all believe me ’cause I’m Black/Shit, the real revolution’s when we raid your tax bracket/Fuck that gangbangin’, let’s start thuggin’ like Republicans/Join the NRA, they’ll never take away our guns again/Legally…Army, we’re buildin’ up an army/Right-wingers in America: we’re not scared now, are we?/Ever since Trayvon, I been tryin’ to stay calm/But kill another one and we go nuclear, napalm/They droppin’ A-bombs on the roof of the projects/Every time we try to make a little bit of progress, treat us like objects/And they wonder why we object/Hate to see a young, rich n**** like Offset/Shouts to my amigos and all my colored people/They stole this land, the White man is illegal.”

The engaging conversation is only getting started when the freestyle ends. Following the striking last bar of his verse, a discussion about White America ensues, and Murs touches on political correctness and the concept of attacks against Whites. “America is in a place where, if a White person says something about welfare, then they’re racist. They’re not allowed an opinion,” he says (11:03). He continues by pointing out the shirt he is wearing, which is in memory of his late friend, the White actor Bill Paxton. “He was a father figure to me. I’m a Black kid from the inner city, and he reached out to me and he mentored me in so many ways,” says the rapper. He brings up Paxton as an example, he says, to explain that “I don’t hate White people. But I think that there’s some White people that need to be humbled and realize that no human being is illegal.” Expressing his belief that all people are God’s creations, he speaks directly to the controversial line in his freestyle, saying “if [Muslim and Latino immigrants] are illegal, then how’d you get here, bro?”

He adds, “we’re all illegal or no one’s illegal. Let’s just sit down like human beings and talk about dealing with the situation. If we made everyone in the United States legal right now, it would help California’s schools so much. The Mexican people I know that are here illegally are working hard, and they would pay taxes if they didn’t get deported. The only reason they’re not reporting their tax dollars is ’cause they’ll get deported. If you say ‘look, who’s here now can stay and we’ll work on the rest,'” he says, the U.S. could both remain stringent on immigration policy and embrace the hardworking men, women, and children who are benefiting the country’s economy. “These are American people. They’re here. Let’s work together. Let’s get some of those tax dollars,” argues Murs. “I never met a Mexican person who said ‘I don’t want to pay taxes.’ It’s a revenue stream that we’re ignoring. If you’re a right-wing Republican, and you want more money in America, the best way is to use the resource you have…all you have to say is ‘you can stay where you’ve been for 20, 30 years.'”

Elsewhere in the interview, Murs discusses his partnership with Strange Music, how Trump’s politics are affecting gang members, his relationship with the late Bill Paxton, the time he got rejected by Insane Clown Posse, and much more.