Never one to back down from a conflict, Eminem’s surprise release ‘Kamikaze’ sees him facing down the haters, going in on everyone from Donald Trump to Lil Yachty. Missed some of the disses? Don’t worry. Here is everyone Eminem has a pop at on his 10th album.
‘The Ringer’
Vince Staples
Who? Long Beach rapper known for angering Christian parents.
Brief beef history? Staples previously called Eminem’s BET Freestyle “trash” and that he could “do better”.
What Em says: “If I press the issue just to get the anger out /Full magazine could take Staples out”.
Has there been a response? Yep, Staples took to Twitter to quote Eminem’s lyrics and even suggested that Eminem should fight it out with another rapper dissed on ‘Kamikaze’, Machine Gun Kelly. Vince said: “Meet in a neutral location, a Cracker Barrel or Trader Joe’s, somewhere they both comfortable, and just squabble up.”
Full magazine could take Staples out!
— Vince Staples (@vincestaples) August 31, 2018
Joe Budden
Who? ‘Pump It Up’ rap purist known for his internet hot takes
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Brief beef history? Budden dissed Eminem’s Beyonce-featuring single ‘Walk On Water’, describing it as “trash”.
What Em says: “I’m sorry, wait, what’s your talent? Oh, critiquin’ / My talent? Oh, bitch, I don’t know who the fuck y’all are”.
Has there been a response? Yes, Budden has described Eminem as “one of the best rappers in the world” who is currently “trying to prove to people he can rap.” Asked whether he would be responding with a track, Budden stated that he is retired, saying: “If anybody wanted Joe to respond to them in a rap, all they had to do was say Joe name two years ago, three years ago, four years ago… Don’t do it now.”
Lil Yachty
Who? Nautically named American rapper.
Brief beef history? This one seems to be fresh meat, with Eminem laying into mumble rappers and Yachty’s “choppy flow”.
What Em says: “I can see why people like Lil Yachty, but not me though/Not even dissin’, it just ain’t for me”.
Has there been a response? Yachty seems to have taken things in his stride, tweeting: “Lmao me personally I think it’s [fire] Eminem took a shot at me.. I fuck wit Eminem.”
Lil Pump and Lil Xan
Who? Young, face-tattoo-sporting, American rappers
Brief beef history? This is another new beef here; although Eminem has previously laid into “mumble rap” on his Royce da 5’9″ collaboration ‘Caterpillar’, rapping: “The boom bap is coming back with an axe to mumble rap”. On ‘The Ringer’ he takes a pop at both mumble rap, and also accuses Lil Pump and Lil Xan of copying Lil Wayne’s face tats.
What Em says: “Lil Pump, Lil Xan imitate Lil Wayne/I should aim at everybody in the game, pick a name/I’m fed up with being humble/And rumor is I’m hungry/I’m sure you heard bumblings/I heard you wanna rumble like an empty stomach/I heard your mumbling but it’s jumbled in mumbo-jumbo”.
Have there been responses? Well, Lil Pump has tweeted back with a love heart, along with the message: “Thank You. I deserved that”. Xan hasn’t yet replied.
Charlamagne tha God
Who? An American radio and television personality
Brief beef history: The presenter has been critical of some of Eminem’s latest releases, and previously said that his BET Hip Hop Awards cypher was “just OK”.
What Em says? “Charlamagne gonna hate anyway/Doesn’t matter what I say/Give me Donkey of the Day”.
Has there been a response? Yeah, and Charlamagne has stuck to his guns, saying: “I don’t hate. I tell the truth. That’s not hatin’ me sayin’ ‘Revival’ was wack ’cause clearly Eminem thought ‘Revival’ was wack, too.”
Donald Trump
Who? The President of the United States of America.
Brief beef history: Eminem has always been outspoken about his dislike of Donald Trump, with his 2016 song ‘Campaign Speech’ being a blistering eight-minute criticism of the President.
What Em says: “But I think it’s workin’/These verses are makin’ him a wee bit nervous/And he’s too scared to answer me with words/’Cause he knows that he will lyrically get murdered/But I know at least he’s heard it/’Cause Agent Orange just sent the Secret Service/To meet in person/To see if I really think of hurtin’ him/Or ask if I’m linked to terrorists”.
Has there been a response? Not yet, but who knows, there could be a Trump tweet any minute.
‘Greatest’
Ja Rule
Who? Queens rapper best known for his Ashanti jams ‘Always on Time’ and ‘Mesmerize’
Brief beef history: On his 2002 diss track ‘Loose Change’, Ja Rule referenced Eminem’s then 7 year-old daughter Hailie, saying: “Em, you claim your mother’s a crackhead/And Kim is a known slut/So what’s Hailie gon’ be when she grows up”
What Em says: “I hear you talking shit, I’m just too big to respond to it / God forbid I forget, go and jump out the window / Somebody better child-proof it / ’Cause if I lose it we can rewind to some old Ja Rule shit”.
Has there been a response? “Guess that Hailie line must be starting to hit home,” Ja Rule wrote on Twitter.
Guess that Halie line must be starting to hit home… ?
— Ja Rule (@jarule) September 2, 2018
Die Antwoord
Who? Weird and wonderful South African electro-rap duo.
Brief beef history: Em mispronounced the group’s name in his 2017 song ‘Untouchable’, leading to Die Antwoord to upload a video of them jokingly mispronouncing Eminem’s name.
What Em says: “I know there’s people that are pissed about the way I mispronounced a name, “DIE ANTWOORD!” / Fuck, I still can’t say this shit, but how quickly they forget / Who the fuck I was now Ninja try to duck my slugs / To let ya girl get fucked by Muggs / I’d like to give a shout to Cypress / This can’t be real, you dissed me and I was just tryin’ to / Give you a shout—now get the fuck out my rhyme book!”
Has there been a response? Yes, Die Antwoord recently shared an Instagram video of them teaching how to pronounce Eminem’s name.
Token
Who? Upcoming rapper, Massachusetts native
Brief beef history: On his track ‘Patty Cake’, Token raps: “Turn down meeting Eminem before dumbasses call me the new Eminem / Suck my dick”
What Em says: “No more shiners, already too much time tokin’ rappers / I hear you talkin’ shit, I’m just too big to respond to it”.
‘Lucky You’
Mumble rap
Who? Mumble rappers
Brief beef history: Eminem has made it fairly clear what he thinks of mumble rap – see the afore mentioned Royce da 5’9″ collaboration ‘Caterpillar’.
What Em says: “”Hatata batata, why don’t we make a bunch of fuckin’/Songs about nothin’ and mumble!”/And fuck it, I’m goin’ for the jugular/Shit is a circus, you clowns that are comin’ up/Don’t give an ounce of a motherfuck/About the ones that were here before you to make raps, it’s recap”
‘Not Alike’
Mumble rappers and Migos
Who? Mumble rappers (again), in this case it looks like he’s specifically taking the piss outta Migos, by imitating the flow in their chart-topping tune ‘Bad and Boujee’; but just naming random things that have no relation to each other.
Brief beef history? He just really hates mumble rap
What Em says: “Brain dead, eye drops/Pain meds, cyclops/They bed, iPod/Maybach, my bach/Trainwrecks, sidewalks/Pay less, high-tops/K-Fed, iHop/Playtex, ice spots”
Machine Gun Kelly
Who? American rapper and actor, who often cites Eminem as one of his biggest influences
Brief beef history? Back in 2012, a 21-year-old Machine Gun Kelly Tweeted that Eminem’s daughter was “hot as fuck”. Since then, MGK has alleged that he was banned from certain media outlets, and in a freestyle with the LA Lakers rapped: “I’m my favourite rapper alive since my favourite rapper banned me from Shade 45.” And now on ‘Not Alike’, Em has clapped back.
What Em says: “Now you wanna come and fuck with me, huh?/This little cock-sucker, he must be feeling himself/He wants to keep up His tough demeanour, so he does a feature/Decides to team up with Nina/But next time you don’t gotta use Tech N9ne if you wanna come at me with a sub-machine gun/And I’m talking to you but you already know who the fuck you are, Kelly/I don’t use sublims and sure as fuck don’t sneak-diss/But keep commenting on my daughter Hailie”
Has there been a response? Yes, Machine Gunn Kelly responded to Eminem’s diss of him by issuing one of his own with new track ‘Rap Devil’. In the song, Machine Gun Kelly calls Eminem “sober and bored”, adding: “Still can’t cover up the fact the last four albums as bad as your selfie.”
Kamikaze
White rappers
Who? Fellow rappers of the Caucasian race.
Brief beef history: Em disses other white rappers earlier in the album, such as Token and Machine Gun Kelly.
What Em says: “But if the only reason I blowed is ’cause I’m white though / Why don’t every other white rapper sell what I sold? (ooh)”.
Drake
Who? Chart dominating rapper and singer
Brief beef history? There isn’t really any, the pair have previously appeared on stage together and collaborated. However on his latest album’s titular track, Eminem appears to address the Drake ghostwriter scandal.
What Em says? “You got some views, but you’re still below me/Mine are higher, so when you compare our views, you get overlooked/And I don’t say the hook unless I wrote the hook”
Fall
Charlamagne tha God… again
Who? An American radio and television personality
Brief beef history: After taking a pop at Charlamagne on ‘The Ringer’, Eminem goes in for round two on ‘Fall’.
What Em says? “You’d swear to God I’ve forgot I’m the guy that made “Not Afraid”/One last time for Charlemagne/If my response is late, it’s just how long it takes/To hit my fuckin’ radar, I’m so far away”
Joe Budden… also again
Who? Rapper and broadcaster
Brief beef history: Previously a big fan, Budden has defended Eminem on hip-hop debate show Everyday Struggle; but this all changed last year, when Budden described Eminem’s ‘Untouchable’ as “trash” adding: “[It’s] One of the worst songs I’ve ever heard.”
What Em says? “Somebody tell Budden before I snap, he better fasten it/Or have his body baggage zipped/The closest thing he’s had to hits is smacking bitches”
DJ Akademiks
Who? Budden’s co-host on the first season of Everyday Struggle
Brief beef history: He also called Em’s previous album ‘Revival’ “trash” when it came out.
What Em says? “And don’t make me have to give it back to Akademiks/Say this shit is trash again, I’ll have you twisted like you had it/when you thought you had me slippin’ at the telly/Even when I’m gettin’ brain, you’ll never catch me with a thot”.
Has there been a response? Yeah, and Akademiks is very confused, saying: “I thought it was only Joe getting dissed, I got name dropped and dissed. And I’m like, ‘the fuck did I do?'”
Tyler, The Creator
Who? Rapper and co-founder of hip hop collective Odd Future.
Brief beef history: Tyler has previously spoken about his admiration of Eminem, tweeting his love of his sixth album ‘Relapse’. However last year Tyler tweeted that Em’s tune ‘Walk On Water’ was “horrible”.
What Em says: “Tyler create nothing, I see why you called yourself a f**got, bitch/It’s not just ’cause you lack attention/It’s ’cause you worship D12’s balls, you’re sac-rilegious/If you’re gonna critique me, you better at least be as good or better”.
Has there been a response? Not from Tyler directly, but Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon (who features on the track) has distanced himself following Eminem’s use of a homophobic slur. Vernon called the message “tired” and added: “It is certainly not the time for slurs. Wish they would have listened when we asked them to change it”.
Was not in the studio for the Eminem track… came from a session with BJ Burton and Mike Will. Not a fan of the message, it’s tired. Asked them to change the track, wouldn’t do it. Thanks for listening to BRM https://t.co/E0wmt732ty
— blobtower (@blobtower) August 31, 2018
Eminem is one of the best rappers of all time , there is no doubt. I have and will respect that. Tho, this is not the time to criticize Youth, it’s the time to listen. To act. It is certainly not the time for slurs. Wish they would have listened when we asked them to change it
— blobtower (@blobtower) August 31, 2018
Earl Sweatshirt
Who? Rapper, who rose to fame via Odd Future.
Brief beef history: Earl previously said: “If you still follow Eminem, you drink way too much Mountain Dew and probably need to like, come home from the army”.
What Em says: “Get Earl, the Hooded Sweater, whatever his name is to help you/put together some words, more than two letters”
Drake, Lil Wayne and Kanye West
Who? Three of the biggest names in rap.
Brief beef history: No real beef, but all four artists featured on the 2009 track ‘Forever’.
What Em says: “The fans waited for this moment like that feature when I stole the show (ha), sorry if I took forever (haha)”.
Pitchfork
What? US music publication
Brief beef history: Pitchfork gave Eminem’s 2017 ‘Revival’ 5/10, saying that it was full of “bland hooks and cringe-worthy punchlines”.
What Em says: “Detractors, I might have to fuck Pitchfork with a corkscrew.”
Has there been a response? Well, Pitchfork described this very song as “a catalog of cringe… a rusting relic from rap’s past”.
The Grammys
What? The award, given for achievement in the music industry
Brief beef history: He’s previously won 15 of these, the last ones in 2015; so this is a new beef on the scene.
What Em says: “Then tell the Grammys to go and fuck themselves, they suck the/blood from all the biggest artists like some leeches/So they nominate ’em, get ’em there, get a name to ’em/See the show, every parasite needs a host”
Lord Jamar
Nice Guy
His ex-wife Kim
Who? Kim Scott, Eminem’s high school sweetheart who he was married to from 1999-2001 and again in 2006.
Brief beef history? Eminem has referenced Kim in his songs on numerous occasions over the years, including the violent 2000 track ‘Kim’. In 2008, Scott said of her ex-husband: “He’s useless in bed and relies on sexual enhancement pills”. She has also said: “He’s an absolutely horrible person and he gets worse every day. I vomit in my mouth whenever I’m around him or I hear his name.”
What Em says: “You say I’m no good at sex / And you think I’m gross and unsexy / …Every word that comes out your mouth’s a fucking lie”.