As the world continues to descend into a total shitstorm, Machine Gun Kelly and Eminem are still finding time to take potshots at one another.
Their feud has dominated the rap world since 2018, with the two artists taking turns at ‘killing’ each other in full-throttle track attacks.
It’s one year since MGK released Rap Devil – so he used the opportunity to burn Eminem via a fan’s yearbook photo.
The conflict started back in 2018 following the release of Eminem’s surprise album, Kamikaze. In his track Not Alike, Eminem – real name Marshall Mathers – took shots at MGK, bringing up a 2012 tweet in which he commented that Eminem’s daughter Hailie Scott-Mathers, who was 16 at the time, was ‘hot as f*ck’.
MGK fired back with Rap Devil, a clear inversion of Eminem’s Rap God, which features the lyric: ‘Somebody help your mans up (help). Knees weak of old age, the real Slim Shady can’t stand up.’
Happy anniversary, guys:
The fan, Savannah Frank, wrote in her yearbook: ‘Rap Devil was better.’
MGK captioned his Instagram post: ‘It’s the Rap Devil one year anniversary today… tell it happy birthday.’
Speaking about the process behind Rap Devil, Machine Gun Kelly said he came up with it immediately after listening to Kamikaze.
He explained:
I just did that on the spot, hours after that shit released. Like, fuck this motherfucker! Load the pro-tools up. We loaded a picture of him and just rode the motherfucker.
Eminem hit back hard. Titled Killshot, with album artwork featuring a reticle pointing at MGK, it’s a no-holds-barred assault – one Twitter user wrote: ‘Eminem just killed MGK.’
In the track, Eminem raps:
But if I was three foot 11
You’d look up to me, and for the record
You would suck a dick to fuckin’ be me for a second
Lick a ballsack to get on my channel
Give your life to be as solidified.
In July this year, MGK – real name Colson Baker – appeared on the Everyday Struggle podcast to discuss self-acceptance, his acting work and his new album, Hotel Diablo.
As the conversation switched to the rapping pair’s conflict, MGK said that today’s generation shouldn’t find themselves remaining loyal to an artist because of the status they’ve built over the years.
Speaking on the podcast, MGK said:
The internet thing trying to muddy it, that was a little annoying. It was kind of like we can’t be a generation that rides only because a person’s a legend and strictly goes off that factor. When we do something for our generation, step up and acknowledge what happened. Hold it down. That was not something I ever expected to happen.
Later in the chat, when asked if there was anyway they could reconcile and settle their feud, MGK had a typically hard-boiled answer.
MGK said:
Put us on a track, see who comes harder.
MGK’s latest album, Hotel Diablo, takes direct aim at Eminem and his Killshot track. In his track Floor 13, MGK says: ‘I just spent too many minutes watchin’ little videos of shitty wannabe rappers dissing me. I just spent the winter livin’ after someone tried to send a kill shot, missin’ me.’
In another verse, MGK slams Eminem’s Venom track, which was made for the critically-maligned Marvel/Sony movie last year.
The rap continues:
I sold 40 million records
I ain’t even 30
Give me 20 seconds
I’ll list 10 movies that I been in
One legend that tried to fuck with me and got the venom.
You can listen to MGK’s full track below:
It’s not my place to offer an absolute on such a wide platform… but I’m Not Afraid to say it – Eminem is definitely better.
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After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.