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Rap God vs. Rap Devil

Article written by Lauren Johnston.


For the last few weeks, there has been controversy between MGK – better known as Machine Gun Kelly – and Eminem, also known as Slim Shady. The feud exploded when Eminem took shots at Machine Gun Kelly in his latest surprise come-back album Kamikaze. Not only was MGK the only rapper/artist to have shots taken at, throughout the tracks in Eminem's album he basically takes a shot at everyone. One particular song, 'Not Alike', on the album sparked the feud when Eminem mentioned a now deleted tweet from 2012 that Machine Gun Kelly had posted, saying that Eminem's daughter, Hailie, was 'hot as f**k'.


Firstly, a bit of a brief rundown of Eminem's career for the very small population of you out there that may not know. Eminem is what he is professionally known as, but he also goes by other names such as Slim Shady, as previously mentioned, and Marshall Mathers. Not only is he a man of many names but also a man of many talents, including being an extremely talented rapper, song writer, record producer, record executive and actor. Eminem's career has been long running since the year of 1988 to now, making that a grand total of 30 years. Yes, there is controversy over if it is really that long – as he did take a few years' break – but his music was always played, which means he was always racking in money somehow. With a career 30 years long, you are bound to make some achievements, and that's exactly what Eminem has done, having 10 number one albums on the Billboard 200 and five number ones on the Billboard Hot 100. Eminem's best-selling album sold 19 million copies, not only that but he has sold singles and merchandise over the years, and that has made him millions of dollars! So, of course, there are some people that question why Machine Gun Kelly would challenge such an ultimate rap legend.



Photo from her.ie

Eminem came back with lyrics in his song: "I respond rarely, but this time Shady 'bout to sound off / Like a f**king cocked semi Glock Demi god / Let me put a silencer on this little non-threatening blond / Fairy cornball taking shots at me / You're not ready, fool, break yourself like Rocksteady Crew / Obviously, I'm not getting through / We can get it poppin' like Redenbach, lettin' off like Remy Ma…"


Not to mention that basically the whole song takes shots at him, but that was the most obvious part. I personally thought that you could clearly tell it was aimed at MGK. For as long as Eminem has been known, it's been a known fact that no matter who you are, you don't mention or mess with his daughter Hailie. Some people say that Machine Gun Kelly had it coming for him, while most believed that he had got away with speaking that way about Hailie. I mean, it's been 6 years after all.



Photo from hiphopdx.com

The rap scene isn't like any other; it's a very brutal place. That means there was bound to be some type of reaction to Eminem's new song from Machine Gun Kelly. It didn't take long at all until the internet heard about MGK's new song 'Rap Devil'.


Machine Gun Kelly is a 28-year-old rapper, actor and record producer. Not bad for being 28 years old. Having only been in the rap scene for 12 years, MGK has made a pretty good name for himself, having his debut album Lace Up receive a positive response from critics, and also having singles off the album such as 'Wild Boy', 'Invincible', 'Stereo', and 'Hold On (Shut Up)' debuting at number 4 on the U.S Billboard 200. If that wasn't enough, it has been confirmed that the album has sold more than 178,000 copies – which isn't bad, but 178,000 compared to 19 million is quite the number difference.



Photo from hypebeast.com

Machine Gun Kelly released a 'diss-track' in retaliation to 'Not Alike' by Eminem, titled 'Rap Devil'. If Machine Gun Kelly was scared of Eminem destroying his career, or completely embarrassing him, he sure didn't show it, starting off 5 lines in and already mentioning Hailie again: "'I think my dad's gone crazy', yeah, Hailie you right."


MGK continues on with: "About to be 46 years old, dog / Talkin' bout 'I'ma call up Trick Trick' / Man, you sound like a b***h, b***h / Man up and handle your s**t (ugh)."

Now, if it wasn't enough to call Eminem a bitch, he goes on to diss Eminem's 'Rap God' title with the lyrics: "Homie we get it, we know you're the greatest rapper alive / F**king dweeb, all you do is read the dictionary and stay inside / F**k 'Rap God', I'm the Rap Devil!"


In Machine Gun Kelly's song, he points out things Eminem has done in the past, like "Blackballed a rapper" as MGK states, and mentions in his song that he can't go on Shade 45 because of Eminem, and sarcastically asks in his song, "Let's ask Interscope how you had Paul Rosenberg trying to shelf me (huh?)."


There is one line in the song that I believe MGK did not think through very well, and that's when he says, "Still can't cover up the fact your last four albums is as bad as your selfie?" Now, if we look at it this way, Machine Gun Kelly sold 178,000 copies of his BEST-selling album, compared to Eminem's 19 million. Regardless, even Eminem's worst album would have sold something like 1 million copies, I'd say. After a little while, it was discovered that Machine Gun Kelly did not in fact write his own diss-track. It was actually written by Ronny J.



Photo from hotnewhiphop.com

Now, if Eminem's song 'Not Alike' wasn't enough to rub salt into the wound, he released a second diss-track in retaliation to 'Rap Devil' by Machine Gun Kelly. The second diss-track is titled 'Kill Shot' and as the title says, it basically describes the song. Eminem didn't hold back in this one but went all out, pointing out his looks and making fun of them with lyrics like: "I'm sick of your blonde hair and earrings / Just 'cause you look in the mirror and think / That you're Marshall Mathers."


And just like all things in life, what goes around comes around, with Eminem mentioning MGK's daughter: "Here's that autograph for your daughter, I wrote it on a Starter cap…" Eminem also points out in his song, "But I'm 45 and I'm still outselling you / By 29 I had three albums that had blew / Now let's talk about somethin' I don't really do / Go in someone's daughters mouth stealin' food…"



Photo from hotnewhiphop.com

It's safe to say that the feud between these two will probably not be resolved, and that nothing has really come from this apart from the world now having 3 new songs to listen to that will forever keep the world talking. But for now, the world has moved on. That's old news now, I guess. Two big names in the rap scene battled it out and started a rap war – all over a tweet that was made back in 2012.

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