The Hip Hop community was up in arms after Eminem returned fire at Machine Gun Kelly’s “Rap Devil” diss track with “Killshot.” Roughly two months after Shady’s final blow, Illa Da Producer has revealed the “Killshot” beat wasn’t originally intended for Em.
“When I originally started the beat for ‘Killshot,’ it was actually for Giggs,” he shared in a new episode of Genius’ Deconstructed. “He always asked me for these horror movie beats. That’s what I was thinking when I made the ‘Killshot’ beat was something mean, gritty, grimy.
“When I realized it was gonna go to Eminem was the morning that MGK dropped ‘Rap Devil.’ I was in Miami, with my girl, on vacation celebrating Kamikaze, and I see MGK’s diss. I clicked on it, like, ‘Damn, that’s how it is, Ronny?’ Right away, I went into my folder and tried to find the hardest beats possible. I sent [Eminem] like two beats. It was like eight o’clock at night and I’m like, ‘Yo, I sent Giggs some crazy shit.’ I hit Giggs, and he told me what beat he used, he didn’t use that one [‘Killshot’]. I sent it [to Eminem] right away. Like, here’s one more.”
“Killshot” went on to make YouTube history. Upon its initial release, it became the biggest Hip Hop video debut ever in the platform’s history. It also made its grand entrance on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 3, marking Em’s 20th Top 10 song to chart.
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Illa Da Producer and Em’s collaborative relationship stretches back to 2017’s Revival. He also contributed to four tracks on Em’s surprise Kamikaze album, including “The Ringer,” “Lucky You” and “Good Guy.”
Revisit “Killshot” below.
