Eminem often finds himself at the center of controversy for his sometimes inflammatory lyrics — that’s nothing new. But apparently some Gen Z’ers are just catching up and were aghast to hear Slim Shady rap, “If you fucking leave again I’m strap you to this bed and set the house on fire” on his 2010 smash hit “Love The Way You Lie” featuring Rihanna.
So on Tuesday (March 2), Em became a trending Twitter topic after countless people tried to “cancel” Eminem on TikTok and the millennials fought back. Their valiant effort to protect Shady’s name included a now-viral video of a TikTok user “rapping” over an instrumental version of Dr. Dre’s “Forgot About Dre” featuring Em.
“Did you hear Gen Z is canceling Eminem?” the video begins. “Gen Z. They’re trying to cancel Eminem. Yeah.” From there, the woman launches into a full-on lyrical assault aimed at the “little kiddies” with lines such as “Let me make this quite clear/This man was around even before you were here/So what? You’re all mad? Cuz the man was a lyricist? While all your rappers are mumbling gibberish?”
In another popular TikTok clip, a man plays both a Gen Z’er and millennial and makes a pretty convincing case for leaving Eminem alone.
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Gen Z: “We need to cancel Eminem.”
Millennials: “Why?”
Gen Z: “His lyrics are terrible.”
Millennials: “And this coming from the marble-mouthed mumble rap generation?”
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Gen Z: “Have you heard his lyrics?”
Millennials: “Heard ’em? I was raised screaming them all through grade school.”
Gen Z: “Just imagine if he dropped those lyrics now.”
Millennials: “Yeah, but he didn’t though, so…he’s still better than the skiddily, skeet skirt stuff you got now.”
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Gen Z: “All his lyrics, full of hate.”
Millennials: “And so is my angsty little teenage soul, but look at me now. I turned out fine.”
Gen Z: “Did you though?”
Millennials: “Hmm, fair point. But whatever, leave Em alone.”
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But that was just the beginning. The millennials came out in droves to defend Shady with one person writing “Since Eminem is trending, let’s bring this back … if you are easily frightened by loud noises or offended by explicit lyrics you shouldn’t be here.”
Another noted, “Since Eminem is trending let me remind y’all that he is the first artist in history to have 10 consecutive no.1 albums on the billboard 200 and he reached this achievement last year with his album music to be murdered by. legend shit me thinks.”
Check out some of the other reactions below.
