It’s fair to say that all fathers are protective of their daughters, and every daughter seeks her father’s protection whenever she feels unsafe. What if you happen to be the daughter of Eminem, and there exist individuals on this planet foolish enough to show disrespect to the offspring of the renowned Rap God himself? That’s exactly why some people lost careers, and some lost respect, all because they decided to thoughtlessly disrespect a girl.
The Feud Begins: Machine Gun Kelly vs. Eminem
So who were these mindless people who decided to feud with Eminem by taking jabs at his own daughter, which ended in a very bad way for them? Let’s go ahead and dig in.
Machine Gun Kelly’s Initial Comment
According to fans, the feud between Machine Gun Kelly and Eminem began in 2012 when Kelly commented about Eminem’s daughter, Hailie Jade, being hot. “I have to say she’s hot as [ __ ] in the most respectable way possible cuz Em is King,” he tweeted about Hailie, who was 16 at the time.
Fans thought Eminem had just ignored the comment at the time, but it turns out that he harbored quite a lot of hatred behind the scenes. Eminem would ban the “Midnight in the Switchgrass” actor from visiting Shade 45, his radio station, in 2015. Nearly 6 years after MGK’s first tweet, Eminem referred to the rapper’s remark in a song “Not Alike”:
Eminem’s Response
The “Lose Yourself” rapper’s statements led MGK to respond on his diss single “Rap Devil,” in which he specifically mentions: “M. Kelly declared, [ __ ] Rap God, I’m the rap devil,
Eminem, in an interview with Sway, denied that the beef with Kelly began due to the comments about his daughter. He argued that the reason he dissed Kelly was that he didn’t like it when Kelly claimed to be the greatest rapper alive. He also claimed that Kelly said Eminem was trying to hinder his career, and that Eminem didn’t care about his career. M. also criticized Kelly for having no talent and said many rappers were better than him. He also said that MGK was not even in the conversation.
Past Feuds: Eminem’s History of Protecting His Family
The beef between Eminem and Kelly became a contentious issue in recent years. Eminem has now targeted Kelly even more on his latest album “Music To Be Murdered By – Side B.
Long before Eminem went to war with MGK, another rapper found himself on the receiving end of the Detroit rapper’s razor-sharp tongue. Back in the 2000s, Eminem was embroiled in a diss track feud with Ja Rule, but that beef was inherited. Originally, the beef was started by 50 Cent, who had a turbulent relationship with Ja Rule.
Ja Rule’s Feud
Ja Rule targeted the mastermind behind “Lose Yourself,” weaving specific phrases into his tracks aimed directly at Eminem. This provoked strong reactions from Eminem and Dr. Dre, who had signed 50 Cent to their record label. Eminem, well-acquainted with confrontations, had built a name for himself in the underground rap battle circuit.
Ja Rule succeeded in provoking him with lyrics aimed at Eminem’s former partner, Kim, and his daughter, Hailie, known as Slim Shady. He implied that when Hailie grew up, she would become a person with alcohol abuse or a failure in life. Shady was enraged by this and rallied his crew to unleash the lethal track “Hailie’s Revenge”.
The Game’s Criticism: Another Disrespectful Act
It was payback in every meaning of the word when it was released in April of 2003. With Eminem going after his rap adversary from the start, the song begins: “Hailie, what do you want to be when you grow up, baby? I don’t know, but I don’t want to grow up to be like Ja rul’z little dirty-ass kids. Bring Daddy’s Oscar, we’re going to shove it up his ass.” That was Hailie’s response caught on video when Eminem asked this question from her.
Something of note here: Throughout his early career, fans and the media alike would accuse Ja of ripping off the famous rapper Tupac Shakur’s unique sound. In “Hailie’s Revenge”, Eminem would take advantage of this chance to remind folks of this reality:
Back in August of 2022, The Game would make news for his criticism of being left out of Dr. Dre, Snoop Dog, 50 Cent, Mary J. Blige’s, and Eminem’s Super Bowl LVI performance, as well as his dispute with Eminem. The rivalry sparked in March 2022, initiated by The Game’s challenge to Eminem’s contemporary significance in the music scene.
Asserting his own prowess, The Game proclaimed himself a superior rapper compared to the renowned 8 Mile artist. “While I have respect for Eminem, I believe in my own abilities,” he stated. “I used to think Eminem was better than me, but he’s not. He’s not challeng yet.
The Game’s Attack on Hailie
Months later, The Game would criticize Eminem again, asking, “When have you ever heard Eminem in a club? Have any of you ever overheard such conversations in a locker room setting? I’m not discounting that possibility. Personally, I haven’t encountered Eminem’s music being discussed on the streets, it’s just not a common occurrence for me.
However, The Game took this discourse a step further by bringing Eminem’s 26-year-old daughter, Hailie, into the conversation. On Facebook, boxer Peter Quillin shared “Then and Now” photos of Hailie, which included a bikini picture, alongside the caption “Eminem’s daughter Hailie, then and now.” It’s worth noting that she is indeed 26 years old. The Game then added a comment to the post, pondering, “Can she rap?” This comment blew up, but it especially caught the attention of a lot of Eminem fans.
One fan would respond to him, saying, “Yeah, she can rap better than the trash you put out. The black Slim Shady, you are desperate for attention, bro. Pursuing females might have been the reason behind your departure from G-Unit, as 50 Cent implied. Be glad that Dre and 50 gave you a spotlight and the check still comes in for those records because your [ __ ] ain’t going gold anymore.
The Fallout: The Game’s Diss Track
The conflict escalated further when The Game chose to directly confront Eminem. The Game released his album “Drillmatic: Heart Versus Mind” in 2022, including 30 tracks and a long list of notable guests. It also featured a new song dubbed “The Black Slim Shady”, a lengthy diss song directed at Eminem. The Game draws references to Eminem’s biggest successes throughout the song, mirroring the rapper’s flow and peppering his history of pop cultural references while taking jabs at him.
Skit and Criticisms
The song begins with a skit in which The Game is driven by an Uber driver who is revealed to be Matthew, the younger brother of the main narrator in Eminem’s “Stan”, as depicted in “The Black Slim Shady”. Matthew is not a fan of Eminem’s more recent work. The song goes on to poke fun at Eminem’s drug addiction background while also raising concerns about his history of cultural appropriation in light of his fashion choices and his history of associating himself with black musicians. He specifically mentions 50 Cent, with whom The Game has feuded on and off for the past 17 years:
Dr. Dre, Eminem’s daughter Hailie, his ex-wife Kim, his parents, and his manager Paul Rosenberg are also mentioned. The Game would claim that Big Sean is Detroit’s best rapper: “At one time, The song “The Black Slim Shady” concludes with a mocking challenge: “Mr. Shady, don’t be shady, pick that pen up, don’t be lazy, call up Dre and get that Dre beat.”
Praising Big Sean
The Game had been hyping the new song for months. In an April 2022 interview, he claimed that his desire to have beef with Eminem stems from his feud with 50 Cent because “50 Can’t Rap. “I’ve got to go up a level and challenge a better rapper,” he explained. “Nobody really takes shots at Eminem off this preconceived notion that he’s better than everybody. Well, I want action and I want it today.” But does that sound like a good enough reason to attack someone and disrespect their family just for fun?
The song “The Black Slim Shady” is a full-on diss record that would riff on Eminem’s song “The Real Slim Shady. After the song’s release, there were reports that Hailie Jade had shaded The Game on Twitter. However, Hailie would later clarify that this was not her account. She wrote on her official Instagram account: “This is not my Twitter account. Twitter will not take down this account for some reason, but they are aware of the situation.”
Conclusion: A Tradition of Disrespect
Feuding and beefing are long-standing traditions of the hip-hop community, but bringing someone’s family into it is definitely not. Do you think Eminem was in the right place to destroy those who dare to disrespect his daughter, or do you think this was just another tactic for pressing attention? Comment below on this post and share your opinion.
