Eminem has had his fair share of feuds over the years, but none of them compare to his ‘beef’ with this late actor.
Forget his messy fallout with Mariah Carey and his back-and-forth with Machine Gun Kelly, as this star is supposedly the rapper’s number one rival.
Well, that’s what a lot of fans are led to believe after listening to the 52-year-old’s extensive music catalogue that’s laden with Christopher Reeve-related puns.
That’s right, the late Superman actor has been the object of Eminem‘s ridicule at least 44 times, according to attentive listeners on Reddit, who believe this might be the ‘ultimate rap beef’.
A lot of social media users reckon that’s quite a large amount of jibes to direct at a generally unproblematic person who ended up paralysed from the neck down.
As well as being remembered for his film credits, Reeve’s name became synonymous with tragedy after his 1995 accident in Culpeper, Virginia.
He was thrown from a horse during an equestrian competition, which destroyed his first and second cervical vertebrae as well as damaging his spinal cord.
Reeve was left wheelchair-bound and relied on a ventilator to breathe, before he passed away on 10 October, 2004, at the age of 52.
Christopher Reeve is constantly referenced by the rapper (Warner Bros. Pictures/Getty Images)
In a strange way, Eminem – who himself has a song called ‘Superman’ – has kept the actor and activist’s memory alive for the last two decades by repeatedly referring to Reeve in his tracks.
But the Missouri-born musician doesn’t exactly approach the subject with sensitivity, so a lot of people presume he has some kind of deep-rooted grudge against Reeve.
For example, Eminem made his first dig about Reeve on the D12 track ‘Purple Pills’, before slipping other taunts in his 2000 track ‘Who Knew’ and ‘My 1st Single’ in 2004.
Another brutal barb appears on the song ‘Medicine Ball’ from his Relapse album, as he raps: “Put Christopher Reeves on a unicycle with a kickstand, kick it up and push him and lead him right into quicksand.
“Here, you need a hand, big man?”
Although people have thought up their own theories about the rapper’s alleged resentment of Reeve, Eminem actually revealed the reason for the constant citations himself.
In the track ‘Rain Man’, he explained that the comments stem from a childhood memory of the actor, saying: “And let’s clear this up too; I ain’t got no beef with him either.
“He used to be like a hero to me, I even believe I had one of those 25-cent stickers on my refrigerator, right next to Darth Vader.”
And on ‘Medicine Ball’, Eminem adds in reference to Reeve: “Now everybody’s p***ed at me like it’s my fault his name rhymes with so many different words, jeez!”
So, it seems the Superman star’s surname is just easy for the rapper to weave into his rhymes, especially when he adds the non-existent ‘s’ on the end of it.
Eminem explained the reasoning behind his comments about the Superman star in a few of his songs (Kevin Mazur/WireImage)
The 8 Mile star, real name Marshall Mathers, then made it clear that Reeve remains on his mind to this day when he released The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) last year.
In the track ‘Brand New Dance’, Eminem kicked things off by saying: “Get up, everybody on the dance floor, come on. That means you too, Chris. Haha.”
He adds later on: “On the count of three, everybody do the Christopher Reeves. One, two, three, follow me, Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, slipped, fell, landed in a garbage can.”
“It’s a brand new dance, this is my Chris anthem,” Eminem says later. I’m givin’ Chris Reeves his chrysanthemums.”
Featured Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage
Topics: Celebrity, Eminem, Music, Social Media, Weird, Reddit
Olivia Burke
Eminem hit out at being labelled as a ‘white rapper’ in interview
The musician didn’t take too kindly to the fact that his skin tone came before the word rapper
Eminem might get called a lot of things, but being dubbed a ‘white rapper’ really seems to rub him up the wrong way.
It is something which he has dealt with since Dr Dre signed him to Aftermath Entertainment way back in 1998 and has been somewhat synonymous with the trajectory of his career.
Eminem explained he was ‘getting a lot of heat’ for being a white man on the rap scene when he first entered the industry from both the media and fellow artists.
During an interview with XXL in 2022, the 51-year-old said: “Coming up, I had to deal with that a lot. I wanted to be respectful because what I do is Black music. I knew I was coming into it as a guest in the house.
“I understood, at the same time, everybody’s perception of a white guy coming into hip hop and all of a sudden things start happening for him… Obviously, I was upset, and it wasn’t just magazines.
“I had rappers left and right taking shots at me. I was used to that, too. Coming up through the battle scene, that didn’t mean s**t to me, you know? I would go head-to-head with whoever.”
I mean, this is a bloke who owned the fact that he is ‘not the first king of controversy’ but is the ‘worst thing since Elvis Presley to do Black music so selfishly and use it to get himself wealthy‘.
Amy Sussman/WireImage
Dre didn’t even know he was a white guy the first time he heard him rapping – but he previously revealed that this aspect of Eminem’s identity ‘kind of actually made it better for me, because it was so different’.
As we have established, Eminem’s skin colour has been a constant conversation throughout his 26-year career.
So you can understand why he got a little irate when discussing the topic during a 1999 interview which has recently resurfaced online.
Discussing how he felt about his skin colour constantly being brought up, he fumed: “To put a label on something…it kind of disgusts me that it’s 1999 and people still get labelled as ‘white rapper’.
Black Entertainment Television
“I just want to live to see the day that we don’t put labels on anything. I want to live to see the day that I’m just a rapper, I’m just an artist,” he explained.
“You listen to music, you don’t watch music, you listen to it – unless you’re watching the video, of course.
“You see the image and everything is a part of the whole thing, but I’m like this – I’m like music is music, and music is for the ears.”
Social media users thought that he handled the situation admirably – although we’re all still waiting for that ‘day’ he was talking about.
Black Entertainment Television
One said: “Eminem’s perspective on identity and music has always been thought-provoking. His impact transcends labels.”
Another wrote: “Deep. The man has always made sense, even from way back.”
A third added: “This is exactly why Eminem is the GOAT.”
And a fourth added: “A powerful reflection from Eminem on identity and music. “His words resonate beyond time.”
Maybe we should try and think more about blonde buzz cuts, his mom’s spaghetti, or the great city of Detroit where he grew up when we think of Eminem in future.
Featured Image Credit: Black Entertainment Television
Topics: Celebrity, Eminem, Music, Social Media
Olivia Burke
Fans all saying the same thing as Eminem announces new music ‘out now’
Everyone felt the same way after the ‘news’.
It’s news that millions of people have been waiting to hear for what seems like the longest time.
Eminem, who is widely considered as one of the best rappers of all time and one of the best-selling artists of all time with over 220 million records, posted a highly anticipated announcement this morning (1 April).
His announcement on Monday morning came after news that he reportedly has a personal documentary coming out soon, and after Dr. Dre announced on the Jimmy Kimmel show that Mathers has ‘something big’ coming, confirming that an album from the 51-year-old Detroit rapper was coming this year and that Dre himself was a part of this.
So knowing all of this, all 22.1 million of his X (formerly Twitter), fans were sure to have been shocked when his account posted a 39 second video titled ‘Out Now’, with a fire emoji among others.
Surely it couldn’t be already, could it?
Dana Edelson/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
The video opens with several comments from fans begging him to drop his long awaited 12th studio album, with his previous one ‘Music to Be Murdered By’ having been released back in 2020.
A 2000s movie trailer-like voice starts narrating, saying that the artist’s ‘highly anticipated next studio album’ is ‘back to where it all started’, with airhorns and fake explosions edited into the video.
In an ode to his first ever studio album, titled ‘Infinite’, the narrator announces that this is called ‘Infinite, but now… it’s even more… Infinite’.
It’s then stated that it’s ‘out today’.
Out Now ♾
Now if you haven’t heard about this announcement, you’ll probably be a bit confused right now because most people would have heard if an album from Slim Shady himself came out today.
Well, that’s because it hasn’t – check your calendars people.
That’s right, Eminem managed to prank his followers into believing, even if just for a second, that his new album is out today, on April Fools’ Day.
People do often forget that the rapper is a joker with a great sense of humour, with his cameo in 2014 film The Interview showcasing this.
But this didn’t stop fans from sharing their frustration at the situation despite its impeccable comedic timing.
Monica Schipper/Getty Images
One user commented: “You trolling too hard Marshall… this was just rude.”
Another said: “I KNOW this man ain’t playing an April fools joke on us. This ain’t funny Marshall”
A third put: “I literally fell for it when the notification popped on my screen”
A different user posted: “Posting this on April fool’s day is the shadiest thing Slim has ever done”.
It’s just a matter of patience now, if Dr. Dre says it’s coming this year then don’t worry, it’ll come out at some point in the next *checks notes* eight months.
Sorry Shady fans.
Featured Image Credit: Dana Edelson/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images / Monica Schipper/Getty Images
Topics: Eminem, Music, Social Media
Joshua Nair
Eminem was asked why he ‘hides’ face behind a hoodie after years of fan questions
The Real Slim Shady was questioned over hiding his face with staple hoodie
While fashion has obviously changed a lot over the years, we all have our clothing habits or that pair of trackies you’ll just never throw away.
And it seems similar for Eminem, who’s long been known for wearing his caps and hoodies. So much so that people have long speculated if he’s purposely wearing them to ‘hide’ his face and head.
Users previously wrote on Reddit that they reckon the ‘Without Me’ rapper often has his hood up to ‘make him feel more comfortable in public’ or because he ‘is shy’.
Another added: “Probably so he doesn’t have to look at people, and so they can’t capture too many pictures of his face…” While others simply just said it’s ‘his style’.
Well, back in 2015, Eminem was asked why he does ‘hide’ his face behind a hoodie after so many continued years of questioning. Watch here:
Although, to be clear, this was a spoof interview so it’s parodied for a laugh.
Stephen Colbert chatted to ‘The Real Slim Shady’ for his comedy Only in Monroe show.
The host asked the camera: “Can we see his face? He’s got a hoodie on. Can we see his face?”
Colbert then turned to the rapper: “Have you thought about taking the hoodie down? Because you’ve got such a cute face, why hide it underneath the hoodie?”
Sitting with his baseball cap on and hoodie up, Eminem ran with the joke and had a rather stony face as he pulled the hood back.
.webp)
Monroe Public Access
Hilariously, Colbert reacted to this with a: “Yeah, you should probably put the hood back up. My mistake.”
The whole bizarre interview skit was relatively awkward as the host introduced the best selling music artist in the US of the 2000s as a ‘local Michigander who is making a name for himself in the competitive world of music’.
Ouch.
Colbert even went on to later ask him: “Where do you hope this goes? Is this a career? More of a hobby?
Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images
“It’s a pretty tough business. Do you have a fallback?”
Eminem responded: “I’m so confused right now. I’m trying to work out if you’re serious.
“I put out quite a few albums.”
Colbert hit back: “I’m sure that feels good. Doesn’t pay the rent.”
Eminem – playing up his confusion – said: “It sort of does.”
Well, fair play to Eminem for somehow keeping up a straight face for the entire awkward interview skit – and yes, you can still see him with the hood up.
Featured Image Credit: CBS
Jess Battison
Eminem fans watch him cry ‘for the first time’ after being told he’s becoming a grandad in emotional new video
Eminem announced he’s going to be a grandfather in his new music video ‘Temporary’
Eminem fans are delighted for the veteran rapper after he gets told he’s becoming a grandad in an emotional new music video.
Viewers said it was the ‘first time’ they’ve ever seen the 51-year-old ‘cry’ as his daughter Hailie Jade Scott delivers the good news.
In the music video for ‘Temporary’, Eminem is sat outside on the patio as the 28-year-old hands over a blue jersey that reads ‘Grandpa 1’.
With the whole thing being filmed, the dad-of-three looks visibly stunned as the pair share an intimate moment.
The pair shared a wonderful father/daughter moment (YouTube/EminemMusic)
Hailie Jade, who married her long-term partner Evan McClintock earlier this year, also shows him an ultra scan of the baby.
As the Grammy-winning artist from Detroit takes a look at the picture, fans think they’ve witnessed a first as his eyes well up.
Earlier into music video, he also appears to cry on his daughter’s wedding day.
A shocked Eminem then holds the image up to the camera and looks like the proudest dad/soon-to-be grandad in the world.
Commenting on the video, one person said: “Eminem crying is the last thing I expected to see… Dad and daughter bond is truly amazing… Loved this song.”
Fans were delighted for the rapper (EminemMusic/YouTube)
“This is the first time I’ve actually seen Eminem start crying. You can see it under his glasses,” a second penned.
“The hardest rapper alive is crying. I am crying right now,” a third said.
“It wasn’t Slim Shady, Eminem, or Marshall, it was father to daughter. Can’t wait for the follow up song for his grand child soon to come! Congratulations,” wrote a fourth.
At the start of the music video, Eminem plays old videos of dad and daughter when they were younger.
“A lot of people ask me, am I afraid of death? The truth is, I think what scares me the most is not being able to say all the things I wanna say to you when I’m no longer here,” he begins.
“So this song is for Hailie, for when that day comes.”
Eminem then asks: “Where is Hailie? Where is she at?”
“This ain’t Hailie,” she says, before her dad asks: “Who is it?”
“It’s a monster,” the girl replies while.
All while, Eminem raps about the idea of him, one day, no longer being here, saying: “Yeah, so Hailie Jade, I wrote you this song to help you cope with life now that I’m gone.
“How should I start? Just wanna say, look after Alaina, Stevie, and Uncle Nate, and, sweetie, be strong, I know I was your rock.
“And I still am, saying goodbye is just not ever easy. But why you crying? Just stop Hailie, baby, dry your eye, this is not forever.
