Eminem Reacts to Machine Gun Kelly Diss: 'It Felt Pitiful'
After addressing the criticism surrounding his 2017 album Revival, Eminem opens up about two of his biggest critics, Joe Budden and Machine Gun Kelly, in Part 2 of his sit-down interview with Sway.
On his Kamikaze track “Fall,” Em dissed Budden, who has been an outspoken critic of his music. “Me and Joe Budden, we’re not friends like that,” said Em. “You don’t owe me nothing, but I’ve never gone in a fucking interview and been like Joe Budden’s shit is fucking trash. That last album he put out is fucking trash.”
He also revealed why Slaughterhouse hasn’t released a project in six years. The Shady Records signees were working on an album called Glass House, but it never saw the light of day. “There was definitely enough songs to put an album out, but for the most part, it wasn’t a complete picture because everybody wasn’t on the same page of what their favorite songs were,” explained Em.
According to Eminem, the Slaughterhouse members started working on solo projects and Budden wanted to put out a Slaughterhouse mixtape instead because he didn’t feel the group was “hot right now.”
He also addressed claims that he didn’t fairly compensate them. “I don’t know if I made a fucking dime off Slaughterhouse,” he said. “I don’t care if I made nothing. I believed in them. I wanted them to be huge. I really did. I wanted a group that lyrical to fucking just bust through everything. It definitely hurt my feelings a lot when the album [2009’s Slaughterhouse] didn’t do good.”
Sway also asked him about “Fall,” where he raps, “Somebody tell Budden before I snap, he better fasten it / Or have his body baggage zipped / The closest thing he’s had to hits is smackin’ bitches.”
Em explained why he decided to diss Budden. “That was a tap, but it was also saying that his alleged domestic abuse things or whatever, which I’m not going to get into, but I feel like the reason I had to do that was because there’s a fine line between saying, you know what, ‘This guy’s really been cool to me. He’s helped me out and tried to help out on many occasions, so I’m not gonna go in on ‘Untouchable’ like that.’ I’m gonna say, it ain’t for me. I’m not crazy about it. To be the worst song that you’ve ever heard in your life? Have you listened to your own shit?”
He also opened up about his feud with Machine Gun Kelly, who was banned from his Shade 45 station on SiriusXM. Em says he wasn’t aware of MGK’s comments about his daughter Hailie until he came across a YouTube video. “Then he starts doing a press run basically about Hailie. I’m like, ‘What the fuck? My man better chill.'”
But that’s not why he dissed him. “The reason I dissed him is actually a lot more petty than that. First what he said, ‘I’m the greatest rapper alive since my favorite rapper banned me from Shade 45.’ Like I’m trying to hinder his career. I don’t give a fuck about your career. You think I actually fucking think about you? You know how many fucking rappers that are better than you? You’re not even in the fucking conversation. I don’t care if you blow or if you don’t blow. Doesn’t matter to me.”
What also set him off was when MGK dissed him on Tech N9ne’s “No Reason.” “I wanna destroy him, but I also don’t wanna make him bigger. Because now, you’re a fucking enemy.”
He admits that he heard MGK’s diss track “Rap Devil,” but he hasn’t decided if he will respond. “It’s not bad for him,” he said. “He has some good lines in it.”
When asked if he tried to sabotage MGK’s career, he replied, “Fuck no! I never made a call to Diddy. Really? Never happened,” adding, “It didn’t feel like a diss to me, it just felt pitiful. Now I’m feeling bad for something I didn’t have anything to do with.”
In a teaser for Part 3, he talks about Dr. Dre’s input on Kamikaze and the one song that didn’t make the album because Dre thought it crossed the line. “He also felt that one of them was going a little far. It definitely went too far,” said Em.