Eminem has had his fair share of controversial lyrics over the years. Unfortunately for him, though, Gen Z has finally figured it out.
In a new TikTok war between Generation Z and Millennials, generations of Internet-savvy people are fighting over whether or not Slim Shady should be “cancelled” or given a pass for his more shocking lyrics. This back-and-forth, which has been going on for a few years now before becoming something of a TikTok trend, has led to some great material – including a few critically panned freestyles that surfaced online in “defense” of Em.
Lil Nas X, arguably one of the music industry’s most savvy Internet users, also saw the generational battle as a reason to step into the ring. While he doesn’t seem to be picking any side here – instead poking fun at the millennial rapping to prevent Em’s cancellation – his insight added some much-needed humor to the discussion.
With some of the hardest bars TikTok has seen yet in defense of Shady, Nas explained, “Generation Z wants to cancel Eminem? / Generation Z wants to cancel Eminem? / Yeah, listen up, Generation / Z, you’re a generation of Z / Z, generation of Z.”
Last week, Em dropped a lyric video for “Tone Deaf” off Music to be Murdered By, in which he responds to his always pending cancellation. He promises that he “won’t stop even when my hair turns grey (I’m tone-deaf) / ‘Cause they won’t stop until they cancel me,” lyrics he also tweeted from the track.
During a late 2020 track-by-track discussion on Shade 45, Em himself shared his thoughts on “cancel culture,” adding that it happens “every other day” for him.
“I’m canceled for whatever the fuck it was,” Em said. “It’s funny because I see some of the same people… who bitched about things back then that I said and then going back now and saying, ‘why can’t he be that again.’ What the fuck. When I was that you had a problem with that too. I understand some of the shit but for the most part like for people who just sit online and they feel like they need to bitch about whatever it is to feel like they’re a part of something. With cancel culture, it’s like nobody really gets canceled though.”
