Eminem is no stranger to public celebrity feuds. In fact, when you hear about Eminem these days, it feels like it’s only within the context of some childish bickering rather than for something with any sort of actual artistic merit. And his latest feud comes in the form of a reignited beef with with Nick Cannon, rapper and former host of America’s Got Talent.
The two have traded lyrical licks in the past week that technically started with an Eminem verse coming after Cannon and his ex-wife, Mariah Carey. Carey, presumably unbothered and thriving with a number three Christmas song on the Billboard charts, has not weighed into the controversy, but as the diss tracks continue, the argument between Cannon and Eminem is only heating up.
To understand the beef, you really have to go back a bit — all the way to 2009. Here’s what you need to know about this bizarre decade-long feud between Eminem, Nick Cannon, and Mariah Carey.
The Backstory of Eminem, Nick Cannon, and Mariah Carey
Throughout his career, Eminem has claimed that he and Carey once had a relationship. Carey has consistently denied this. The alleged relationship only lasted six months, but it has been the topic of a handful of tracks from Eminem. In 2009, lyrics on the rapper’s EP Relapse suggested that he still had feelings for Carey. Additionally, a song on the album, “Bagpipes from Baghdad” took some of the first jabs at Cannon, with Eminem rapping:
Mariah, what’s ever happened to us, why did we have to break up?
All I asked for was a glass of punch
You see, I never really ask for much
I can’t imagine what’s going through your mind after such
A nasty breakup with that Latin hunk
Luis Miguel, Nick Cannon better back the f*** up
After the 2009 release, Cannon made comments denouncing the song and supporting Carey, who he had married a year prior. The two remained married until 2016. Following Cannon’s comments to Eminem, Cannon has since confirmed that Eminem apologized for the call out in “Bagpipes.”
But apparently, that was not enough. Carey responded by releasing “Obsessed,” a 2009 song about a male lover who was obsessed with her and continued to allege that he was in a relationship with Carey. Released very closely after “Bagpipes,” fans assumed the song was about the rapper.
Eminem then released “The Warning” in 2010, which suggests he has proof of their relationship, rapping, “Oh gee, is that supposed to be me in the video with the goatee? / Wow Mariah, didn’t expect you to go balls out / B***h shut the f*** up ‘fore I put all them phone calls out”. Cannon then challenged Eminem to a charity boxing match, which never came to fruition.
The Feud Restarts Ten Years Later
A decade later in 2019, Cannon drudged that dead body of a feud back up by commenting this past September that he’d still like to confront Eminem over “The Warning.”
Eminem blew a little oxygen into this seemingly dead feud by joining Fat Joe for a verse on “Lord Above,” which was released last Friday. He picks up the feud, rapping,
“I know me and Mariah didn’t end on a high note / But that other dude’s whipped — that p***y’s got him neutered / Tried to tell him this chick’s a nut job before he got his jewels clipped / Almost got my caboose kicked / Fool, quit / You not gonna do sh*t / I let her *** my b***s off too before I lose to you, Nick.”
That… did not go over well.
Cannon’s Response to Eminem’s Diss
On the day after the song’s release, Cannon responded on Instagram, congratulating Fat Joe on the album, but blocking out Eminem’s face and joking that Fat Joe had done Eminem a service by digging Eminem up from his “grave.”
In further response, Nick Cannon released his own diss track on Monday, entitled “The Invitation,” with an opening by Suge Knight, who openly drags Eminem. In the track, Cannon takes a hit at Eminem’s family, rapping,
“I f*** with Crack, but the white boy he f*** with crack / Pills and *****, sh*t, and he ’bout to relapse / Call Kim, somebody get Hailie / And that other kid you raisin’, that ain’t even your baby”
Following the release of the diss track, Eminem hit Twitter to respond to the message, calling out Nick as “bougie.”
I demand an apology Nicholas, you've made my gardener so jealous!
— Marshall Mathers (@Eminem) December 10, 2019
And then, from way out in the left field of the mid-2000s, 50 Cent also weighed in on the controversy because why the hell not? Cannon responded by posting a photo of Samuel L. Jackson from Django Unchained and tagging 50 Cent in the caption.
Considering that this feud has technically been going on for more than a decade, it’s hard to imagine it coming to a close pretty soon, but it’s nice to see rappers who thrived in the mid-2000s finding work online again. Here’s hoping that DMX weighs in soon.
