Eminem tells his Trump-loving fans to fuck off in a ferocious freestyle at the BET Hip-Hop Awards
BET held its annual hip-hop awards show tonight, recognizing performers like Kendrick Lamar (“Album Of The Year,” for DAMN.) and Cardi B (“Single Of The Year,” but also “Hustler Of The Year” and “Best New Hip-Hop Artist,” and probably a few more before the night is out). The Awards aren’t over yet, but they’ve already produced at least one moment that’s likely to be talked about for the next few days: a blistering freestyle from Eminem, who sent in a video recorded a few days ago in his native Detroit, taking direct aim on “Donald The Bitch,” a.k.a. President Donald Trump.
Stopping and starting a bit at times, it’s a scorched-earth approach, attacking Trump on just about every possible angle: his belligerent foreign policy, his attacks on the NFL, his frequent vacations, his tacit support for the racists who marched in Charlottesville, his disrespect toward war veterans, his xenophobia, his plans to build a wall, and his weird orange skin. (It’s actually a pretty apt sum-up of the last 9 months, once you listen through all the bleeps.) In case his feelings on the matter were unclear, Mathers then ends the rap with a note to his own fans, essentially telling them to choose between him and Trump. “And if you can’t decide,” he raps, “Who you like more in your split, on who you should stand beside, I’ll do it for you, with this.” “This,” in case it wasn’t obvious, being Eminem’s raised middle finger, and an angrily growled “Fuck you.”
[Correction: A previous version of this story identified the event as the BET Awards, instead of the BET Hip-Hop Awards. We regret the error.]