Eminem unleashed the animated lyric video for his 2020 song, “Tone Deaf,” over the weekend, just as the rapper once again became a trending topic due to his history of controversial lyrics. Although the song, which appears on his December album, Music to Be Murdered By: Side B, predates the latest round of discussion, fans noted how the lyrics connect to the topic of cancel culture.
On the song’s chorus, Em raps:
I can’t understand a word you say (I’m tone-deaf)
I think this way I prefer to stay (I’m tone-deaf)
I won’t stop even when my hair turns grey (I’m tone-deaf)
‘Cause they won’t stop until they cancel me (Yeah, yeah)
He finishes off the third verse with another reference to being canceled:
But if y'all wanna cancel me, no prob
I’ll tell you the same thing I told Paul
The rapper only released one other lyric video for Music to Be Murdered By, his hit Juice WRLD collaboration “Godzilla.”
Em has spent much of his career stoking controversy with lyrics that reference fantasies of violence against women, homophobia, and other hot-button topics. A TikTok user’s now-deleted video pointed to lyrics from 2010’s “Love the Way You Lie” as “glorifying” domestic violence, something the song has previously faced criticism for.
A much more widely shared response video pushed back against his supposed cancellation with a rap set to the beat of Dr. Dre and Eminem’s “Forgot About Dre”:
Other personalities, including Conservative The View co-host Megan McCain, also chimed in:
Em is in little danger of being canceled in any real sense. Although attitudes around certain cultural issues have changed since his early 2000s heyday, he remains one of the best-selling and most popular rappers of all time. He’s also been outspoken about his liberal politics in recent years, railing against Donald Trump throughout the former president’s administration. Still, even he isn’t immune to renewed discussion of old pop culture moments.
Read all the lyrics to Eminem’s “Tone Deaf” on Genius now.
