The Game is making good on his promises. After claiming to be “better than Eminem” and willing to prove it with a versuz battle during a Drink Champs interview, the Compton rapper has finally released “The Black Slim Shady,” an elaborate diss track that bites the 8 Mile rapper’s flows and parodies some of his biggest hits. At over 10 minutes long, the song leaves room for The Game to come for a few other MCs as well, including 50 Cent (whom he’s had a long-standing beef with) and Eminem’s longtime collaborator Dr. Dre.
In an interview with Fresh Pair, The Game explained why he’s been so focused on starting up beef with Eminem. “Nobody really takes shots at Eminem off this pre-conceived notion that he’s better than everybody,” he said. “Well I want action, and I want it today. If you’re a ‘rap god,’ control me. Put me down. Put me in my place. Let me know. Because if he out-raps me, I’m gonna feel like shit.”
The Game starts the song off by parodying Eminem’s trademark skits, many of which feature his mom. In The Game’s version, an Uber driver calls his grandma to let her know he’ll be home after he completes one more trip out near 8 Mile Road in Detroit.
Hey, grandma
Yeah, I’m still out here makin’ my Uber runs
I’ll be home soon
I just got one more pick up, kinda close to 8 Mile
We get the song’s chorus next, where he mimics Eminem’s famous “hi” on his 1999 breakout hit “My Name Is.” It’s his second reference to an Eminem hit–the first being the song’s title, which plays on Em’s 2000 smash “The Real Slim Shady.”
I don’t think they know who they fuckin’ with
Pull that truck around, niggas is duckin’ clips
Hi, I’m the Black Slim Shady
The Game keeps it pretty general on the first verse. Instead of taking direct aim at any of his peers, he mostly focuses on explaining why he’s better than them. The main reason, he explains, is that he’s willing to put his money where his mouth is. He makes that point with a quick shoutout to his 2011 track “Uncle Otis,” in which he interpolates Frank Ocean’s 2011 Channel Orange track “Novacane.”
Sick of you niggas talkin’ like you won’t get wet in the rain
Now I’m singin’ Frank Ocean, and you get hit with this Novacane
Sick and tired of niggas, bitches, and critics, they all the same
Lame games they playin’, lyin’, tryin’ me for my name
He returns his focus to Eminem on the second verse, where he references one of Eminem’s lines on “The Real Slim Shady.” On that song, Em raps, “Dr. Dre’s dead, he’s locked in my basement!” The Game claims to have murdered Dr. Dre too–except he’s being a little less tongue-in-cheek and a little more vicious.
I killed Dr. Dre in my basement last night
I was wasted last night, I went ape shit last night
Chopped his body up, and forget where I placed it last night
We’re back with the Uber driver on the interlude, and it turns out, his last pick-up of the day is The Game himself. That’s when we find out the driver used to be a huge Eminem fan. Now, he thinks he lost his touch.
Eminem
He used to be like this rap God
Man, me and my brother praised him
Back when I was little, I don’t really like any of his new stuff
On the third verse, The Game takes issue with Eminem’s whiteness, drug addiction, and music. He calls the Detroit rapper a Karen, questions his sobriety, and claims to never have listened to any of his music (despite this pretty nuanced parody of the MC’s biggest hits, one might note).
I never heard you in a club, I never heard you in a bar
Eleven albums and ten never got played inside of my car
I’d rather listen to Snitch9ine like sixty-nine times
And participate in sixty-nines with sixty-nine nuns than listen to you
He saves his beef with Dr. Dre and 50 Cent for the fourth verse. The Game and Curtis first started sparring back in 2005, when 50 dismissed the Compton MC from G-Unit on live radio. 50 later claimed that he ghostwrote most of The Game’s 2004 breakthrough The Documentary. The Game later fired back, claiming he ghostwrote portions of 50 Cent’s blockbuster LP Get Rich Or Die Tryin’. Now, The Game is using 50’s own claims against him to call out Eminem, asserting that 50 should ghostwrite his raps—after all, it couldn’t be Dre, who’s known to have used ghostwriters for some of his biggest hits.
Hello? Hello?
Pagin’ Dr. Dre?
He ain’t got a lot to say
But since Curtis always do, let him write the rhymes for you
The Game encourages Eminem to fire back on the outro. Like he said, he’s not afraid of a little competition.
Mr. Shady, don’t be shady
Pick that pen up, don’t be lazy
Call up Dre and get that Dre beat
Jump off stage if shit get crazy
“The Black Slim Shady” appears on The Game’s new album DRILLMATIC: Heart vs. Mind. The LP arrived today and features guest appearances from a wide range of stars, including Kanye West, Fivio Foreign, Roddy Ricch, and Ty Dolla $ign. You can read all the lyrics to “The Black Slim Shady” on Genius now.
