Rapper Eminem weighed into the national firestorm over police brutality and COVID-19 with a new song featuring Kid Cudi in which he scolded people for not wearing masks and quarterback Drew Brees for his initial opposition to those kneeling for the National Anthem, a position Brees has since apologized for.
According to The Wrap, the co-single, titled “The Adventures of Moonman and Slim Shady,” explore a variety of topics and give a shout-out to George Floyd, a black man killed by the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis. In one verse, Eminem explicitly denounces New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees:
I had hoop dreams, now I shoot threes (What?)
Got a lil’ green (Yeah), but I don’t do weed (Nope)
Purp nor lean (Nah), that’s Tunechi (Yeah)
That’s New Orleans (What?), f**k Drew Brees (Yeah)
Another verse laments people refusing to wear masks amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which Eminem refers to as a kind of “zombie apocalypse.”
Bunch of half-wits up in office (What?)
Half of us walking around like a zombie apocalypse
Other half are just pissed off and (Yeah)
Don’t wanna wear a mask and they’re just scoffing
And that’s how you end up catching the s— off ‘em
I just used the same basket as you shopping
Now I’m in a f***in’ casket from you coughin’ (Damn)
On the subject of police brutality, Eminem mentions George Floyd by name while smearing “so many” dirty cops:
And it’s nonstop fury (Yeah)
‘Cause I ain’t holding ‘em up like an armed robbery (Nah)
And God’s my jury, so when I die, I’m not worried (Nah)
Prayers to George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery (Yeah)
How the fuck is it that so many cops are dirty? (Huh?)
Stop, man, please, officer, I’m sorry
But I can’t breathe when I got you on top of me
Your goddamn knee’s on my carotid artery (F***)
Eminem has repeatedly used his music in recent years to push political messages, most especially against President Trump, whom he has referred to as a racist. In 2017, he performed two freestyles in which he castigated his own fans for liking Trump. “Any fan of mine who’s a supporter of his / I’m drawing in the sand a line, you’re either for or against,” he said at the time.
However, Eminem has also shown to be slightly less partisan when it comes to certain social issues. His 2017 song “River,” for instance, apologized to an aborted child.
“We can’t bring her in this world, shoulda knew/To use protection,” he says in the song. “I made you terminate my baby.”
Eminem also sang about gun violence in a music video earlier this year for the song “Darkness” featuring a variety of pro gun-control imageries, messages, and themes. The video also evoked the Vegas massacre by intercutting with footage of a hooded man in a hotel room drinking himself into a stupor as he occasionally peers through the window curtains onto the streets below, appearing to internally wrestle with himself in anticipation of a deadly decision.