Eminem Slammed for Lyric About Ariana Grande and the Manchester Bombing
Eminem is stirring up controversy for a lyric on his latest album.
The 47-year-old rapper shocked fans on Friday when he dropped an unannounced, 20-track album, Music To Be Murdered By. While the album has songs featuring Ed Sheeran and the late rapper Juice WRLD, it was one song, "Unaccommodating," that has caused the most social media chatter.
On the track, Eminem raps about the 2017 bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester that killed 22 people. "But I'm contemplating yelling 'Bombs away' on the game / Like I'm outside of an Ariana Grande concert waiting," he raps.
ET has reached out to Grande for comment on the lyric.
The song also references Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, JonBenet Ramsey, John Wayne Gacy, Kanye West and others.
YALL LISTEN EMINEM REALLY RAPPED ABOUT MANCHESTER AND ARIANA😮 pic.twitter.com/oUJXjbb2u1
— messy minaj (@slayyytersk8ter) January 17, 2020
Critics on Twitter called the song "disgusting and disrespectful," accusing the rapper of a "lack of empathy," and said they "lost all respect" for him.
So apparently @Eminem thinks it’s perfectly fine to use a Terrorist Attack as one of his sources of lyrical inspiration. The lack of empathy and taste is vulgar. You should be ashamed of yourself for using a tragedy that affected the city of Manchester. #EminemIsOverParty
— Nathan Byrne (@nathanbyrne97) January 17, 2020
Others, however, noted that Grande previously called a joke her ex-fiance, Pete Davidson, made about the bombing "unfortunate" and "tough and conflicting." Additionally, Eminem's fans referenced the rapper's donation to Manchester victims after the bombing.
Huge Ariana Grande fan BUT Eminem has been making offensive (and amazing) music since the beginning of his career so why is everybody shocked? She also defended her fiance when he made a joke about the Manchester bombings... Just have to take things w/ a grain of salt sometimes.
— Martine (@MartineMW) January 17, 2020
eminem has always rapped like that... why are y'all ari stans losing your minds over it now? HE DONATED £2 MILLION TO MANCHESTER VICTIMS. #eminemisNOToverparty
— 𝐩𝐢𝐱𝐞𝐥 | stream rare and i disagree (@c_yberdoll) January 17, 2020
To everyone talking about Eminem's verse on his latest album referring to the Manchester attack #Eminempic.twitter.com/GmAF7ioFhq
— Abhi Jain (@abhijain298) January 17, 2020
Also of note on Eminem's album was the track "Darkness," for which he also released an accompanying video. In the music video, the rapper appears to recreate the 2017 Las Vegas shooting -- which killed 58 people and injured hundreds -- by putting the viewer in the shooter's POV.
The video ends with Eminem watching news coverage of the shooting on multiple TV screens, before "When will it end?" flashes across the screen. The rapper also encourages people to vote in order to "help change the gun laws in America."
While some called the song "incredibly powerful" others noted that it "could definitely be a trigger" for some people.
This is incredibly powerful, from one of the greats, @Eminem Using his platform to raise awareness on gun violence. And to speak from the perspective of the Las Vegas shooter at that... wow. #Eminem#MusicToBeMurderedBypic.twitter.com/EQKVieuiKo
— Kevin Shelton (@TwitchxNxVision) January 17, 2020
Hey #Vegas, Eminem’s new album features a song called “Darkness” and is told from the point of view of the Vegas shooter. It’s a deep song but could definitely be a trigger for many in our community. Just a warning should you listen to the album
— Tyler Ferraro (@FerraroTyler19) January 17, 2020
Watch the video below for more on Eminem.
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