For Millennials. By Millennials.
Here are a few things I learned today after reading an in-depth article on the outline of how it sucks to be an Eminem fan. First and foremost, I learned why Eminem was a big deal back in his day and no matter how bad his music has gotten, he won’t ever get down from the throne he achieved himself. But what’s gotten everyone in a rut these days is the whole Machine Gun Kelly Vs, Eminem saga. After Eminem released a surprise album called Kamikaze, Machine Gun Kelly took some offense for minor disses Eminem made and decided to release his own diss track against the rap king.
But let’s talk more about Eminem a bit. It’s no shocker to know that the rap king really does not like contemporary musical artists and rappers. To him, everyone seems to be another rip-off getting some mediocre popularity on sound-cloud and getting lucky by getting signed by labels. He doesn’t think true creativity and genius exist anymore. But what’s quite ironic in this whole scenario is that these artists have Eminem’s music to look up to. They find him as the OG of the rap world, and in some way or the other, he has inspired them. The sadder part is that not even Eminem’s current work has inspired them as much as his music like Slim Shady LP and Marshal Matters LP’s work from his glory days. One of those musicians was Machine Gun Kelly, who even after releasing a whole diss track on him, still respects him.
If you’re an avid rapper fan, then you must be aware that these feuds between musicians are actually quite commonplace. And to call out any winner or loser in these battles is entirely up to, well anyone really. Anyone on the media outlets can have their opinion and the audience can have their own opinions of it. But in this case, to state my opinion only, it’s quite clear that both musicians may have won. They both win in different ways.
Better Disser?
Machine Gun Kelly’s Rap Devil may have gotten some help from autotune but the disses he made were actually quite good. Though, as now revealed by Eminem, their alleged beef didn’t even start the way Machine Gun Kelly expressed in his diss track. Eminem put the diss of MGK on his kamikaze for a petty reason, not because he called his daughter hot in a tweet. It was mostly on how Eminem is getting older and no longer relevant.
But Eminem just perfectly smashed MGK to bits when he said, “I’d rather be 80-year-old me than 20-year-old you”. Something even the recipient of the diss agreed to. But what Killshot struck the right chord with the lines “My biggest flops are your greatest hits”. It’s referring to the fact that even when Eminem’s albums weren’t as popular as his initial work it still sold many records. Revival, not much liked by the audience, was still a platinum record in several countries and moved up the charts. Speaking just in terms of numbers, Eminem rises on top.
Better Marketing?
Eminem knew he couldn’t just rely on his inherent popularity anymore so he decided to pull a marketing trick and release a surprise album. In an interview, he also stated that an important reason for doing so was because the media outlets skew the image of an album and create expectations that ruin the mindset of the listener. So he just wanted people to just listen to his music without any biases like they used to originally. So, Eminem may have won on that front.
But Machine Gun Kelly did something too. He had the guts to release an entire diss track against the rap king, something not other rappers think to do. Because consequently, they knew they can not stand up to the OG himself. But whether you like MGK or his diss track or not, you can at least have some level of respect for the guy. Better yet, you now know about him. Even if you aren’t into rap music and know Eminem due to pop culture references, now you know the guy who stood up to him. With this Machine Gun Kelly gets an even wider audience than Eminem, he’s doing a marketing gimmick sacred for many agencies: word-of-mouth. Everyone is now talking about it, whether with each other or online.
It’s the similar argument we say about the fact that there’s actually no such thing as bad publicity. Despite, people like Kevin Spacey and Loui CK being forced to disagree with that, MGK is out there laughing like a king counting his dollars on the money he made by selling out albums and getting fame overnight. Even if Eminem totally owned him in Killshot.
Maybe We’re the Losers
Whatever the sentiments that are expressed on both these diss tracks, despite the two rappers putting in raw emotions that are true to them, there’s still something that remains true by the end of the day. Both are filthy rich, and we aren’t. We are just the audience who are trying to figure out why this joke of a feud even started, just like Eminem himself. He’s annoyed by it and reluctantly released Killshot as a response, but he still gets views for that song and will still sell that track. Because we the audience always want more and more.
We think our opinion matter so much and that we control everything but are still being manipulated by these mega pop stars that will always profit from the attention we give them. Because out of 5 people who heard about this whole saga, at least some of them might be compelled to go to MGK’s channel and listen to his music and give him views, fame, and ultimately money.
Even if you dislike a music video, then people would be urged to think why this music video has so many dislikes and might listen to it multiple times. Hell, they might even share it with their friends. “Hey! Check out how much this sucks!”. It’s adding to a view, and that my friend, is adding to their money.
Machine Gun Kelly Won, but Eminem Didn’t Lose
Eminem’s music is just not what it used to be, but no matter what he will always hold a place dear for so many of his fans. It’s the fans who connected with Eminem at a time when they couldn’t connect to anyone else and felt lost. Their pain was given a way to express itself in the words of the ever-genius Eminem. Yes granted, the fans are disappointed that he can’t create something to that level anymore but that doesn’t mean the emotions and respect they have for Eminem will just disappear. So it doesn’t matter how horrible Eminem’s music has been recently and will be in the future, what matters is that he managed to do with a medium no one expected anything like that out of, is what makes him stand out as the greatest.
So in this saga of MGK vs. Eminem, Eminem doesn’t lose. He can never lose. Even after actually losing and losing the musical talent he once had, he doesn’t lose. No one can take his place. And no one can ever do that, even MGK agrees to that. Why else would MGK pay respects to the guy in his diss track?
And Machine Gun Kelly got some fame that he is shamelessly cashing in, and why shouldn’t he? He deserves the right.
