is making amends. The rapper has said a lot of controversial, incendiary things over the years, but many believe that he went a touch too far in one of his verses from a song recorded in 2009. The song may have been unreleased, but when it leaked back in 2019, questions were raised over Eminem’s character.
The Michigan-born artist has built an illustrious career out of making light of serious situations. His songs have always pushed boundaries, either through obscenely violent lyrics or by name-dropping celebrities and making a mockery out of their personal lives. It’s very much been his ‘status quo,’ but it turns out there are specific lyrics that he’ll actually apologize for.
One such lyric discussed Rihanna’s assault by Chris Brown. The incident was the talk of the town in the 2008-2010 era, so of course, Eminem jumped on the opportunity to make references to it.
It took a decade, but Eminem is apologizing for his actions. His decision to examine his previous behaviour is noteworthy in many ways, but we also can’t forget that Rihanna’s abuse was used as a punchline for too many people. The fact that she chose to process it on her own terms and move forward with confidence speaks to her strength and resilience. Here’s what we can learn from Eminem’s apology in connection to Rihanna’s trauma:
Eminem said he was “stupid” for making fun of Rihanna’s assault
The original lyrics are not for the faint-hearted. According to Entertainment Tonight, the leaked verse went like this: “Of course I side with Chris Brown / I’d beat a b*tch down too.”
Anyone who is familiar with Eminem’s sound will not be surprised by his misogynistic lyrics. But what’s more shocking about these words is that he appears to unambiguously side with Chris Brown and seems to justify his attack on Rihanna for no reason. For a public figure as influential as Eminem to be adding fuel to the fire is not a good look at all.
What’s worse is that he went on to work with Rihanna afterward on many occasions, such as their hit songs ‘Love The Way You Lie’ and ‘Monster.’ But, of course, since the original song was unreleased, nobody ever caught wind of Eminem’s horrifying lyric. That is until it was leaked in 2019, at which point Eminem rightfully received backlash for his choice words.
However, Eminem took accountability instead of riding out the backlash. In his latest song, ‘Zeus,’ from his latest collection, Music To Be Murdered By: Side B, Eminem directly apologized to Rihanna for crafting the lyric in the first place. His apology lyrics were such:
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