Justin Bieber has hit back at Eminem, criticising him for targeting the new generation of rap artists on his recent album.
Back in August, Eminem shocked the music world by releasing his surprise album, Kamikaze. Topping charts around the world, the record was a massive success for the hip-hop veteran, and saw him make a record-breaking return to Australia earlier this year.
However, while Eminem has copped a bit of heat for the homophobic language on tracks like ‘Fall’, the rapper is now receiving criticism from the likes of Justin Bieber for his lack of understanding when it comes to the new breed of rap.
On ‘The Ringer’, Kamikaze’s opening track, Eminem can be heard attacking a number of modern rappers by name, including Lil Yachty, Iggy Azalea, Lil Pump, Lil Xan, and Machine Gun Kelly, who scored his own diss track with ‘Killshot‘, which followed just weeks later.
Of course, while many people would likely agree with old mate Marshall’s targeting of this new breed of hip-hop, his decision to do so doesn’t seem to sit right with pop musicians like Justin Bieber.
https://twitter.com/justinbieberjio/status/1123602642779770880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1123602642779770880&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.complex.com%2Fmusic%2F2019%2F05%2Fjustin-bieber-criticizes-eminem
Taking to his Instagram story recently, Justin Bieber shared a message noting that while he enjoys Eminem, he likens the hip-hop icon’s criticism of new rappers to a lack of understanding.
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“I just like Em’s flow but don’t like that he’s dissing new rappers,” Bieber wrote. “I like the new generation of rap, he just doesn’t understand it.”
While it’s not clear what spurned Justin Bieber’s decision to speak out about this now, Complex notes that Bieber himself was the target of Eminem’s lyrics back in December.
During his ‘Kick Off’ freestyle, Em shared the line, “Justin Bieber in a Catholic school/Selling dust and reefer when your back is to him.”
In related news, Eminem revealed that he still hopes to top the success of his 2000 record, The Marshall Mathers LP, while also praising a number of “great artists” in the current generation.
“I know that captured a moment, you know what I’m saying?” he explained. “It’s kind of like a time capsule, when I look back at it. The times that it was back then and the turmoil that my life felt like was happening.”
“Shit was happening so fast, I spiralling out of control and I had a lot of rage. When people say they miss the old Eminem, I feel like it’s probably that. You miss the rage.”
“I don’t have the rage anymore that I used to have but I still have the exact same passion,” he continued.
“Sometimes it doesn’t always come out the right way, and sometimes it’s like: ‘What the fuck is that? Take a pause, man.’”
“I don’t know who I’m competing with, but I just wanna be… there’s a lot of great rappers, there’s a lot of great artists coming up in this generation now. I’m watching it, and I’m loving it, and the competitive spirit in me wants to keep up with the best of the best.”
Check out Eminem’s ‘The Ringer’:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOfnRoi4TkA
