Marshall Mathers, stage name Eminem, appeared to compare himself to the Islamist terror bomber who attacked a children’s concert in Manchester, England, in lyrics boasting about his impact on the rap industry.
Referencing his “war” with rival rapper Colson Baker, stage name “Machine Gun Kelly”, and rappers who he sees as imitators in his new track Unaccommodating, Mathers says:
Showed them all the blueprint and formula
But it seems like the more they studied my music, the more they remind me of eyeballs
I’m watching my pupils get cornier (Uh)
But I’m contemplating yelling “Bombs away” on the game
Like I’m outside of an Ariana Grande concert waiting.
The last line is followed by the sound of a blast or explosion, in reference to Libyan refugee Salman Abedi’s suicide terror bombing of an Ariana Grande concert in 2017 which killed 22 and injured over 800 — mostly young female fans and their parents.
Mathers then follows up with a chorus, saying:
Here comes Saddam Hussein, Ayatollah Khomeini
Where’s Osama been? I been laden lately
Look at how I’m behaving, they want me gone away…
I’m a clown like John Wayne Gacy”.
The song has proved hurtful to parents of children killed in the bombing, the BBC reports.
The 47-year-old has struggled to make an impact with his work in recent years, with new material tending to receive a lukewarm reception.
Indeed, he has had more luck generating more headlines by attempting to bait U.S. President Donald Trump into an exchange with him, for example with his (in)famous “That’s an awfully hot coffee pot / Should I drop it on Donald Trump, probably not” freestyle on Black Entertainment Television.
The ageing lyricist certainly seems desperate to convince listeners he has not lost his edge elsewhere in Unaccommodating, insisting “I am the complete opposite of these retards who spit these weak bars, I’ma leave carnage / Each thought’ll be so toxic, it’ll block the wind through your oesophagus / Stop it, cutting off your oxygen”.