Rap beefs are, as a rule, bad. The name is corny to write and even cornier to say out loud. Compared to feuds that shaped the genre – Notorious B.I.G. and 2Pac representing their East and West coast factions of rap, Jay-Z and Nas warring to be the king of New York, Kanye West and 50 Cent’s album sales face-off – rap beefs landing in the headlines lately are more often petty and inconsequential. It’s a tired game by now, in which superstar rappers start drama timed to their release dates, implicitly boosting sales and dominating weeks’ worth of headlines. Just look at the brewing conflict between Machine Gun Kelly and Eminem, which is barely a week old and already exhausting. More:Machine Gun Kelly fires back at Eminem's 'Kamikaze' song in new diss track Twitter reacts to 'Rap Devil,' 'Not Alike' feud MGK slams Eminem onstage: 'This is a battle between past and future' MGK, for those unfamiliar, is a 28-year-old rapper from Cleveland whose recent accomplishments include his single “Bad Things”with Camila Cabello and not much else. It's become easy to confuse him for his better-known rap peer G-Eazy, which is hilarious, because before the Eminem drama boiled over, MGK was trading diss tracks with the “No Limit” rapper over an alleged love triangle with singer Halsey, claiming his opponent dyed his hair and “got a hanging earring” in an attempt to look like him. That's apparently the state of hip-hop drama in 2018 – fully-grown men accusing one another of suspect ear piercings. Enter Eminem, who also bears a resemblance to G-Eazy and MGK, in that they’re all white guys with various stages of blonde hair. The Detroit rapper released his surprise album “Kamikaze” on Aug. 31, and in between angering his collaborators with his repeated insistence on rapping gay slurs, he carved out room in his lyrics to take shots at MGK on the song “Not Alike.” For the source of this feud, Slim Shady looked way back to 2012, to a tweeted comment MGK made about his daughter Hailie, who was 16 at the time, with MGK writing, “Ok so I just saw a picture of Eminem's daughter ... and I have to say, she's hot as (expletive), in the most respectful way possible (because Eminem) is king.” Why Eminem decided to reach back years to reignite a fight that nobody was asking for is beyond understanding. Perhaps he’d worked through his kill list, down to MGK’s name at the very bottom. Or, maybe he confused MGK with a rapper whose business we actually care about. Either way, MGK enthusiastically took Eminem’s bait, responding with the diss track “Rap Devil,” while painting their feud as a generational struggle. "I'm standing up for not just myself, but my generation," he tweeted about the song, telling an audience in Grand Rapids Thursday night that the feud is “a battle between the past and the (expletive) future." MGK’s wild confidence is one of the many bad parts of this feud, as if a rapper with no consequential releases this decade could ever be considered the future of the genre. One thing he did get correct, though, is that Eminem is indeed the genre’s past, with his new album “Kamikaze” roundly criticized by critics as proof the rapper may be past his prime. And as noble as Eminem thinks he’s being by defending his daughter, the fact that he’s a 45-year-old man who’s spent a lifetime rapping disgusting things about women and spends the rest of his “Kamikaze” album making questionable claims about “females” and “whores” negates any kind of moral superiority he’s trying to claim. Unluckily for the rest of us, the feud probably isn't over yet, with Eminem still needing to respond to MGK's "Rap Devil" claims. And, as the two men's race to the bottom continues, it's hard not to be nostalgic for Pusha T, whose evisceration of Drake earlier this year with "The Story of Adidon" had everything that MGK and Eminem's limp drama was missing – musicianship, lyricism, newsworthy gossip and, most importantly, actual stakes. In comparison, nobody cares how MGK and Eminem's story will end. So it's probably time we all stop paying attention.<doc-sep>Machine Gun Kelly still wants smoke with Eminem. During a stop on Fall Out Boy’s “Mania Tour” in Em’s home state of Michigan on Thursday night (Sept. 6), MGK performed his “Rap Devil” diss track and issued a PSA about his feud with the Rap God. “This is not a battle between Michigan and Ohio,” the Cleveland MC told the crowd at Grand Rapids’ Van Andel Arena (via Complex). “This is a battle between the past and the motherfuckin’ future. Knees weak of old age, the real Slim Shady can’t stand up.” He then launched into “Rap Devil,” where he calls out his former idol for being the “big bad bully of the rap game” and trashes his music (“Still can’t cover up the fact your last four albums is as bad as your selfie”). The diss was a response to “Not Alike” off Eminem’s surprise album Kamikaze. “If you wanna come at me with a sub, Machine Gun / And I’m talkin’ to you, but you already know who the f**k you are, Kelly,” raps Em. “I don’t use sublims and sure as f**k don’t sneak-diss / But keep commenting on my daughter Hailie.” Now Eminem is reportedly readying a response to MGK’s diss. According to former D12 member Mr. Porter, Slim Shady has a reply in the works. “We doing something else right now, but trust me, we’ll get to it,” he told Culture Untold.<doc-sep>Eminem and Machine Gun Kelly are feuding (Picture: PA – Getty) Machine Gun Kelly has fired major shots at his former idol Eminem on his diss track Rap Devil. But it looks like the feud is about to get apocalyptic. Eminem’s producer has confirmed that the 45-year-old is already working on a response to Rap Devil, and claims that it could be even more vicious than Thanos vs Iron Man. Yep, the MCU is being dragged into this rap battle, and we are here for it. D12 member Mr Porter appeared on Culture Untold where he revealed that Eminem, aka Marshall Mathers III, is back in the studio. Eminem is set to retaliate (Picture: C Flanigan/WireImage) The producer said: ‘Right now, he in there working. ‘We doing something else right now but trust me, we’ll get to it. I’ll tell you this. I wouldn’t want to be my man [MGK].’ Mr Porter continued: ‘The one thing I’m worried about— did y’all see the Avengers movie? Remember when Thanos threw that whole planet at Iron Man? I’m worried about [Eminem] breaking the planet in half and throwing it at [MGK].’ Uh-oh – Avengers, assemble. And by Avengers, we mean their respective crews. Machine Gun Kelly, real name Richard Colson Baker, was a huge fan of Eminem, but earned himself an enemy when he tweeted in 2012 that Em’s daughter Hailie was ‘hot as fuck’. Eminem name-dropped MGK on his new Kamikaze album track Not Alike (which is being accused of ripping off a Bhad Bhabie song), spitting: ‘Now you wanna come and fuck with me, huh?/This little cock-sucker, he must be feeling himself/He wants to keep up his tough demeanour, so he does a feature/Decides to team up with Nina/But next time you don’t gotta use Tech N9ne if you wanna come at me with a sub-machine gun/And I’m talking to you but you already know who the fuck you are, Kelly/I don’t use sublims and sure as fuck don’t sneak-diss/But keep commenting on my daughter Hailie.’ MGK then retaliated with his diss track Rap Devil. The 28-year-old raps: ‘Ayy, somebody grab him some clippers/His fucking beard is weird/ Tough talk from a rapper paying millions for security a year/“I think my dad’s gone crazy,” yeah, Hailie, you right/ Dad’s always mad cooped up in the studio, yelling at the mic/ You’re sober and bored, huh.’ Another lyric goes: ‘Still can’t cover up the fact your last four albums is as bad as your selfie.’ This is gonna get messy. Got a showbiz story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page - we'd love to hear from you. MORE : Maisie Williams has serious rhythm as she smashes the BTS IDOL Challenge MORE : Ice Cube isn’t here for anyone who thinks Machine Gun Kelly has the best diss track ever<doc-sep>Eminem was the target of more Machine Gun Kelly fire Thursday night — this time in his home state. MGK played Grand Rapids' Van Andel Arena as opener for Fall Out Boy, days after attacking the Detroit rapper with the diss track "Rap Devil." "This is not a battle between Michigan and Ohio," the Cleveland-based Machine Gun Kelly told the Grand Rapids crowd. "This is a battle between the past and the (expletive) future." "Knees weak of old age — the real Slim Shady can't stand up," MGK continued, as he launched into a live version of "Rap Devil," his harsh lyrical attack on the veteran Detroit rapper. More:Eminem will be part of coin toss as Detroit Lions open season More:See the new Eminem video filmed in Detroit's Corktown The long-running rap feud was reignited last week with the release of Eminem's "Kamikaze," which included a jab at the Ohio rapper. MGK's "Rap Devil," a cynical nod to Eminem's song "Rap God," arrived a few days later, blasting Em on multiple fronts, from his age (45) to his beard to his longtime Detroit cohorts, including rapper Trick Trick. Contact Detroit Free Press music writer Brian McCollum: 313-223-4450 or bmccollum@freepress.com.<doc-sep>
Machine Gun Kelly has spoken out about his ongoing diss track feud with Eminem, describing it as ‘a battle between the past and the future’. Last week saw Eminem drop surprise album ‘Kamikaze‘ – loaded with controversial moments and taking aim at many others with a number of ‘diss tracks‘. Among them was Machine Gun Kelly who came under attack on the song ‘Not Alike’. Kelly then hit back with the diss track ‘Rap Devil‘ – mocking his track ‘Rap God’. Now during a gig at Grand Rapids’ Van Andel Arena in Michigan last night while supporting Fall Out Boy, Kelly told the crowd about what their feud really means to him. “This is not a battle between Michigan and Ohio,” Kelly told the crowd, as the Detroit Free Press reports. “This is a battle between the past and the fucking future.” Launching into ‘Rap Devil’, he then began to rap “Knees weak of old age — the real Slim Shady can’t stand up.” Meanwhile, Eminem is said to already be back in the studio at work on new material – reportedly with his sights set on Machine Gun Kelly. “Right now, he in there working,” said Shady Records producer Mr Porter. “We doing something else right now, but trust me, we’ll get to it. I’ll tell you this: I wouldn’t wanna be [Machine Gun Kelly]. It’s great that you took that opportunity and did that, hey, kudos to you, good for you. The one thing that I’m worried about . . . You remember when Thanos threw that whole planet at Iron Man? [It will be like that].” The feud dates back to 2012 over comments Machine Gun Kelly made about Eminem’s daughter on social media, tweeting that she was “hot as fuck.” Since the comments, Machine Gun Kelly alleged that he was banned from various media outlets and in a freestyle with the LA Lakers he rapped: “I’m my favourite rapper alive since my favourite rapper banned me from Shade 45.” Before the feud, Machine Gun Kelly often cited Eminem as one of his greatest influences. Other artists to have hit back at Eminem this week include Die Antwoord, Joe Budden and 6ix9ine.