A lot of folks thought that Eminem’s bars about rappers he’s beaten being higher than him on top five lists was about Hov.
Eminem’s new song “Tobey” featuring BabyTron and Big Sean caused quite the commotion this week, building up hype for The Death Of Slim Shady and turning over detractors of the last single, “Houdini.” However, one particular set of bars had some fans thinking that Marshall Mathers was aiming for Jay-Z’s neck. “Ain’t feelin’ your top five favorite rappers / So I know they about to be pissed at me / But this, to me, is a mystery / How rappers I’ve already ripped could be higher up on a list than me?” he raps on the cut. Billboard and VIBE ranked Em as the fifth best MC of all time in their list of the 50 best rappers last year to celebrate 50 years of hip-hop history around the five-decade anniversary of the art form and culture’s inception.
Hov landed at number one, followed by Kendrick Lamar at two, Nas at three, and Tupac Shakur at four. Given all this, many interpreted Eminem’s lyrics as a possible Jay-Z diss, but according to Royce Da 5’9″‘s response to a curious commenter on Instagram, that’s all cap. “You not gonna answer this but…. They saying Em was throwing a shot at Jay in that Tobey joint. Is that true??” the fan asked. “Of course not,” Royce responded concerning his Bad Meets Evil partner, and we all know that Slim Shady has no qualms about rap beef.
Royce Da 5’9″ Dismisses Rumors That Eminem Dissed Jay-Z
“OF COURSE NOT”
— Royce when asked if Eminem was throwing shots at Jay-Z in ‘Tobey’. pic.twitter.com/5ZaOl8HGoa
— The Eminem Bible (@Shadyind) July 4, 2024
As such, maybe these lyrics are combative, or maybe fans are just reaching here. Either way, it’s hard not to think of Eminem and Jay-Z’s collab “Renegade,” on which Nas famously said that Em “murdered” the Roc Nation boss during his beef with Jay. Perhaps this is what the Detroit spitter referred to with “ripping” other rappers. Either way, we might never know for sure.
Meanwhile, it looks like there are even rappers in Eminem’s city who might take issue with this GOAT stance. “Numbers wise, Eminem is the best Detroit rapper but the gag is nobody would say that in Detroit,” Skilla Baby recently posited. “Everybody had a turn being Detroit’s favorite rapper. Numbers wise, it’s Eminem but nobody in Detroit is playing Eminem right now and I was an Eminem fan as a kid. I’m a fan of Eminem but do we consider him our best rapper? I don’t think Detroit does.”
