Eminem returned on Tuesday with his second single “Tobey,” featuring Big Sean and BabyTron from The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grace) album alongside fellow Detroit rappers Big Sean and BabyTron. In the song, Eminem appeared to address Billboard ranking him at No. 5 on the list of Greatest Rappers of All-Time, which was published last year.
In the song, Em raps: “Ain’t feelin’ your top five favorite rappers (Woo) / So I know they ’bout to be pissed at me (Why?) / But this, to me, is a mystery / How rappers I’ve already ripped could be (What?) / Higher up on a list than me (Ha) / Yet here I sit on your list though at five (Hm), which still was fine / But just know inside, to me, that s–t’s hilarious.”
It’s unclear who Slim Shady is targeting, but the four rappers ahead of him on the Billboard’s ranking (from four to one) are 2Pac, Nas, Kendrick Lamar and Jay-Z. Eminem collaborated with all of them but he’s definitely not talking about 2Pac for a several reasons. Eminem and Nas collaborated on “EPMD 2” and Eminem and Kendrick Lamar on “Love Game” and I think Shady did outshine them on a track but the general assumption is not what I think. As far as Jay-Z, the two collaborated on “Renegade” in the early 2000s and the general assumption is that Eminem murdered Hov in his own s–t.
Right before these lines, Em raps: “Y’all thought you were sick, you were misdiagnosed (Nope) / I’m dope and you’ll never have this high a dose (Nope, yeah) / Now my estates in the buildin’, and bitch, I done slept on more floors than the Empire State (‘Pire State) Building.” While there is literal imagery of Eminem’s home now being the Empire State Building, which is so big (and expensive) that he has bedrooms on every floor, it’s really a metaphor for his legacy being a huge part of the rap game, and the fact that this respect wasn’t just handed to him. He worked hard for it. Moreover, this is the setup to subliminal shot that comes after those lines (mentioned above) that was taken at Jay-Z who has a track called “Empire State of Mind.” Ironically, the song’s length is 4:44, which is also a title of one of JAY-Z’s studio albums.
Hip-hop fans really thought Eminem was taking shots at Jay-Z but under one of the posts on Instagram, Royce Da 5’9” responded to a fan who asked: “You not gonna answer this but they saying Em was throwing a shot at Jay in that Tobey joint. Is that true? On which Royce responded with “Of course not.”
If you thought another hip-hop war was brewing between two rap giants, it’s not. Sorry. Check out Royce’s response below:
