Rap Devil

Album: Binge (2018)
Charted: 15 13
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song is Machine Gun Kelly's response to Eminem dissing him on his Kamikaze track "Not Alike." Their beef dates back to 2012, when MGK tweeted that Em's daughter was "hot."
  • The song is titled after Eminem's track "Rap God." The "Bad Things" hitmaker views himself as Slim Shady's opponent, as a Rap Devil to Em's Rap God.
  • MGK directly addresses Eminem on the chorus, acknowledging his success and questioning why he sees the need to diss him. He says they have a lot of common, both being white rappers from the Midwest who are single dads to daughters.

    I'm sick of them sweatsuits and them corny hats, let's talk about it
    I'm sick of you bein' rich and you still mad, let's talk about it
    Both of us single dads from the Midwest, we can talk about it
    Or we could get gully, I'll size up your body


    Eminem was raised in St. Joseph, Missouri and Detroit, Michigan while Machine Gun Kelly was raised in Cleveland, Ohio. MGK has one daughter, Casie Baker, while Em's biological daughter is Hailie Jade Scott.
  • Elsewhere on "Rap Devil," Machine Gun Kelly goes in hard, suggesting Eminem only came up with the track because he's "sober and bored" whilst also expressing surprise it took him six years to reference comments he made in 2012. MGK goes on to explain he went after the rap veteran to stand up "for not just myself, but my generation."

    "I'm doing the same s--t you did back in your day," Kelly tweeted. "Life is still real on my side, and I had to take time from the grind to defend myself from someone i called an idol. Love, Rap Devil (sic)."
  • Eminem dropped his response, titled "Killshot," a week later. In that one, he makes several allusions to MGK's name.
  • Machine Gun Kelly came up with the first three verses while drunk in a locker room during a night out. Speaking on the Everyday Struggle podcast, MGK recalled he wrote them after hearing Em's "Kamikaze" being played. "We went in the locker room of a place where we were at and I just did it on the spot after that s--t released, in a matter of hours dude," said Kelly. "I was with Odell [Beckham Jr, Cleveland Browns] the night before, celebrating the $100 million contract thing. I was still just drunk."

    Having written the three verses, Kelly then Facetimed them to YBN Cordae. After the rapper told him he really needed to "go off" at Eminem, MGK wrote the fourth verse.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Adele

AdeleFact or Fiction

Despite her reticent personality, Adele's life and music are filled with intrigue. See if you can spot the true tales.

Jonathan Cain of Journey

Jonathan Cain of JourneySongwriter Interviews

Cain talks about the divine inspirations for "Don't Stop Believin'" and "Faithfully."

Joe Ely

Joe ElySongwriter Interviews

The renown Texas songwriter has been at it for 40 years, with tales to tell about The Flatlanders and The Clash - that's Joe's Tex-Mex on "Should I Stay or Should I Go?"

Marvin Gaye

Marvin GayeFact or Fiction

Did Marvin try out with the Detroit Lions? Did he fake crazy to get out of military service? And what about the cross-dressing?

Gilby Clarke

Gilby ClarkeSongwriter Interviews

The Guns N' Roses rhythm guitarist in the early '90s, Gilby talks about the band's implosion and the side projects it spawned.

Amy Lee of Evanescence

Amy Lee of EvanescenceSongwriter Interviews

The Evanescence frontwoman on the songs that have shifted meaning and her foray into kids' music.