The Game waged war against Eminem, but it’s nothing personal.
Last month, the Compton rapper dropped his 10-minute diss track “The Black Slim Shady” on which he took shots at the Detroit rapper.
During an interview with the Rap Radar podcast, Game opened up about his one-sided beef with Slim Shady and revealed why he decided to go after him.
“Just because nobody does. But as far as it being personal, it’s not personal,” he said before showing love to Em. “I came up on Em too. I remember the first time that ‘My Name Is’ came out. I was, like, whoaed by it. I felt the same feeling when I heard that, that I felt when I heard ‘Juicy’ from [Notorious B.I.G.] the first time.”
Game insists that he had no issues with Eminem, who he collaborated with on 2005’s “We Ain’t.” However, their relationship took a turn after Em appeared to side with 50 amid their fallout.
“I always f**ked with Em, and then, you know, the whole Aftermath and the Shady thing and he was on The Documentary,” he explained. “I think me and 50’s fallout kind of made him choose a side and he wasn’t doing that shit that I did. He was like, ‘I’m going with 50. F**k you ni**as.'”
He also admitted that he got in his feelings about not being included in Dr. Dre’s Super Bowl Halftime Show and took his anger out on Eminem.
“I had some emotions, a little bit, about Super Bowl shit and all of that. And that’s like Dre’s boy, and Dre don’t rap. So it’s like, if I wanted to have a conversation with Dre or I’m mad at Dre, let me poke shots at Eminem,” he said. “And 50 can’t out-rap me, so he’s doing his TV thing and more power to him, the shows are great. But as far as rap shit, I got that locked. So the only person I could rap with, or try to poke the bear and see if he really want to go there, is Em.”
Game says his intention was to bring some excitement to hip-hop. “But I just felt like hip-hop gotta be interesting. These ni**as these days are so goddamn boring, or every time somebody want to beef, somebody gotta die or some shit.”
As far as any “beef,” it remains strictly on the record. “With Em, it was not a personal thing. I did it with Hov when I was younger,” he said. “Sometimes, ladies and gentlemen, it’s just hip-hop and you can leave it at that. If I see Em, I’m not fighting Eminem. Lyrically, outside maybe Em or Kendrick or Cole or some of these super lyrical ni**as, I don’t think nobody can lyrically go at me.”
Game’s feelings towards Eminem have wavered. Back in March, he declared himself a better rapper than the “Rap God.” “I used to think Eminem was better than me. He’s not,” he said during his “Drink Champs” interview.
However, he ranked Em at No. 4 on a 2021 list of the top 10 best rappers alive, above Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, and Drake.