The Truth About Eminem And Snoop Dogg's Feud
Eminem and Snoop Dogg will both be performing at the Super Bowl halftime show, alongside their shared mentor Dr. Dre, and fellow icons Kendrick Lamar and Mary J. Blige, for a hip hop extravaganza never before seen on the Super Bowl stage. But cozy as they might seem now, it wasn't too long ago that Snoop and Em were in the middle of a serious rapper beef, trading insults both in interviews and in lyrics, according to Rolling Stone.
We had some questions about this, and we're assuming you might have a few as well. Questions like: How did this feud start? Why did this feud start? How did it all end? Did it end? Not to worry friends, we've got the whole scoop on this particular dust-up. To be honest, as far as professional feuds go, especially between superstar rappers, which tend to be theatrically over-the-top (see: Kanye West vs. Drake, Jay-Z vs. Nas, etc., etc.), Snoop and Em were still relatively respectful even when totally at odds.
Snoop Dogg dissed Eminem in an interview
The Snoop Dogg vs. Eminem affair started when Snoop was a guest on The Breakfast Club, and said that Eminem wouldn't make his Top 10 list of rappers — which came as a bit of a shocker to everyone. "[Dr. Dre] has probably put Eminem in the position to where he could be like labeled as one of Top 10 rappers ever. I don't think so, but the game feels like he's Top 10 lyricist and all that comes with it but that's just because he's with Dr. Dre, and Dr. Dre helped him find the best Eminem he could find," Snoop said. He added that Em wasn't in the same category as rapper heavyweights from the '80s like Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, LL Cool J, or Ice Cube.
Pretty understandably, Eminem was caught off guard by the diss, and shot back at Snoop in his song "Zeus," rapping, "I'm used to people knocking me/But just not in my camp... Last thing I need is Snoop dogging me." The Detroit rapper explained why he was upset in an interview with Shade 45 Radio, saying he doesn't disagree that he wouldn't be the rapper he is without Dr. Dre as a mentor, but he found the whole tone disrespectful. "It just caught me off-guard," he said. "We're on the same team. And I have never in my career, my entire career, said a disrespectful word about Snoop."
Snoop Dogg apologized to Eminem privately
If there's one thing we absolutely love to see, it's an earnest and heartfelt apology. And it looks like that's exactly how the feud between Snoop Dogg and Eminem finally came to an end. In an interview for Rolling Stone's Music Now podcast, Snoop Dogg explained that he had called Eminem privately to apologize for the disrespect, and end the beef once and for all. "I know how to call Marshall and say, man, I apologize," he said. "You got to understand we really love each other, so we don't want the public to put a spin on something that's not even that serious." He added, "And we truly respect each other. So we wanted to get an understanding behind closed doors... We're brothers, man."
All is evidently forgiven, as not only are the two rappers sharing a stage at the Super Bowl, they've recently recorded a song together — the true sign of quashed beef. Snoop said, "And that motherf***er slap. It was very challenging for me, I'll say that. Eminem really f***ing shot at me, he shot his shot." You know what they say: All's well that ends in a banger.