The rapper Eminem has issued an ultimatum to his fans – support either him or Donald Trump – in a scorching rap played at Tuesday night’s BET awards.
In the four-minute freestyle, filmed in a car park in Detroit and titled The Storm, Eminem called out the US president on issues including his behaviour towards North Korea, his support for white supremacists and his penchant for tweeting.
In the rap he refers to the US president as “a kamikaze that’ll probably cause a nuclear holocaust”. In a reference to the orange superhero the Thing from the Fantastic Four comic books, he raps: “Racism’s the only thing he’s Fantastic Four / Cause that’s how he gets his fucking rocks off and he’s orange.”
Eminem, who has criticised Trump in the past, also waded into the NFL national anthem protest saga and threw his support behind the player Colin Kaepernick, who was first to take a knee and who inspired widespread protests that have extended outside of football and enraged Trump.
The Stan rapper and Oscar winner ended the rap with a demand for his fans to take a side: “Any fan of mine who’s a supporter of his, I’m drawing in the sand a line, you’re either for or against, and if you can’t decide who you like more and you’re split on who you should stand beside, I’ll do it for it for you with this. F**k you.”
A number of famous names, including basketball player LeBron James, tweeted out support for Eminem.
The performance comes as Eminem’s next album is reportedly nearing release, with his producer Mr Porter announcing last week: “We are done”. The president is yet to respond.
- The Guardian
