New Eminem’s verse on his collaboration with Dr. Dre is full of references, jokes and deep observations. Let’s have a closer look.
Eminem starts his verse aggressively reminding that nobody is safe when he is on the mic, and evoking a spirit of Slaughterhouse, a rap supergroup created by Shady Records:
Like a satanic cult
It’s an old ritual slaughtering GOATS
Eminem used Covid-themed metaphors on “Gnat” and on joint with Kid Cudi. Here he continues the tradition:
flow’s sick
And anybody can get it, COVID
To describe an unworthy opponent, Eminem turns to the Transformers universe:
You’re slower than a Decepticon with its gear stuck
One of the most daring lines on the verse also rings true to Marshall’s character and refers to his states as a Rap God:
God is my alias
So if I don’t have faith in me, then it basically makes me an atheist
There is a whole string of dog-related puns and a reference to a photoshoot with Dr. Dre for his track “Medicine Men”.
And me and Dre are like dog hair
We’re both in our lab coats like retrievers
Here Em refers to an old belief that literally rubbing the hair of the dog that bit you on the wound would help it to heal. The Good Doctor and his friend can cut with words and can heal with rhymes. But loveable and supportive Labrador retrievers can turn into fearless and powerful Dobermans, which we saw in the “Gnat” video.
As always, there are sports references. To the MMA fighter Nate Diaz and to an over-hit pass in ball games:
Oh, you’re the king of rap? You’re about to be overthrown
Like a pass over the head of an open receiver
Eminem finishes his verse with a rapid-fire of textile metaphors where he starts by casually interweaving his own hit “Ringer” into the fabric of his high-count thread poetry, and finishes by throwing a reminder of him sewing shut MGK’s mouth:
I ain’t finish puttin’ these hoes through the ringer
Like clothes in between the two roll is a weight
Know, what I’m in is flow, interwoven, I treat ’em like thread
That’s how I wound up sewin’ machine up
There are layers and layers of meaning in this new gem from Eminem. Listen to Dr. Dre feat. Eminem — “Gospel” below to discover more:
