The Game has a thing or 12 on his mind on the epic 10-minute diss track “The Black Slim Shady.” And, as you might have guessed from the title of the Hit-Boy-produced track from Game’s new album, Drillmatic: Heart vs. Mind, most of the things he’s ruminating about appear to be Marshall Mathers-related.
The Compton MC is relentless on the song that uses a skit with an Uber driver as the frame for a drive around Detroit that takes the pair “somewhere near 8 Mile,” with Game discovering that the man behind the wheel is none other than the brother of “Stan,” who famously dies on Eminem’s classic 2000 obsessed fan saga “Stan.”
Before that, though, Game is relentless in his pursuit of taking shots at Eminem, with stops along the way to throw haymakers at one-time mentor/producer Dr. Dre, as well as mentions of Marshall’s daughter Hailie and anyone else that gets in his way.
“I killed Dr. Dre in my basement last night/ I was wasted last night, I went ape s–t last night,” Game raps over the bounce track co-produced by Big Duke and Brian King Joseph. “Chopped his body up, and forget where I placed it last night,” he adds before joking about losing his sense of taste and smell and grabbing Omarion and Dr. Anthony Fauci for a trip to a strip club.
The third verse finds Game dropping references to Em’s group, D-12 as well as his longtime partner in rap, Royce da 5’9″, on such lines as: “With the voice that defied rhymes will force the blind eye/ To see that I was in the white Rolls Royce with five .9’s/ When you was pretendin’ to be the white Royce da 5’9″/ I just crossed a fine line/ Might just force the white guy to call D12 so he can be the pork they grind, swine/ And the biggest rapper in Detroit, that award is Sean Don,” he states.
“So ficky-ficky Slim Shady, please, stand up/ Shoot the fade with me, I’d love to put these hands up/ I could .40 Glock you, unarmed/ Drop the world on your head with one arm,” Game continues before making it super personal, taking a shot at Marshall’s’ vaunted place on the MC G.O.A.T. list. “Dear Slim, Hailie’s with me and she’s unharmed for now (Dad, I’m really scared)/ These are the deepest secrets, I keep and I be on defense… You are not, top five, in mine, B.I.G or Pac eyes/ No André, no Nas, stop tellin’ white lies/ Sniff a white line, this the right time.”
To be fair, on the bridge the always outspoken Game offers up: “I’m crazy/ I’m crazy/ I’m not Mr. Nice Guy/ Dre know/ I’m crazy/ Way to f–kin’ go.” The onslaught, however, continues in the 4th verse, when Game takes on his former label and its former boss (Jimmy Iovine) and long-estranged rhyme accomplice 50 Cent before tripling-down on Marshall.
“You done pissed off Jimmy, Universal, and Interscope/ Know, I got Jimmy, Slim, 50, and Universal in a scope/ (‘Cause I’m shady) shadier than him/ (I’m crazy) crazier than Kim/ So when the Bat signal goes up in the clouds above the buildings/ I hope you live long enough to see heroes turn into villains/ Oh, you think I’m a Joker? Well, riddle me this/ You love your mother?,” he raps before making a few references to some classic Eminem tracks.
“Well, I’m cleanin’ out your closet for you and your half-brother/ And I told you when I was in Detroit, I wanna go to 8 Mile/ ‘Cause when I was little to get some M&M’s, I had to walk eight miles But you wouldn’t leave the studio, your life is on loop/ That’s why I’m doggy in style, ’cause n—as rather bump Snoop,” Game adds before taking another swing at the reclusive Dre. “Hello? Hello?/ Pagin’ Dr. Dre?/ He ain’t got a lot to say/ But since Curtis [50 Cent] always do, let him write the rhymes for you.”
The avalanche of disdain appears to make a stop at Em’s sartorial sense (“the sweatpants, the dad hat, durag and no jewelry”) and skin-care regimen (“did you re-dye your bear or get another face lift or do shrooms in your mom’s basement”) before going out on one more haymaker. “Mr. Shady, don’t be shady/ Pick that pen up, don’t be lazy/ Call up Dre and get that Dre beat/ Jump off stage if s–t get crazy,” Game whisper-raps in the wind-down to the song that is just the latest provocation in a months-long series of shots the Compton MC has taken at Em, including dubbing him an overrated MC in March.
At press time it did not appear that Eminem had responded to the track.
The bulky 31-track, nearly 2-hour album includes features from Kanye West, Big Sean, Roddy Ricch, YoungBoy NBA, Meek Mill, MoneyBagg Yo, A$AP Rocky and a posthumous verse from Nipsey Hussle.
Listen to “The Black Slim Shady” below.