Murder On the Mic: 6 Things You Missed in…
Article #52: Entertainment
We conclude with part three of our three-part series entitled, “Murder On the Mic: 6 Things You Missed in Eminem’s Lyrical Masterpiece ‘Killshot’.”
As stated in the previous articles, the rap war between Slim Shady®, also known as Eminem®, and Machine Gun Kelly®, also known as MGK®, hit its apex when, in response to MGK’s ‘Rap Devil’ diss, Slim Shady dropped his lyrically-savage diss track called ‘Killshot’.
In this article, we unveil numbers four, five, and six of the six hidden gems found in the lyrical mastermind Slim Shady’s Killshot record that most people, even reaction channels and videos, missed.
4.) “…The game’s mine again and ain’t nothin’ changed but the locks, so before I slay this b$#@!, I muah, give Jade a kiss…”
Here’s what most people caught:
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The play on the word “locks”, which people understood to be referring to ‘The Lox’; the rap group of which Jadakiss is a member.
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Jadakiss’ name was used in the play on the words ‘Jade a kiss’, which referred to Slim Shady giving his daughter, whose middle name is Jade, a kiss.
But here’s what most people missed:
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The additional play on the word “locks”, which also referred to the locks to the door into the rap game, which changed from artists having to have lyrical skills to simply mumble rapping to gain entry.
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Also, the third play on the word “locks” is a reference to hair, as in Dreadlocks or locs. So, in this verse, Slim Shady was also referencing his hair, which used to be blonde, but he changed it back to seemingly its original, darker color.
A fantastic distraction to pull off a brilliant triple entendre.
5.) “…Little white toothpick thinks it’s over a pic. I just don’t like you prick. Thanks for dissin’ me. Now I had an excuse on the mic to write ‘Not Alike’, but really I don’t care who’s in the right, but you’re losing the fight, you pick…”
Here’s what most people caught:
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That MGK picked a fight with Slim Shady, and is now losing that fight.
But here’s what most people missed:
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Slim Shady is really specific with his choice of wording and the enunciation of them. Listen again and you will hear that Slim Shady didn’t actually say that MGK was losing the fight he picked.
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Slim Shady actually said that MGK was losing the fight, and then re-called him a toothpick, but just shortened it to “pick.” He knew that people would unconsciously put the ‘ed’ on the end of the word ‘pick’ because of his phrasing.
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So, although he actually said, “…but you’re losing the fight, you pick!“, people unconsciously heard “…but you’re losing the fight, you picked!“
A clever use of phrasing and enunciation to pull off an unspoken double entendre.
And finally, 6.) The fact that MGK has no clue of the lyrical injuries he sustained in this rap war.
Here’s what most people heard:
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The Breakfast Club interview, where MGK said Killshot “…was a leg shot…” and that his nine year old daughter heard Slim Shady’s 2nd diss track and said, “Eh.”
But here’s what most people, including MGK, missed:
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How it was absolutely mind-boggling that our hometown MGK, although a skilled rapper, was so lyrically beneath Eminem that he literally did not seem to realize, let alone understand, what Slim Shady did to him in his Killshot massacre.
No, literally.
MGK wasn’t even playing the same game as Slim Shady. Killshot was an extraordinarily-crafted, lyrical masterpiece; with depth that was seemingly (and maybe still is) beyond MGK’s lyrical comprehension.
It’s as though Slim Shady and MGK were in a chess match, but MGK thought they were playing Uno:
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MGK pulled a powerful Uno card out of his pocket and was like, “BAM, RAP DEVIL! Draw Four, b$#@!”, then jumped up and started dancing.
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Slim Shady, being the calculating, lyrical assassin that he is, just looked at MGK and began a deadly assault.
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He moved his chess pieces into place; taking pawns, knights, and rooks one-by-one until finally, the death blow.
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While MGK was up popping bottles from the ‘act’ of throwing down a ‘Draw Four’ on a chess table, Slim Shady calmly said:”Checkmate”. NOW “DIE MUTHA$#@! LIKE THE LAST MUTHA$#@! SAYING HAILIE IN VAIN!”
A person who gives anybody who wants it the “(E)m-16s”; the ’16 Barz of Bullets/Death’ that Slim Shady spits, and you don’t even realize you’re dead until you walk 16 steps, THAT’S the person MGK decided to attack?
TRANSLATION: My God, what have you done to yourself, MGK?
Slim Shady ends careers through musical feuds, so the winner of this rap war was seemingly written before it even began. MGK put up a respectable fight, but Slim Shady won every round handily because his skill level simply far exceeds that of his latest victim.
Now that the sleeping giant is awake and committing lyrical homicide again, we get a chance to again witness something that will never be able to be taken away from arguably the greatest rapper of all time:
That he is an unmatched, unbelievably flow-versatile, master words craftsman.
And we have MGK to thank for the smelling salts.