A RatedR View on Snoop Dogg vs. Eminem
I don’t like seeing rappers beef for no reason. I hate seeing legends beef for no reasons.
As I’m writing this article, the beef between Snoop Dogg and Eminem has supposedly come to an end. But to understand the few shots that were taken and the beef sizzling, we need to understand where this all came from: social media.
Snoop Dogg related his opinion on the ten greatest rappers of all-time, specifically talking about Eminem being in that discussion, saying:
"Eminem! The Great White Hope. White rappers had zero respect in rap. Let's keep that one thou wow [...] [Dr. Dre] has probably put Eminem in the position that he would be considered one of the top 10 rappers ever. I don't think so, but the game thinks that he's top 10 lyricists and everything that comes with it. That's just because he's with Dr. Dre [...] There's some n*ggas in the 80s that he couldn't f*** with [...] Like Rakim, like Big Daddy Kane, like KRS-One, like LL Cool J ... Like Ice Cube."
- Snoop Dogg on Eminem
This quote ended up rialing up the man known as the Rap God, leading him to respond in his song “Zeus”, off of Music to be Murdered By: Side B. The exact quote is: “Last thing I need is Snoop doggin' me / Man, dog, you was like a (yeah) damn God to me / Man, not really (haha) / I had "dog" backwards.” In subsequent interviews, notably that on his Shade 45 radio station, Eminem, real name Marshall Mathers III, says that what got to him was Snoop Dogg’s tone of voice:
“Everything [Snoop] said, by the way, was fine — up to a point […] Him saying Dre made the best version of me, absolutely. Why would I have a problem with that? Would I be here without Dre? Fuck no, I wouldn’t […] I think it was more about the tone he was using that caught me off-guard ‘cause I’m like, where is this coming from? I just saw you, what the fuck? It threw me for a loop […] I probably could’ve gotten past the whole tone and everything, but it was the last statement where he said, ‘Far as music I can live without, I can live without that shit.’ Now you’re being disrespectful.”
Now, I could sit here and give you all my perspective on who would win in a battle between the two, but I believe it would be pedantic. Eminem would win, very quickly. As much as Snoop could talk about all of the shooters and people that he has with him, a battle is different. We’re talking about someone who hasn’t made a hit in a long time as a rapper versus someone who is still in the game. The best analogy would be Snoop Dogg being Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson versus John Cena. The Rock might’ve won during their first Wrestlemania encounter, but real wrestling fans know that the one who carried the match was John Cena. Eminem would win.
The point of this entire article is to talk about how ridiculous the entire affair is. Why is Snoop even talking about top ten rappers of all-time, when, in many people’s eyes, he doesn’t make the list. Snoop Dogg is a certified legend of the game, but he doesn’t need to even talk about it as an elder statesman. This is below him.
In Eminem’s case, this is the opinion of a singular person. Very loud due to their following? Yes. But it’s just one person. It’s not worthy of contemplation. Eminem’s discography can speak for itself. If Snoop Dogg can go the rest of his life not listening to Eminem’s music, that’s really up to him. Slim doesn’t need Snoop to listen - just for him to not cause trouble.
These two people used to work together. As I see this issue, in the grand scheme of everything else that is going on, from the global pandemic to the division in the United States right now, we don’t need this. We need to see people who have differing opinions who are coming together, despite their differences. Taking stupid and ridiculous shots will not help any person involved or anyone else who sees this.
Come on. Get your stuff together and keep it pushing.