Join the club: South African hip-hop group Die Antwoord has responded to a diss on Eminem’s ‘Kamikaze’ album with some bars of their own. Ninja and Yo-Landi’s comeback follows a diss track by fellow emcee Machine Gun Kelly and a lengthy podcast rant by retired Slaughterhouse rapper Joe Budden.
Let’s cover this one chronologically so readers get some sense of what Die Antwoord are talking about. Here is how Verse 2 on Eminem’s “Greatest” starts out:
So you sold 10 million albums, eh? (what?)
Only problem is, you put out 10 million albums, eh? (haha)
Wait, what was I just about to say?
Oh yeah, let me get this out the way
I know there’s people that are pissed about the way I mispronounced a name, “DIE ANTWOORD!”
F—, I still can’t say this s—, but how quickly they forget
Who the f— I was now Ninja try to duck my slugs
To let ya girl get f—ed by Muggs
I’d like to give a shout to Cypress
This can’t be real, you dissed me and I was just tryin’ to
Give you a shout–now get the f— out my rhyme book!
And here is Ninja’s response lyrics:
yo EM // ¥O-LANDI’S not my girl bra // she’s just my best friend who loves me // and everybody knows VI$$Y dated MUGGZY // mad respect 2 my brother MUGGS // EM you slipping // you used 2 rap better on drugz // motherf—er im old and im ugly // but these kidz dont give a f— coz they love me // we bred these kidz EM they aint giving no f—s // but they not feeling your rhymez or your botox // or that base on your face with the fotoshop // i heard neill blomkamp is remaking ROBOCOP // yo watch a SOUTH AFRICAN // put that cool s— from DETROIT back on the map again // you went out like MICHAEL JORDAN damn! // retired as a GOD and came back as a man // nobody raw like me // E.M.I.N.E.M – R.I.P // R.I.P R.I.P // E.M.I.N.E.M – R. I. P. // FINISH HIM! // FATALITY! // E.M.I.N.E.M – R.I.P.
That formatting and grammar is straight from Die Antwoord’s YouTube post, so don’t blame us.
That Blomkamp shoutout is a reference to the man who also directed Ninja in 2015’s “Chappie.” The “RoboCop” franchise is set in Detroit, Eminem’s home city.
This unlikely transatlantic beef has a confusing origin that technically began (on wax, at least) when Slim Shady mispronounced “Die Antwoord” on a song on 2017’s “Revival.” There’s more to it than that though — click here for the most-thorough explanation we’ve read.
Watch Die Antwoord video’s above.