Eminem’s New 10-Minute, Acapella Freestyle Has Fans Buzzing

Late last year, Eminem practically broke the internet when he used a fiery freestyle at the BET Hip-Hop Awards to draw a proverbial line in the sand against Donald Trump. Over the course of the intricately schemed verse, he took shots at his philosophical foe that drew views in the millions once it was uploaded to streaming services like Youtube and his own Twitter profile. Now, he’s got social media buzzing all over again after releasing another freestyle video, “Kick Off,” directly to Youtube.

“The release of BODIED (the battle rap-focused film Eminem produced directed by Joseph Kahn) has me feeling nostalgic about battle rap so I headed down to my old stomping grounds,” he explained via Twitter. Shot on location at The Shelter at St. Andrew’s in Detroit, Michigan (also the backdrop of his fictionalized retelling of his come-up, 8 Mile), the video finds Eminem spitting his signature, ferocious, multisyllabic bars and referencing the bombing at Ariana Grande’s Manchester concert last year.

Of course, the fans weighed in, with some praising the veteran for his continued commitment to craftsmanship and others criticizing him for a perceived lack of creative evolution. One even mistook a live performance video of underground rapper Wynne as a video of Eminem’s daughter Hailey. Some of the responses have been collected below.

https://twitter.com/DaDaDoughboy/status/1068699550716583936

https://twitter.com/NSR_03/status/1068748992136253441

https://twitter.com/mvstxphx/status/1068738828393988096

https://twitter.com/debatehiphop/status/1068753247970762752

https://twitter.com/AleTheOptimist/status/1068715877258985472