Eminem has a long track record of aiming for pop stars. With his blunt rhymes and often offensive lyrics, he has been at the centre of much controversy over the years. However, the Detroit emcee, real name Marshall Mathers, once wrote an extremely derogatory rap about Gwen Stefani.
Mathers and Stefani are very different breeds of musicians. However, bizarrely, they have worked together before. Since her marriage to Nashville-based country singer Blake Shelton in 2021, Stefani has reinvented her sound. Still, in 2015, the pair joined forces on ‘Kings Never Die’ for the Southpaw soundtrack.
The choice was made by Mathers specifically, but many found it odd considering, in 2004, his lyrics for ‘Ass Like That’ talked about urinating on Stefani. The song was released as the sixth single of Encore.
During the song, Eminem sings, “So, Gwen Stefani, will you pee pee on me, please? / I ain’t never seen an ass like that, ’cause the way you move it, you make my pee pee go, doing, doing, doing.” It was humorous to some and repulsive to others.
In a 2015 interview with Mathers, the ‘Stan’ musician cleared up the intention, unveiling, “I don’t think it was ever anything that was disrespectful. I mean, maybe I said she could pee pee on me, but I don’t care who you are; that’s funny regardless. But I’ve always respected Gwen Stefani. She’s an incredible talent, but also her longevity is one of the reasons she was perfect for that song.”
Earlier this year, while promoting her country track, ‘Purple Irises,’, Stefani recalled getting the call from Eminem to collaborate, recounting, “I got a call saying that Eminem wanted me to hop on one of his songs. Here I am, I had my third baby, so I bought an Odyssey, which is like, those soccer mom cars.”
She continued, “I was like, ‘Hey, just FYI, the kids are in the car.’ Like, I don’t know what he’s gonna say or how he’s gonna talk. It was just such a surreal moment to think, like, I’m a soccer mom, and I’m talking to Eminem. I was just so blown away to be talking to him.”
Strangely, Stefani had nothing but praise for Mathers as she exclaimed, “He’s so incredible. He’s a real artist; he’s a real weirdo. I just finally got the call. It was one of those days where they were like, ‘Can you come do this?’ And I was like, ‘Really? Really?’ And they were like, ‘It has to be done today.’ And I was like, ‘OK!’ And I just made it happen.”
Listen to Eminem’s crass lyrics about Stefani below.
