The longtime beef between Eminem and Nick Cannon has all the ingredients of a delicious feud: diss tracks, social media tirades, and a woman caught in the middle. In the years since they took their first digs at each other, tensions reduced to a simmer. But in 2019, both rappers called each other out on new singles, officially reviving their rivalry. Take a look at a timeline of their feud and see where Eminem and Cannon stand today.
How The Feud Started
The origins of Eminem’s feud with Cannon dates back to May 2009, when he released the track “Bagpipes From Baghdad.” Em, who briefly dated Mariah Carey before she married Cannon (a claim she denies), referenced the newlyweds in his lyrics. “Mariah, whatever happened to us? / Why did we have to break up? / Nick, you had your fun, I’ve come to kick you in your sack of junk.”
Cannon shot back on Tumblr. In a since-deleted post, he revealed that he was feeling heated and ready to “whoop [Eminem’s] little ass.” He also called out Em for problematic mixtapes from early in his career.
“Let’s not forget about Eminem’s amateur mixtape rants of calling African Americans N—– and how he hates ‘Black B—-es’,” wrote Cannon. “How did we let him get away with that in the first place?! He is a natural born racist in disguise.”
Carey even jumped into the fray. In June of that year, she released “Obsessed.” If the lyrics are a cryptic reference to Em (Finally found a girl that you couldn’t impress / Last man on the earth, still couldn’t get this / You’re delusional), the video is a direct hit. Carey dresses as the rapper and portrays him as a stalker who follows her around New York City.
How The Feud Lasted Over A Decade
In September 2019, Cannon reminded the world that he hadn’t buried the hatchet. In an appearance on T.I.’s ExpidTIously podcast, he rehashed the old rivalry and revealed that he wrote Eminem a confrontational letter about “Bagpipes From Baghdad.”
“I wrote a letter first … pretty much saying, ‘Look, I respect you as an artist. I’m actually a fan and I think you’re one of the best to ever do it. But from man to man, you talking out of pocket to my wife. You gotta be held accountable for that so I need to see you face-to-face.'”
Eminem, who was apparently fine with keeping the beef alive, referenced the couple again in a guest spot on Fat Joe’s December 2019 song “Lord Above.”
“I know me and Mariah didn’t end on a high note / But that other dude’s whipped-that p—y got him neutered,” he rapped.
Cannon fired back using every avenue at his disposal: insults flew on Instagram, in his stand-up comedy routines, and on his MTV show Wild N Out. He even dropped his own diss track, “The Invitation,” rapping, “My baby-mama killed you off a decade ago/You’re still cryin’ about it, bitch, now who really the hoe?”
A Twitter spat between the two ensued, and Cannon continued to try and shame Eminem by posting politically incorrect samples of his earliest work. In an April 2020 interview Billboard, Cannon remarked, “…If you’ve ever heard me speak on this matter, I always give that dude his props as an icon in hip-hop. I think he knows better now. If he keeps talking about me, I’m gonna keep talking back.”
Is The Feud Still Happening?
In October 2020, Cannon posted an Instagram pic alongside Eminem’s longtime friend Royce Da 5’9?. Was it another attempt to provoke his decade-long rival?
Just the opposite. “Beef between @eminem x @nickcannon is water under the bridge,” Royce wrote in a comment. “Thank you to @fatjoe for helping to make it happen… Let’s spread love y’all.”
As it turns out, Cannon told Fat Joe in a September episode of The Fat Joe Show that he was ready to put things to rest.
“One day, hopefully, dude and I will get an opportunity to sit down, ’cause like I said, I do respect his ability,” said Cannon. “If you can do it, man … I think at the end, two men need to have that conversation.”
Sounds like they’ve called a truce … for now.