At the recent BET Awards, rapper Eminem shocked the audience with an impressive four-and-a-half minute freestyle performance taped in advance from the rapper’s hometown of Detroit. The lyrical display touched on many social issues including the Puerto Rico hurricane devastation, the Las Vegas shooting, the NFL’s anthem protest controversy, and Trump’s waged war against the NFL to the exclusion of his other presidential duties.
[youtube ratio=”0.5625″ position=”standard” ]
The a capella performance aired for the ceremony’s Miami audience when it was filmed on Oct 6, but the awards show wasn’t televised until Tuesday, Oct. 10, on BET.
In the controlled fury of the freestyle, Eminem offered a message of support to Colin Kaepernick, who many feel sacrificed his career, perhaps unknowingly so, when he refused to stand for the national anthem performance as a San Francisco 49er last season. This year, the former Pro Bowler finds himself without a team, but as an icon for the anthem protests, which have taken on a life of their own over a year later.
Eminem put a fist up in solidarity after name-checking the quarterback and encouraged him to “keep that shit balled up, like Donald the bitch!”
The legendary rapper ended his performance with a powerful sign-off saying that his pro-Trump fans can’t have it both ways. He closed:
“And any fan of mine who’s a supporter of his/ I’m drawing in the sand a line/ You’re either for or against/ And if you can’t decide who you like more and you’re split/ On who you should stand beside/ I’ll do it for you with this.”
“This” was, of course, a middle finger pointed straight at the camera.
LeBron James, who has recently become less diplomatic in his observation about the Trump presidency, shared his enthusiasm for Eminem’s performance, decoding some of the imagery the rapper put forth in his verses.
Eminem said he wanted to draw a line in the sand during his freestyle, and he certainly seemed to do just that.
