Eminem explains why he’s ‘diss3d’ Christopher Reeve 44 times to date
The ‘Lose Yourself’ rapper has made repeated references to the Superman actor throughout his career
Christopher Reeve might have been a hero to millions of people, but one person who’s repeatedly presented him as an apparent enemy is Eminem.
The rapper has made multiple references to the Superman actor in his music, using his name as a lyric before throwing in various disses and criticisms of the Hollywood star.
One such diss came in Eminem’s 2009 song ‘Medicine Ball’, in which he says: “Put Christopher Reeve on a unicycle with a kickstand, kick it up and push him and lead him right into quicksand / Here, you need a hand, big man?”
Eminem has mentioned Reeve in numerous different songs (Christopher Polk/Billboard via Getty Images)
Eminem also mimics Reeve’s voice in the song, before saying: “Always hated you, and I still do.”
Other references Eminem has made to Reeve come in tracks such as ‘Purple Pills’, ‘Who Knew’, and ‘My 1st Single’.
The rapper has made no less than 44 references to Reeve in his various tracks, prompting some of his fans to share theories as to why he apparently had such a fascination with the actor, who died in 2004.
Taking to Reddit to share their thoughts, one person wrote: “I think he just likes how the name sounds.”
Another even suggested Reeve had taken drastic measures to avoid being dissed by Eminem, saying: “The beef went so far Christopher Reeve died on purpose, just so Eminem couldn’t release a diss track against him.”
Christopher Reeve died in 2004 (Paul Hawthorne/WireImage for Rubenstein Communications, Inc.)
That theory is obviously pretty far-fetched, so let’s hear what Eminem himself has had to say on the matter.
Acknowledging his repeated references to Reeve, Eminem explained that he didn’t actually have a grudge against the actor; his references simply stemmed from a childhood memory of him.
In his 2004 track ‘Rain Man’, Eminem explains: “And let’s clear this up too; I ain’t got no beef with him either.
“He used to be like a hero to me, I even believe I had one of those 25-cent stickers on my refrigerator, right next to Darth Vader.”
So it turns out Reeve was a hero to Eminem as well as so many other Superman fans, but that hasn’t stopped Eminem from using his name as a lyric, even after the actor’s death.
However, after the release of ‘Medicine Ball’ in 2009, Eminem indicated in a freestyle rap that he didn’t realize Reeve had died when he released the song.
He rapped: “I need Christopher Reeve to come and lay his verse / I think he can spit it better on Medicine Ball, first / Off, I did not even realize the guy died / So I guess them Christopher Reeve jokes ain’t gonna fly.”
Speed rapper who beat Eminem to world record explains how he did it
Speaking to UNILAD, speed rapper, Harry Shotta, has explained how he beat Eminem to a world record.
A speed rapper who delivers lines so quickly he even beat Eminem to a Guinness World Record has told UNILAD how he went about doing it.
Harry Shotta knew from a very young age he was destined to rap, even spitting some bars in front of his classmates back in the day at 20p a pop.
Throughout his school years, Harry rapped at school concerts before he had his big breakthrough at Notting Hill Carnival in London.
While a little nervous, Harry jumped on stage to perform drum and bass – something he was not too familiar with coming from a rap background.
But what happened next Harry could have never expected.
“The crowd went crazy,” he tells UNILAD. “I realized that my speedy rap lyrics work on drum and bass.”
Harry says that speed rapping has some very important fundamentals those who take part in it should follow.
Community Fibre
He explains: “There’s some MC’s that can rap fast but you can’t hear what they are saying. I’ve always tried to work on the clarity and getting really sharp.
While Harry has obtained many awards in his career so far, his most impressive is certainly the Guinness World Record for most words in a track.
In 2015, Harry broke Eminem’s record as he squeezed a whopping 1771 words into his track ‘Animal’.
Before that, Eminem rapped 1560 words in the 2013 hit ‘Rap God’.
Speaking of how the record came about, Harry says: “We were doing a festival called West Fest. And Eminem had just released this record, ‘Rap God’.”
At the festival, they played Eminem’s part before cutting to the instrumental when Harry would rap ‘even faster’.
“We did it and got such a crazy reaction at the show,” Harry adds.
Community Fibre
Harry knew at this point he wanted to try and break the record and this is when ‘Animal’ came to fruition.
“I wrote the rap, highlighted it and saw that I’d actually beaten him [Eminem], it just naturally came that I’d beat him in the same amount of time.
“I went to see my friend Jamal Edwards and he put together a big marketing plan for us.”
The video quickly went viral to the point where big music stars in the US were talking about Harry’s new track.
“Eventually Guinness gave us the record for most words in a song, it was a crazy achievement.”
So now that he’s beaten perhaps the most well-known rapper on the planet, does Harry fancy a rap battle with Eminem?
“I’ve never been shy of a battle [but] I’m not a battle MC,” he explains.
“But I am an MC by trade and if Eminem was to call me out on it tomorrow, then I wouldn’t be afraid to have a battle with him.”
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
Nowadays, Harry has just released a new track that packs the history of the internet in just 60 seconds.
Speaking of when he was approached by Community Fibre about the prospect of the song, Harry says: “They sent me a load of facts about the internet. It was a challenge to write it because so much has happened [with the internet].
“But the main thing I wanted to get across is how far it’s come in our everyday lives.”
Harry also hopes the track will help all generations learn about sides of the internet they are not too familiar with.
“I think all generations can get something out of this in the space of 60 seconds,” Harry explains.
