Eminem vs Machine Gun Kelly

Eminem vs Machine Gun Kelly is one of the most brutal and public rap beefs of recent years - a classic case of a younger artist taking shots at a legend and getting absolutely demolished in return.

How It Started

The beef ignited in 2018, but the roots go back further. In 2012, MGK tweeted something about Eminem's daughter Hailie being "hot" (she was 16 at the time). Eminem apparently didn't forget this.

Years later, on his 2018 track "Not Alike" (from the Kamikaze album), Eminem took a shot at MGK, calling him out and banning him from Shade 45 (Eminem's Sirius XM radio station). Em referenced the tweet about his daughter and basically dismissed MGK as irrelevant.

MGK Fires Back

Machine Gun Kelly responded with "Rap Devil" - a diss track that actually got a lot of attention. He went after Em's age, claimed he was out of touch, criticized his recent albums, and accused him of trying to block his career. It was aggressive and got props from some people for having the guts to go at Eminem directly.

"Killshot"

Then Eminem dropped "Killshot" - and it was devastating.

He systematically dismantled MGK with brutal punchlines, mocked his appearance (the "man bun" line), questioned his authenticity, brought up MGK's sales figures, and just generally treated him like a minor annoyance. The track was technical, vicious, and showcased why you don't really want to get into a lyrical battle with Eminem.

"Killshot" became one of the biggest debut hip-hop tracks on YouTube and was widely seen as Eminem winning the beef decisively.

The Aftermath

MGK largely moved away from rap after this, pivoting to pop-punk music with albums like Tickets to My Downfall (2020), which was actually quite successful. Some saw this as him retreating from hip-hop after the Eminem loss; others said he was just exploring different musical interests.

The Dynamics

This had classic elements: the established legend vs the upstart, generational differences, and the question of whether you can challenge someone like Eminem without getting destroyed. MGK showed courage but was ultimately outmatched in the technical battle rap sense.

It's one of those beefs where even people who aren't huge Eminem fans acknowledged he won on pure lyrical ability.

118.8bn all-time streams (2 Nov '25)

8.5bn all-time streams (2 Nov '25)