Eminem Was Calling Out Diddy Long Before Everyone Else…
As Sean “Diddy” Combs faces a growing storm of serious allegations and federal charges in 2024, many in the hip hop community are taking a hard look at his past—and one artist who has never been shy about expressing his thoughts on Diddy is none other than Eminem.
For years, Em has fired off plenty of biting lyrical shots aimed at the Bad Boy Records mogul. Now, with the current spotlight on Diddy’s empire, those bars feel heavier than ever, as fans revisit the moments when Eminem boldly questioned Diddy’s behavior long before these allegations surfaced.
Eminem’s first recorded diss targeting Diddy dates all the way back to 1996 on “Fucking Crazy,” where he rapped:
“Original Bad Boy on the case, cover your face
Came in the place blowed, and sprayed Puffy with Mase.”
This marked the beginning of what would become a decades-long series of digs at Diddy, cementing the dynamic between the two rap titans.
Fast forward to 2000, Eminem cranked up the heat with “Marshall Mathers,” dropping another fiery jab:
“You little groupie bitch, get off me, go fuck Puffy.”
At the time, Eminem was still a rising star, but his willingness to throw shots at established figures like Diddy showed his fearless attitude, a key trait that helped set him apart in the industry.
Later that same year, in “I’m Back,” Em’s irreverence was on full display with this line:
“‘Cause if I ever stuck it to any singer in showbiz
It’d be Jennifer Lopez and Puffy, you know this.
I’m sorry, Puff, but I don’t give a fuck.”
Though playful at this stage, Eminem’s relationship with Diddy took a sharper, more serious turn over time. And the tone truly shifted in 2018 when Eminem released the diss track “Killshot,” aimed at Machine Gun Kelly. This track included one of his most controversial bars about Diddy:
“Kells, the day you put out a hit is the day Diddy admits that he put the hit out that got Pac killed.”
Eminem quickly added, “I’m just playin’, Diddy, you know I love you,” but the damage was done. The line sparked conversation and speculation, leaving listeners to wonder if there was any real truth behind the venomous words.
Fast-forward to 2020, and Eminem was still taking aim at Diddy, this time with a clever reference in “Godzilla”:
“They call me Diddy because I make bands, and I call getting cheese a cakewalk.”
This lyric doesn’t just mock Diddy’s wealth—it also alludes to the infamous Making the Band “cheesecake incident.” For those who don’t remember, this was a moment from Diddy’s early 2000s reality show where he made contestants walk six miles across the Brooklyn Bridge just to get him a slice of cheesecake. What was framed as a test of dedication seemed to many as an unnecessary exercise in humiliation. The incident became a cultural touchpoint, symbolizing the often harsh power dynamics in the entertainment world.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Eminem’s latest album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce), takes his jabs at Diddy to another level, with lines that now feel almost prophetic given Diddy’s current legal battles. In “Fuel,” Em touches on the violent legacy surrounding 2Pac and Biggie’s deaths and how Diddy fits into that narrative:
“Notorious B.I.G.’s death was the domino effect of
2Pac’s murder, like facial tissue, whose clock should I clean next? Puff’s?
‘Til he’s in police handcuffs, guilty, will he step up?”
And then there’s the line that’s now reverberating in light of the recent allegations:
“a R-A-P-E-R
Got so many S-As, S-As
Wait, he didn’t just spell RAPPER and leave out a P, did he?”
This biting wordplay feels disturbingly relevant as Diddy faces charges involving sex trafficking and racketeering.
In the track “Antichrist” from the same album, Eminem adds yet another dark and sarcastic twist with:
“Next idiot ask me is getting his ass beat worse than Diddy did—
But on the real, though, she probably ran out the room with his fucking dildo.”
As the legal cases against Diddy continue to unfold, these lyrics feel less like playful disses and more like a warning shot fired long before the rest of the world caught on. Eminem, never one to shy away from controversy, has spent years calling out the media mogul—and now, with Diddy’s legacy hanging in the balance, Slim Shady’s words take on a chilling new resonance.
Eminem’s relentless lyrical attacks have always held a mirror to the industry, and in the case of Diddy, it seems he might have been ahead of the curve.
