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In March 2023, rapper Melle Mel appeared in the YouTube podcast The Art of Dialogue, wherein he made racist remarks against fellow rapper Eminem (often called EM by fans), stating that the latter only became a famous hip-hop artist because of his skin color.
“Obviously, he’s a capable rapper. If you were talking about sales, he’s sold more than everybody. If you were talking about rhyme style, okay he got rhyme style. But he’s white. He’s white!” he said.
Mella Mel also added how the Slim Shady singer would not be on the Top 5 list of hip-hop artists if he was a Black man, as there were many other African Americans in the industry who did better work than him.
“Eminem gets the top spot because he’s white,” he reiterated.
While Eminem did not respond to Mella Mel’s remarks back then, on August 4, he released a single called Realest partnering up with fellow rapper Ez Mil. In the new track, he rapped:
“Hip Hop has been good to me, huh/ But when they say that I’m only Top 5’cause I’m white, why would I be stunned?/ My skin color’s still working against me/’Cause second, I should be, to none/Bein’ white being why they put me at five (Nope)/That’s why they can’t put me at one.”
Towards the end, he took a direct dig at Mella Mel. He rapped that Mel was really “furious” and one should “stay out his path” and avoid his “wrath.”
Four days later, on August 8, Mella Mel posted a diss track directed at EM on YouTube. Titled Mella Mel’s Response to Eminem’s Latest Diss, the lyrics go as follows:
"I would give you a pound, but I’d break your hand/ I got a lawyer so white; he will take your land/ Yo, check your man, come and look at your friend/’Cause I think that Eminem is popping pills again!”
Unfortunately for Mella Mel, his diss track was not well received by netizens, who have brutally trolled him. One X (formerly Twitter) user even wrote:
“D*mn Mel. You were better off not responding at all”: Mella Mel faces ridicule after releasing diss track on Eminem
Before releasing his diss track directed at Eminem, Mella Mel released a teaser of it on Instagram, where he was seen rapping:
“No apologies, this ain’t a disclaimer/ I’m the king of legends, the first Hall of Famer/ Making diss tracks, I know you’re with that/ Now everybody get ready for the kickback.”
Later, when his diss track Mella Mel’s Response to Eminem’s Latest Diss released, the hip-hop pioneer was heard mentioning fellow rapper The Game (who also released a diss track for EM in the past) and Pee-Wee Herman, a fictional character made popular by legendary actor-comedian Paul Reubens. He rapped:
“The Top 5 is cap/ You the p*ss that’s on the floor in the elevator of rap/ Why you ducking on The Game when you sh*t on my name? / Why they put Pee-Wee Herman in the Hall of Fame?”
It did not take long for the hip-hop fans to understand that it was a response to EM’s Realest, which uses Mella Mel’s popular tracks Furious Five and Grandmaster Flash to take a hit at him for his earlier racist remarks. The rap ends with EM syncing to the following lyrics:
"Shoutout to Furious Five and Grandmaster Flash, but boy/ There’s someone who really is furious/ Stay out his path, his wrath avoid/ I’ll be the last to toy with a juice head whose brain is half destroyed like a meteor hit it/ Now with Melle Mel, he lost his *ss to ‘roids.”
While Eminem’s latest track became an instant hit, Mella Mel’s diss track met with ridicule and mockery. While some felt embarrassed for him, others pointed out that he proved EM’s point.
Some even said this was worse than Nick Cannon’s diss track towards Eminem. Here are some of the comments from directly below his YouTube post:
It all started with Mella Mel calling out 35-year-old Eminem for being “white” in The Art of Dialogue podcast in March, where he said that if the latter was a n*gga like him, he would not be on the Top 5 list, as there were other n*ggas who could rhyme better than him and were younger than him too.
Mel also mentioned that if people failed to believe that the race card played a part in Relapse rapper’s fame, they should check with fellow rapper Royce D, 5’9”, who is a Black man, hangs around with EM, and is equally good, but not even remotely famous.
