Did Gen Z TikTok users want to cancel Eminem? Rapper references viral meme on new song, ‘Trouble’

Rapper Eminem just dropped a new album, The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce) on July 12 and one of his tracks, Trouble, included a speculated reference to a viral meme from 2021.

The lyrics of Trouble allegedly refer to a 2021 social media trend that rose on social media platform TikTok for canceling Eminem over his controversial lyrics. The lyrics of Trouble reads:

"Let me go, you b***h, huh, or what, genius, huh?/ You gonna cancel me, yeah? Gen-Z me, bruh?"

The movement goes back to 2021, when a TikTok user shared an excerpt from one of the rapper's most popular numbers, Love The Way You Lie, alleging that they are problematic and asking for the rapper to get 'canceled.' However, the user has since been removed from the platform. They highlighted the lyrics:

"If she ever tries to f***ing leave again, I'ma tie her to the bed and set this house on fire."

Sharing the video, the user wrote “Yesssss lets cancel him" as a caption, leading to the #canceleminem2021 hashtag trending on social media for months.

As reported by Forbes on March 12, 2021, Gen Z users were the majority of those who agreed with the aforementioned TikTok post and urged everyone to cancel the rapper due to his allegedly problematic lyrics.

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Why did Gen Z try to cancel Eminem in 2021? Details of #canceleminem social media trend explored

In February 2021, a TikTok user shared a video highlighting the lyrics from Eminem's 2010 hit featuring Rihanna, titled Love The Way You Lie, and asking everyone to cancel the rapper. The lyrics of the song are widely considered sensitive and controversial as it deals with the topic of domestic abuse.

The initial post went viral online, with Gen Z users joining in the trend to echo the sentiments of the user. A new hashtag, #canceleminem began trending online and content including the tag reached over 8.6 million views within a month, as per March 2021 report by Forbes.

The trend also reignited the age-old debate of political correctness associated with works of art and the artistic value of problematic content. Those who defended Eminem pointed out that the rapper's lyrics have always been controversial and Gen-Z is discovering them now in an age of heightened sensitivity, as per Esquire's report in March 2021.

The publication also noted some other perspectives put forward by the rapper's fans online, including the idea that Eminem's 2010 song Love The Way You Lie deals with the topic of domestic violence.

The point of the song was to draw attention to the uncomfortable topic so it is fitting that the lyrics aren't written in the most acceptable manner. They also pointed out that Rihanna, who allegedly survived a domestic assault by Chris Brown, also features as a vocalist in the track.

In July 2010, Rihanna defended the song's message and stated to MTV:

"It was believable for us to do a record like that, but it was also something that needed to be done, and the way he did it was so clever. He [Eminem] pretty much just broke down the cycle of domestic violence, and it's something that a lot of people don't have a lot of insight on, so this song is a really, really powerful song, and it touches a lot of people."

Slim Shady rapper has been criticized for his lyrics several times in the past, and also allegedly responded to such allegations in his January 2020 number, Tone Deaf. In the lyrics, Eminem criticized the cancel culture prevalent today, alleging that people will not stop until they cancel the rapper. His lyrics read:

"I can't understand a word you say (I'm tone deaf)/ I think this way I prefer to stay (I'm tone deaf)/ I won't stop even when my hair turns grey (I'm tone deaf)/ 'Cause they won't stop until they cancel me (yeah, yeah)"

The rapper also name-dropped a couple of influential people whose alleged crimes against women landed them in prison. He rapped:

"Does Bill Cosby sedate once he treats the cheesecake and the decent steak?/ You think gettin' rid of me's a piece of cake?/ I'm harder than findin' Harvey Weinstein a date (Haha)/ And that's why they say I got more lines than Black Friday"

Amid the 2021 social media trend to cancel him, the Slim Shady rapper released an animated lyric video for his 2020 track Tone Deaf, supposedly in response to Gen Z's movement to cancel him.