It started with a tweet and ended with a career-shifting pivot to pop-punk. If you were online in 2018, you remember the smoke. Everyone was picking sides between the "Rap God" and the "Rap Devil." But honestly, the machine gun kelly eminem diss saga is more than just two guys trading bars; it's a case study in how one wrong move can alter a rapper’s trajectory forever.
Some people say Eminem "buried" MGK. Others argue Colson Baker actually won because he forced a legend to respond.
The truth? It’s complicated.
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Why the Beef Actually Started (It Wasn’t Just the Tweet)
Most folks point to the 2012 tweet where MGK called Eminem’s daughter, Hailie, "hot as f***." Yeah, that was definitely the match that lit the fuse. Hailie was 16 at the time. Em is notoriously protective. You don't talk about his family and expect a Christmas card.
But there was more brewing under the surface for years.
MGK claimed he was being blackballed. He went on Hot 97 in 2015 and basically said certain people (cough, Eminem) were keeping him off Shade 45. Then came the subliminals. In 2018, MGK hopped on a Tech N9ne track called "No Reason" and rapped, "To remind y’all you just rap, you’re not God."
Eminem, who literally has a song titled "Rap God," wasn't about to let that slide. He dropped Kamikaze out of nowhere on August 31, 2018. On the track "Not Alike," he finally named names.
"I’m talkin’ to you, but you already know who the f*** you are, Kelly / I don’t use sublims and sure as f*** don’t sneak-diss / But keep commenting on my daughter Hailie."
The war was officially on.
The Rap Devil Response
Give MGK credit: he didn't blink. Most rappers stay quiet when Eminem puts them in his sights. Ask Ja Rule or Benzino how that worked out for them. But just days later, MGK dropped "Rap Devil."
It was a bold move.
He took aim at Eminem’s age, his "weird" beard, and his isolation in his mansion. He called him an "out of touch" old man who was "sober and bored." The track actually performed well. It wasn't just a diss; it was a catchy song with a hook. For a second there, some people thought MGK might have actually held his own.
He leaned into the villain role. He performed the song while opening for Fall Out Boy, wearing a shirt with the single's cover art. He was soaking it up.
Killshot: The 38 Million View Counter-Punch
Eminem waited. He did an interview with Sway Calloway to explain his side, saying he didn't want to give MGK the "clout" of a response. But then, on September 14, 2018, "Killshot" hit YouTube.
It didn't have a music video. It was just an audio file with a drawing of MGK with a target on his face.
It still broke the record for the most views on a hip-hop video in 24 hours (38.1 million).
Eminem didn't just insult MGK; he dismantled him. He mocked his "man bun," his sales figures, and his "stubble." He ended the track with a line that still echoes: "The day you put out a hit’s the day Diddy admits that he put the hit out that got Pac killed."
It was surgical.
Did the Diss Actually Change MGK’s Career?
This is the big debate. Shortly after the beef, MGK released the Binge EP. It didn't do great. Critics panned it. It felt like the momentum from the beef had curdled.
Then something weird happened.
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MGK stopped rapping almost entirely for a few years. He teamed up with Travis Barker and pivoted to pop-punk with Tickets to My Downfall. Suddenly, he was a superstar. He was topping charts and dating Megan Fox.
Did Eminem "bully" him out of rap?
MGK denies it. He says he always loved rock music and just wanted to try something new. But it’s hard to ignore the timing. When the biggest rapper on the planet spends six minutes explaining why you aren't a "real" rapper, the genre can get pretty lonely.
The Aftermath in 2020 and Beyond
The beef didn't totally die in 2018. Eminem threw more jabs on Music To Be Murdered By in 2020. On "Gnat," he rapped about "fighting off a gnat" with "machine guns." On "Zeus," he apologized to Rihanna but took another swipe at MGK, saying, "She thinks Machine washed me."
MGK’s response was a simple tweet: "those subliminals 🤣🚮."
He seems happy in his new lane. He’s arguably more famous now than he ever was as a "pure" rapper. But the machine gun kelly eminem diss remains the defining moment of that era of hip-hop. It was the last time we saw a high-stakes, lyrical back-and-forth that actually felt personal.
What you should do next to see the impact yourself:
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- Listen to "Not Alike" and "Rap Devil" back-to-back. Pay attention to how MGK uses Eminem's own "Rap God" flow against him—it's a detail many people miss.
- Check the lyrics for "Killshot" on Genius. Look for the "Colson/Marshall" movie reference; Eminem hid a layer of wordplay about a movie also titled Killshot that many casual listeners didn't catch at first.
- Watch the Sway Calloway interview with Eminem. It’s the only time he really talks about the "petty" reasons he decided to finally engage, giving you a peek into his mindset as a veteran in the game.
The beef is over, but the songs are still pulling millions of streams. Whether you think MGK was brave or Eminem was brutal, you can't deny it was a legendary moment in music history.