For Eminem [1] and Kid Cudi's first collaboration, "The Adventures of Moon Man & Slim Shady" is a powerful one. The over-four-minute song tackles subjects like police brutality [2], COVID-19, the Oval Office, and more. In typical Eminem fashion, the rapper packs a punch with lyrics embroiled with activism [3], anger, and rhyme. The second verse starts off with a direct call-out of New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees — rapping, "F*ck Drew Brees" — after the athlete denounced kneeling during the national anthem [4] in an interview with Yahoo Finance [5] last month.
Eminem continues on his politically active tirade, showing no remorse for those who aren't wearing masks amid the coronavirus pandemic [6]. "Bunch of half-wits up in the office / Half of us walking around like a zombie apocalypse, other half are just pissed off and don't wanna wear a mask and they're just scoffing / And that's how you end up catching the sh*t off 'em, I just used the same basket as you shopping, now I'm in a f*cking casket from you coughing," he raps.
The Detroit-born rapper is fired up and uses his passion [8] to offer prayers for the victims of police brutality in the last bit of his verse. "Prayers to George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery, how the f*ck is it that so many cops are dirty? / Stop, man, please, officer, I'm sorry / But I can't breathe when I got you on top of me, your godd*mn knee's on my carotid artery."
Eminem has often used his platform to touch on social issues, as he did at the iHeartRadio Awards in 2018 when he delivered a powerful performance about gun violence [9] with his song "Nowhere Fast." Watch the lyric video to "The Adventures of Moon Man & Slim Shady" above, and prepare to be wowed by the depth of the timely lyrics.