Rap god

Rap god
publication	15 October 2013
length	6:03
Genre (s)	Hip hop
text	M. Mathers , B. Zayas Jr., M. Delgiorno, S. Hacker, D. Davis, L. Walters, D. Birks, J. Burns, J. Lee, F. Shaheed, K. Nazel
music	DVLP, Filthy (Co)
album	The Marshall Mathers LP 2

Rap God (English for: " Rap God ") is a song by the American rapper Eminem . The song is the third single from his eighth studio album The Marshall Mathers LP 2 and was released on October 15, 2013 for download only .

content

In the song, Eminem mostly deals with his status as a rap superstar. He uses many different flow variants , including double and triplet time .

At the beginning of the song a voice can be heard introducing Eminem's performance. In the chorus, Eminem says he's starting to feel like a rap god and he's rapping like a robot. The first verse is about the fact that the rapper has been making money with his rap since the Lewinsky affair and is still one of the greatest in the genre. In the second verse, Eminem raps about the fact that today he is a role model for many other rappers who are looking for the key to success that he has. He himself was inspired by Rakim , Lakim Shabazz, 2Pac and NWA and today he has the status that he was able to give the laudation for his earlier idols from Run-DMC for inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame . The third verse is by far the longest. Here Eminem compares himself with lesser known rappers, including Odin and Thor , teachers and students, as well as Doberman and Poodle . He says that despite his legendary status, he still raps at the same technical level as he did when he started out. Here he repeats a line about the school massacre in Littleton , which was still censored on the Marshall Mathers LP because it was considered too harsh at the time. Eminem also criticizes people who think he has turned away from real rap and is doing pop music to serve the mainstream . He made it to the top even though he was kicked out of school and a drug addict and is still hungry for more success today. He also defends his often misogynistic texts because he grew up in difficult family circumstances. The track closes with the line: “Be king? I do not think so. - Why should one be a king when one can be a god? ”.

In addition to the people already mentioned, the song also alludes to the rappers Busta Rhymes , Waka Flocka Flame , Fabolous , Ray J , Heavy D , Slick Rick , Big Pun and Pharoahe Monch .

Because of the frequent use of the words fagot and gay in the song, Eminem has been heavily criticized by various gay and lesbian associations.

production

The beat of the song was produced by the US producer DVLP in collaboration with Filthy, who acted as co-producer. Above all, the synthesizers used stand out. No samples from songs by other artists were used in the production.

Music video

The video directed for Rap God, directed by Syndrome , premiered on November 27, 2013.

Eminem parodies the cyber character Max Headroom in some scenes and raps in front of a colorful, flickering background. His face can also be seen on the screens of televisions piled up to form a wall; and he raps his lines in the midst of a crowd of other battle rappers , including Slaughterhouse and Mr. Porter . Another scene shows Eminem in a hall, where he is sitting on a chair with his eyes closed. It is connected to devices that search various bookshelves for texts. As Eminem's rapassage begins, he opens his eyes, rises from the chair and soars into the air, the objects of the room swirling around him. The video also contains allusions to the computer games Portal , Asteroids , Super Mario Bros. and Pong .

single

Cover design

The single cover is in black and white. It shows Eminem turning his back to the viewer and spreading his arms. The background is completely white, on the top left and right are the words Eminem in beige and Rap God in red.

Chart successes

Rap God entered the German charts at position 42 in the 44th calendar week of 2013 and reached the highest position in the following weeks with position 33. In total, the song stayed in the top 100 for five weeks.

Chart placements

Charts	Top ranking	Weeks
Chart placements
Germany (GfK)	33 (5 weeks)	5
Austria (Ö3)	45 (4 weeks)	4th
Switzerland (IFPI)	31 (2 weeks)	2
United Kingdom (OCC)	5 (9 weeks)	9
United States (Billboard)	7th (20 weeks)	20th

Sales figures and awards

The single was awarded four times platinum in the United States for over four million sales in 2018 and received a gold record in Germany for more than 150,000 units sold in the same year .

Country / Region	Award	Sales
Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales)
Australia (ARIA)	platinum	70,000
Denmark (IFPI)	gold	15,000
Germany (BVMI)	gold	150,000
Italy (FIMI)	platinum	50,000
Canada (MC)	platinum	80,000
Sweden (IFPI)	gold	20,000
United States (RIAA)	4 × platinum	4,000,000
United Kingdom (BPI)	platinum	600,000
All in all	3 × gold 8 × platinum	4,985,000

Main article: Eminem / Music Sales Awards

September 2014 Eminem received an entry in the Guinness Book of Records , Rap God had held the record for the most words in a song. A total of 1560 words appear in 6:04 minutes, which is an average of 4.28 words per second. This record was given to MC Harry Shotta in the 2017 edition .

At the 2015 Grammy Awards , Rap God was nominated in the Best Rap Performance category, but lost to Song I by Kendrick Lamar .

Web links

• Lyrics with interpretations (English)
• Music video on YouTube.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Lyrics in the booklet
2. ↑ song analysis complex.com
3. ↑ Criticism from gay and lesbian associations
4. ↑ Excerpt from Eminem's video as Max Headroom ( memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
5. ↑ Cyber ​​figure Max Headroom
6. ↑ Video scenes showing the computer games
7. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
8. ↑ US: 4x platinum
9. ↑ DE: Gold
10. ↑ http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/112754-most-words-in-a-hit-single
11. ↑ Eminem's Rap God sets new world record for most words in a song , The Guardian, September 8, 2014