Way back in October, Eminem surprised his fans by dropping "Campaign Speech," a song that featured him referencing everyone from Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman to Vivica A. Fox and, of course, Donald Trump.
But one of the references that made the most noise was a series of bars that Em directed at ESPN First Take host Molly Qerim. If you don’t remember what Em said on the song, here’s a quick reminder:
Molly, I’m gone off you
Man, light some kush
You’re my first take, I’ll nail you
Can’t lie, I gush
If I won you over, you would be the grand prize
I’m entranced by your looks, come and give the Shady franchise a push
You can get it in the can like some Anheuser-Busch
Jeans too small, least three pant sizes tush
Mushed against your damn side, your puss
And thighs are squished…
Shortly after the song dropped, Qerim’s boyfriend Jalen Rose shared his thoughts on Em name-dropping Qerim on ESPN’s Jalen & Jacoby. Despite the fact that Em said some pretty vulgar things about his girlfriend, Rose admitted he wasn’t all that upset about the attention Em gave to Qerim on the song.
"She’s educated, talented, and beautiful—a public figure that’s doing a terrific job on a really popular show called First Take," Rose said. "So guess what’s going to happen? She deserves to have so many people giving her positive attention and props. That’s love!"
You can see what else Rose had to say here.
At the time, Qerim didn’t have anything to say about "Campaign Speech." But on Wednesday, Uproxx published a long interview that they did with Qerim recently, and during the course of that interview, "Campaign Speech" came up. And while Qerim didn’t necessarily sound like she was thrilled with what Em said about her on the song, she was glad to hear that the rapper watches First Take and didn’t seem to have too much of an issue with his words about her.
"When it happened, I think a few people texted me and they were like, 'Eminem just shouted you out,' or 'Eminem name-checked you!'" she said. "And you know what my initial reaction was? I’m like, 'Eminem knows who I am? Eminem watches First Take? That’s love.' I’ve been a fan of his for years, for his music. I love hip-hop. That kind of tripped me out for a second…When I heard what the song was on, I’m going to blank on what it is…wasn’t it like the Donald Trump, it was like a campaign speech, right? Yeah. It was just also kind of funny."
She continued: "I don’t know if funny is the right word, but that it was a part of a campaign speech and not just your typical song. Listen, I appreciate that he’s a fan and I appreciate that he shouted me out. He’s definitely one of the best lyricists in the game. As far as what he actually said, I’m not going to get all beat and get all into it. I don’t think a hip-hop artist is going to say, 'I want to take long walks on the beach with you.' I’m just going to leave it at that, and that’s it. Not get all holier than thou, keep watching our show."
Elsewhere in her interview with Uproxx, Qerim also discussed dealing with First Take haters, her love for MMA, her relationship with Rose, and more. You can check it out here.
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