Controversy's favourite child Eminem has once again stirred the hornet's nest with his latest song Unaccommodating, part of the rapper's latest album Music to Be Murdered By, released on Friday. The song, based on the Manchester arena terror attack in 2017 that left 22 people dead, contains some lyrics reflecting the mind of the suicide bomber, Salman Abedi.
The suicide attack took place during the concert of Ariana Grande in Manchester, England. The lyrics that caused the controversy read: I'm contemplating yelling 'bombs away' on the game, like I'm outside of an Ariana Grande concert waiting. In the terror attack termed as the deadliest in Manchester since 1996, Abedi set off the explosives-laden with bolts, nails and ball bearing, killing 22 and severely injuring many concert-goers.
Family and friends react to the song
The song has drawn a widespread resentment from the friends and family of the victims killed in the bombing. Andy Burnham, Mayor of Manchester, said: "This is unnecessarily hurtful and deeply disrespectful to the families and all those affected."
Mother of a teenage attack victim called the song disgusting and disrespectful. Figen Murray, mother of Martyn Hett a victim of the attack, wrote on Twitter: " Feels like he is piggybacking on the fame of Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber and says distasteful things about other celebrities. Not clever. Totally pointless. And before all Eminem fans pounce on me, I am not interested and will not engage."
Russell Hayward, Hett's partner also voiced his disappointment over the lyrics: "It's disappointing but not surprising that #Eminem would use controversial lyrics about the Manchester bomb, dragging the victims' families & Ariana back into a very dark time. Not sure how popular he is these days but I hope any success he gets from the back of this is worth it."
Twitter trends with anti-Eminem hashtags
Unaccommodating also drew the ire of Grande's fans who were quick to lash out at Eminem for using the singer's name in the song. Soon after twitter started trending with 'Eminem is cancelled' and Eminem Is OverParty hashtags with Twitteratis expressing their resentment towards the rapper.
"You're so disgusting I hope u know that. What u said was very uncalled for and so hurtful to so many people," wrote a user.
"Eminem really just referenced the Manchester bombing where 22 people were killed... how disgusting, it's time to cancel this trash and Young MA to for thinking this song was ok @Eminem @YoungMAMusic #EminemIsOverParty," wrote another user.
"Something about eminem surprise-releasing an album in which he jokes about the manchester terrorist attack at an ariana grande concert that killed 23 people on the very same day her ex-boyfriend who died of a drug overdose has his last work posthumously released...disgusting," said a user.
"Eminem stans justifying his disgusting statement about the Manchester attack are clowns deadass. I don't care if it's just a song, people DIED at the Manchester attack. Piece of s***," tweeted another.
Will Eminem ever learn not to hurt people with his lyrics?
It is not for the first time that Eminem songs contain lyrics that have been derived from the killer's point of views. His past offerings, Stan (2000), Murder Murder (1997), and Kamikaze, (2018) all spoke about what must have gone through the killers' minds.
In 2018 too, Eminem had rapped about the mind of the Manchester suicide bomber: Seeing Ariana Grande sing her last song of the evening/And as the audience from the damn concert is leaving/Detonates the device strapped to his abdominal region.
Apart from using offensive lyrics, Eminem also equates himself with serial killer John Wayne Gacy besides talking about Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden in the controversial song.
Eminem talks about gun control through Darkness video
The 47-year-old spoke about the need for gun control through his music video of Darkness, released at midnight. It comes with lyrics from the perspective of Stephen Paddock, who killed 58 people in the mass shooting at Las Vegas, in 2017.
In the incident described as the deadliest mass shooting by a lone shooter in United States history, a heavily drugged and drunk Paddock, in a mindless shooting spree, shot dead 58 people attending a country music concert at the Las Vegas strip, from his hotel room, before killing himself.
In the six-minute-long video, Paddock could be seen gulping down pills and alcohol before he starts firing at the crowd below his hotel. The lyrics go on to show the final thoughts going on in the killer's mind: Finger on the trigger, but I'm a licensed owner: With no prior convictions, so loss, the sky's the limit, So my supplies infinite, strapped like I'm a soldier
Towards the end of the video, Eminem through a series of news clippings related to gun violence, raised the question: "When will this end? When enough people care" while urging the viewer to register to vote and help change gun laws in America.
