Throughout his life, Donald Trump has been recognized as a man who is outspoken in his responses to his critics - and that didn't change when he became president.

In just the first year of the job, the former businessman responded to taunts from Kim Jong Un by calling him "little rocket man", used a racial slur against another politician when she called him out on some bad policymaking, and continues to reference his many "haters and losers" whenever he has the chance to go off on a Twitter rant.

So, when Jay-Z had a few things to say about Trump after his infamous "s***hole countries" blunder, the president was quick to fire back with a response on Twitter:

[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/957603800579297280?]]

The rapper had been asked about Trump on The Van Jones Show, and was asked whether the president's decision to exclude certain immigrants was acceptable on the basis that it would help the economy. And he had been very honest in his response:

"It's not about money at the end of the day. Money doesn't equate to happiness ... You treat people like human beings. That's the main point ... It's not going to lead to happiness, it's going to lead to, again, the same thing. Everyone's going to be sick."

How exactly that links to Trump's (dubious) claim that "Black Unemployment has just been reported to be at the LOWEST RATE EVER RECORDED!" is somewhat of a mystery - but it just goes to show that the president doesn't handle any negative perceptions of him particularly well at all.

With this mind, then, fans were taken aback when Jay-Z appeared to do a complete 180 on Trump, and said that his presidency was a positive thing.

[[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/BgiHgK9FmEQ/?hl=en&taken-by=beyonce]]

In an interview with David Letterman, the musician appeared to be praising the former The Apprentice host at one point - but it wasn't quite what it seemed.

When asked if he was losing faith in the White House, Jay-Z said:

"I think it’s actually a great thing, and here's why. What he’s forcing people to do is have a conversation and people to band together and work together. Like, you can't really address something that's not revealed."

He went on:

"He's bringing out an ugly side of America that we wanted to believe was gone and it's still here. And we still gotta deal with it. We have to have tough conversations. We have to talk about the N-word and we have to talk about why white men are so privileged in this country."

[[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy2UzcvqS3w&feature=youtu.be]]

Sorry to get your hopes up Trump fans - but did you really think Jay-Z was going to suddenly change his mind after all those times the rapper had called him out in the past? Seriously, with his track record, seeing Jay-Z give any genuine praise to Trump seems just about as likely as hearing that Eminem has announced his intentions to vote Republican in the next election. It simply isn't going to happen.

 

 

Kanye West shocked the world when he tweeted he loved Donald Trump, a man accused of racism, sexism, pathological lying, a lack of empathy and having a weird-looking dong. How could Kanye, a supposed man of the people, support a president whose policies only seem to benefit the 1%? How could the guy who said "George Bush doesn't care about black people" say 400 years of slavery "sounded like a choice"? Hip-hop fans were outraged! That is, until Yeezy dropped his new album. That was dope, so they bumped it. But deep down, still outraged!

In interviews with Charlemagne, Kimmel, and Chicago's 107.5, Kanye tried to clarify his words. He apologized for his slavery comment, and said he doesn't love President Trump because of his policies. He loves Trump because of his personality, his "dragon energy", the fact that such a provocateur became president. Also, black people aren't monolithic; they don't have to be Democrats; they can be Republicans; be a free thinker! I'm not sure how it's "free thinking" to passionately support a controversial politician, while not being aware of their policies, but whatever. Still here for the music!

Kanye's walked back his most controversial remarks, but his stubborn Trump support continues to make waves in the industry. During a Siriux XM interview, Snoop Dogg was asked about politics, and went on a vulgar rant, slamming Kanye and "racist" Trump. The 46-year-old rapper is usually so chill, making funky party songs and that charming cooking show with Martha Stewart. Not in this interview. Thanks a lot, Yeezy and Donald - you broke Snoop Dogg!

Speaking about Mr. West, Snoop said, "Well you need to know that a lot of your fans is racist. Ain't no f*cking way around it. I tell 'em straight up muthaf*cker. If you like that n**** [Trump] you muthaf*cken racist. F*ck you and f*ck him. Now what? N**** he drew the lines. He drew the muthaf*ckin’ lines. Before him there were no lines."

The Doggystyle rapper believes that since Trump took office, racism has become a bigger problem: "[Before 2017] everybody was everybody, we respected every thing, we didn't trip, but n**** when you drew the line and start pointing muthaf*cker out and singling them out n*** f*ck y’all then n****. You and them. Kanye too. Don't forget about him too. F*** you too. Throw him in the bag, 'cause he right there with the muthaf*cker."

[[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdihFAMzpis]]

Snoop's no stranger to criticizing Trump. Last November, he released the Make America Crip Again EP, which featured him standing over Trump's dead body on the cover. Before that, he made the music video for Lavender (Nightfall Remix), which featured a clown dressed as Donald Trump getting shot. However, he strongly defended his art to Billboard magazine:

"The ban that this motherf*ckr tried to put up; him winning the presidency; police being able to kill motherf*ckers and get away with it; people being in jail for weed for 20, 30 years and motherf*cker that’s not black on the streets making money off of it; but if you got color or ethnicity connected to your name, you’ve been wrongfully accused or locked up for it, and then you watching people not of color position themselves to get millions and billions off of it."

So, to summarize, Snoop Dogg and Kanye West probably won't be collaborating any time soon. Sad!

The Shady Cypher is back. Eminem is looking to make a full comeback in preparation for his November album release, and he's not afraid to shed some fans to get something off his chest. In a new freestyle, Eminem spit some vicious lines against the President of the United States. Now, the video has dropped at BET's Hip Hop Awards, and it's sure to dominate the news cycle and get a hilarious reaction from a flustered Trump. Some choice lines: "We better give Obama props 'cause what we got in office now is a kamikaze that will probably cause a nuclear holocaust while the drama pops, and he waits for s**t to quiet down, he'll just gas his plane up and fly around till the bombing stops." "Same sh*t that he tormented Hillary for and he slandered then does it more. From his endorsement of Bannon, support for the Klansman, tiki torches in hand for the solider that's black and comes home from Iraq and is still told to go back to Africa." You can watch the whole cypher here: [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/Eminem/status/917922469775925248]] "That's why he keeps screaming, 'Drain the swamp,' cause he's in quicksand." "But this is his form of distraction, plus he gets an enormous reaction when he attacks the NFL, so we focus on that instead of talking Puerto Rico or gun reform for Nevada. All these horrible tragedies and he's bored and would rather cause a Twitter storm with the Packers." "F**k that, this is for Colin, ball up a fist and keep that s**t balled like Donald the b***h." Kaepernick tweeted out his appreciation for Eminem's bars, and thanked him for his support for the protests ignited by the 49ers quarterback. [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/Kaepernick7/status/917955545197314048]] Eminem ended the freestyle with a message of unity, paradoxically enough, around the military and the flag: "The rest of America stand up. We love our military and we love our country but we f***ing hate Trump" Many hip-hop personalities praised the track, with certainly far more to come. The hip hop media world will continue to heap praise upon this freestyle, and hype for Eminem's album release, allegedly dropping November 17th, will only rise. Please let it be good. [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/TheCompanyMan/status/917990936319332352]] Now, how will Donald Trump respond? Feverishly writing and revising in his Twitter app, the man will have to hit hard. Here's a few potential responses: "Eminem has always been trash. Threatened his own mother. Unstable guy! Sad!" The tweet route is one potential response. The other route is for Trump to don some skinny jeans and a snapback, and go stand in a parking lot garage with a bunch of hype beasts, Steve Bannon in Supreme, Stephen Miller's goofy oval-head nodding in the background, Trump pacing as he spits some Presidential bars. And then... Kid Rock steps in for a verse. And then, when you think it's over... Jake Paul steps in for a verse. It'll be YouTube rap at its worst, and that's what we need right now in 2017 - President Trump to beef with Eminem and put out diss tracks on YouTube. I think it's time to descend all the way into trash, guys, it's time to pull out the brakes on this train.

In the wake of Eminem's BET cypher, ravaging Donald Trump with four minutes of bars, America's celebrities have had tons of reactions. From rappers, to LeBron James to Ellen Degeneres, here are the best of them. To start things off, Snoop Dogg posted an Instagram video explaining his feelings toward the freestyle: [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/BaFuxnWjk-W/]] "Shout out to Eminem...for saying some real s**t." Snoop Dogg adds: "We know you a real n***a now." More rap legends took to Twitter to voice their absolute approval: [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/JColeNC/status/917933121584148480]] Cole was far from alone. Richest rapper/producer/mogul ever Puff Daddy/P Diddy/ Sean Combs Tweeted: [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/diddy/status/917974771341692931]] Autotune drenched T-Pain, now living in Binghamton New York, was brought to action: [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/TPAIN/status/917919252828643328]] And when MC Ren, God-level member of NWA, praises you, you know you're doing something right: [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/realmcren/status/917964984755347456]] And then, of course, there's the Riff Raff putting their two cents in (Riff Raff is a cool guy though, puns aside): [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/JODYHiGHROLLER/status/917998480093859840]] Lil Duval was proud that a white ally actually said something in a non-cringeworthy way: [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/lilduval/status/917918814653861889]] And Ace Hood was flung from his Bugatti with shock and awe: [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/Acehood/status/918072248275173376]] Being praised by your peers is the highest accomplishment. Of course, Eminem also received tons of support from celebrities. 8 Mile style, Eminem has beaten the President and earned his job. Right? [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/andylassner/status/917986800735543296]] Ellen was onboard: [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/TheEllenShow/status/917940346981699584]] And comedian Whitney Cummings was all for it: [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/WhitneyCummings/status/917997170883792897]] Even Grace stepped in to praise the Detroit rapper's coup de grace against Trump: [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/DebraMessing/status/917970335718432768]] And, last but far from least, the sports world was seriously loving the freestyle. LeBron himself enjoyed the crafty Fantastic Four bar: [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/917961576350699520]] Indeed, crafting an entire line around The Thing so rapidly takes a lot of verbal skill. And it's a gusty reference, too: after the last Fantastic Four film, a lot of rappers would avoid that topic like the plague. But not Eminem. Maybe he doesn't even know about the new movie, and was thinking about the Jessica Alba version? Probably. And lastly, Colin Kaepernick himself, who got a shout-out in the freestyle, returned the love: [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/Kaepernick7/status/917955545197314048]] Now, lastly, there aren't really any conservative reactions in this list. Commentator Ben Shapiro painted Eminem as a hypocrite, because he has been rather violent and not PC in the past: [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/benshapiro/status/918008188510683136]] And sure, Eminem has been anti-PC and remains that way, and has had some pretty shocking and vulgar bars. But honestly, he's an artist. He's supposed to cross the line, and when he criticizes Trump, he isn't like a random celebrity just talking about it. He's turned it into art, a freestyle, and that changes the dynamic significantly. There's really no rebutting the points that Eminem makes in the freestyle - he's just saying what's true. Yes, Trump disrespected the military. Yes, Trump distracts us all with petty tweets and culture war issues while the world burns. Yes, Trump wants to lower taxes on the rich while spending tons of money on his own lavish lifestyle. Yes, Trump has done many things he would've ripped Hillary apart for if he did them. Yes, he could lead us into a disastrous war with North Korea that involves nuclear weapons. Trump supporters do have to look in the mirror. This guy has done some absurd things that they would have pounced on any other politician for doing. There's a teflon shield around Trump because he is so absurd, but it is an illusory teflon. He can be criticized on a thousand fronts. You can watch Eminem's full freestyle here.

On Thursday night, Eminem surprise-dropped his tenth album, appropriately titled Kamikaze. The fiery, tight rappety-rap project is a return to form, after last year's bland, bloated, poppy Revival. Best of all, Slim Shady is 45 and furious. This time, he talks trash and names names, firing shots at Tyler The Creator, Joe Budden, MGK, and of course, President Donald Trump.

Last year Em dropped The Storm, a scathing four-minute diss to America's lying, idiot president. It started off clunky, with that weird "awfully hot coffee pot" couplet. (What was that about?) But what followed was brutal: "From his endorsement of Bannon / Support for the Klansmen / Tiki torches in hand for the soldier that's black / And comes home from Iraq / And is still told to go back to Africa / Fork and a dagger in this racist 94-year-old grandpa." Savage.

[[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXGZJk0nQs4]]

Eminem used to excoriate harmless pop artists like N'Sync; it was thrilling to see him aim his pen at the most powerful man in the world. In the most famous passage, he alienated half of his fanbase, telling Trump voters to stop supporting him.

"Any fan of mine who's a supporter of his / I'm drawing in the sand a line, you're either for or against / And if you can't decide who you like more and you're split / On who you should stand beside / I'll do it for you with this: F*ck you!" 

[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/joshgondelman/status/1035532094297071616]]

On his new song The Ringer, Eminem says that he regrets making that 'line in the sand' ultimatum. But not because he lost album sales - because it was too abrasive. Marshall says he empathizes with Trump voters, who got swindled by a charismatic con man. It's not the first time that's happened in politics. And let's face it, if you're going to try to change a Trump supporter's mind, "F*ck you" is a bad place to start.

"That line in the sand, was it even worth it? / 'Cause the way I see people turning's / Makin' it seem worthless, it's startin' to defeat the purpose / I'm watchin' my fan base shrink to thirds...if I could go back, I'd at least reword it / And say I empathize with the people this evil serpent / Sold the dream to that he's deserted"

[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/DLoesch/status/957687036122750982]]

On Twitter, President Trump has clapped back at countless critics - Jay-Z, Alec Baldwin, LeBron James, Arnold Schwarzenegger. But he never said a word about Eminem. Maybe that was smart; responding to Eminem's diss is the exact response that would annoy him the most. Or maybe he didn't hear the freestyle at all, due to his busy schedule of golfing and watching Fox and Friends.

However, a few bars later on The Ringer, Eminem says he knows Trump heard the diss, because he got a visit from the Secret Service.

"But I know at least [Trump has] heard it / 'Cause Agent Orange just sent the Secret Service / To meet in person to see if I really think of hurtin' him / Or ask if I'm linked to terrorists / I said, 'Only when it comes to ink and lyricists.'"

If true, this wouldn't be the first time Secret Service agents questioned Eminem. In the 2003 track We As Americans, Eminem rapped, "I don’t rap for dead presidents / I’d rather see the president dead / It's never been said, but I set precedence." 'Apparently, that couplet spooked the White House.

Well, love him or hate him, Eminem is a wizard with words.