Eminem Slammed for Lyric About Bombing at Ariana Grande Manchester Concert on Surprise Album
Eminem surprised fans with a brand new album Friday, Music to be Murdered By — but he's the [...]
Eminem surprised fans with a brand new album Friday, Music to be Murdered By — but he's the subject of severe backlash for a particular lyric about a 2017 bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England. In the song, "Unaccommodating," he boasts about his impact on hip-hop music.
"I'm contemplating yelling 'bombs away' on the game / Like I'm outside of an Ariana Grande concert waiting," he rapped at one point in the song, which also features rapper Young M.A.
Many social media users, including those whose loved ones died in the terrorist attack, slammed Eminem as "disgusting" and "pathetic" for the line. Figgen Murray, whose son died in the bombing, called the song "pointless."
"Feels like he is piggybacking on the fame of Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber and says distasteful things about other celebrities," Murray tweeted. "Not clever. Totally pointless. And before all Eminem fans pounce me, I am not interested and will not engage."
Murray's 29-year-old son, Martin Hett, was one of the 22 people who died during the May 2017 suicide bombing at Grande's concert in Manchester, England. Murray's comments were echoed by Grande's fans, who called the lyrics a "pathetic attempt to get attention."
eminem really said "bombs away like i'm outside an ariana concert" and then put an explosion sound effect in his new song Y'ALL?? 😳😳😳 pic.twitter.com/5VQ9gnsmKb
— david's backup (fan account.) (@seIenalust) January 17, 2020
Tf wrong with #Eminem?
— DaShawn Peterson (@BadLikeNicki) January 17, 2020
I’ma have to disagree with him on this line because that was a traumatizing event for people who attended in 2017. Some people perished. Ariana was traumatized from the event. I know he says crazy things but, this outta line!#MusicToBeMurderedBy: pic.twitter.com/8bfOqvwxyq
"You're so disgusting I hope u know that. What u said was very uncalled for and so hurtful to so many people," one Twitter user wrote.
"I love Eminem but this guy really has a bar in his new song mocking the Ariana Grande concert bombing and then has a explosion noise straight after.." someone else said.
Others remembered that the 47-year-old rapper pledged his support to victims of the bombing in 2017 and urged fans to donate money to families who had been affected by it.
"Unaccommodating" is the first track on the album after the intro, "Premonition." A follow-up to 2018's Kamakaze, the 20-track album features cameos from Q-Tip, Ed Sheeran and the late Juice WRLD.
The album's lead single, "Darkness," advocates for tighter gun control laws in the United States, referencing the 2017 Route 91 Harvest Music Festival shooting in Las Vegas that killed 58 people. In the song's music video, Eminem plays the role of an isolated and mentally disturbed character who plots a murderous rampage to gain notoriety.
The video ends with a montage of news reports from recent mass shootings, captioned, "When will it end? When enough people care."
"Make your voice heard and help change gun laws in America," Eminem wrote, urging fans to register to vote in the upcoming presidential election.
The video also links to a website with information and links to various anti-gun violence organizations like Everytown For Gun Safety, March For Our Lives and Sandy Hook Promise.