There are many targets on Eminem’s recently-released Kamikaze album. One of the people that Marshall Mathers calls out by name is Lord Jamar. Over nineteen years ago Em ran and worked in the same circles as Sadat X back on Soundbombing 2. However, in 2018, he appears to be at war with another member of Brand Nubian.

Back in 2013, Jamar was interviewed by VladTV and listed white artists that participate in Black music. In addition to mentioning Miley Cyrus, Jamar uses Eminem as an example of the commercial success through white appropriation. “We had a lot of people talking about ‘Is Eminem a guest in the house of Hip-Hop?’ You’re mother-f*cking right he is! Just ’cause he sold the most records and all that [does not change this fact]. I f*cks with Eminem as a lyricist and all that, but it’s like, we are in America, okay, where the majority of the people are white. Now the majority of the people in the world are not white. But here in America, they’re white. So when you have a white artist doing Black music, white people just gravitate toward that crazily—and history [shows] it. But sales doesn’t equate to greatness.” Jamar goes on to list the Beastie Boys, Justin Timberlake, and Robin Thicke as other examples of appropriation and points out that like Eminem with Dr. Dre, each had cosigns from Black artists.

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That statement, which later prompted Shady Records artist Yelawolf to respond, appears to be at the crux in Eminem’s Jamar-directed lines on video single, “Fall.” “Far as Lord Jamar, you better leave me the hell alone / Or I’ll show you an Elvis clone / Walk up in this house you own, thrust my pelvic bone / Use your telephone and go fetch me the remote / Put my feet up and just make myself at home / I belong here, clown, don’t tell me ’bout the culture / I inspired the Hopsins, the Logics, the Coles, the Seans, the K-Dots, the 5’9’s, and oh / Brought the world 50 Cent, you did squat, but piss and moan.” The lines mention several artists of color that Eminem inspired in addition to signing. Meanwhile, Eminem uses that “House of Hip-Hop” symbol from Jamar’s interview five years ago and describes how comfortable he is willing to get.

Jamar, who celebrates his 50th birthday today, addressed those “Fall” rhymes on Rate The Bars. The veteran New York MC/producer admits that he hears something different in those lines. At 2:18, the Brand Nu co-founder recites Em’s bars aimed at him. “Rhyme-wise, I expect a little more out of Eminem, like to be a little more wordy with his sh*t. As far as just a rhyme—forgetting about what he’s talking about and who it’s talking to, rhyme-wise… this is cool. It’s not the illest Eminem sh*t that people look for when they look for Eminem. But I guess he had something to say here. See, usually, he rhymes for rhyme-sake and just puts words together. But here he actually had certain concepts he wanted to interject.”

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Jamar continues and suggests he personally interprets a racial overtone in the diss. “I’m not gonna sit here and fully break down this whole rhyme, where he talks about being a clone of Elvis, and especially the ‘go fetch me the remote’ part. That’s very disturbing, to say the least, for a white man to infer to a Black man, to go fetch him the remote. That’s how I interpreted it, that he’s telling me to fetch him the remote. Some people will say that he’s saying that he’s gonna fetch himself the remote; I don’t interpret it like that. And most people that hear it don’t interpret it like that. To me, a word like ‘fetch’ invokes certain imagery which is not cool. But you know what? Let’s give this a 3 [out of 5],” decides Jamar.

During the rest of the Rate The Bars segment, Jamar hands himself a 4 for bars on Brand Nubian’s “Slow Down.” He awards Joyner Lucas’ Kamikaze guest verse on “Lucky You” a 3.5. He hands MGK’s “Rap Devil,” and suggests its superior to an Eminem diss aimed at the Cleveland, Ohio rapper. He gives Don Q’s “Don Season Pt. 2” a 3. He doles out a 2 to KYYNGG’s “Rich & Wild.” Jamar awards DJ Khaled artist Flipp Dinero’s “Leave Me Alone” a 3.5. As for Grand Puba’s “Don’t Let It Go To Your Head” batch of bars from 20 years ago, a perfect 5. The closing set of bars he reviews is Sean Price’s “Bully Rap.” Jamar admits he may be missing the rhyme pattern and hands the late Heltah Skeltah MC a 2.5.