Nearly 18 years ago, Eminem was among the all-star cast that helped welcome The Game to the top of mainstream Rap. Marshall Mathers co-produced and appeared on The Documentary, courtesy of the song “We Ain’t.” Much of the G-Unit/Aftermath Entertainment family supported The Game in an album that topped the charts and introduced a new West Coast Hip-Hop star that was clearly built to last.

While The Game’s staying power is proven, it has been a bumpy road regarding his associations. A lot has happened in the nearly two decades. The Game has had a complicated relationship with mentors 50 Cent and Dr. Dre, as well as former Interscope Records chairman Jimmy Iovine. Although peace has been made at times, The Game appeared to vent frustrations following this year’s epic Super Bowl halftime show. The affair honoring Dre with appearances by Snoop Dogg, Em, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige, 50, and Anderson .Paak did not include The Game—who says he was never invited. Since then, Jayceon Taylor credited Kanye West’s hand in his career above Dre’s while on Drink Champs. The Compton, California artist then recently began instigating things with Eminem. After a 2018 battle ensued between Em and Machine Gun Kelly over remarks made about Em’s daughter Hailie, The Game commented on bikini photos on the now 26-year-old’s Instagram this week. Today (August 12), with the release of DRILLMATIC Heart vs. Mind, The Game, now 42, disses his former collaborator in an all-out attack on Eminem, his legacy, and white appropriation of Black culture.

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“The Black Slim Shady” operates as a 10-minute-plus concept song, with The Game taking an Uber from a driver who says he’s on his way to 8 Mile Road. The Game shouts out Shady and Aftermath—something Heads may have heard in 2005, but seems out of place in 2022. By the second verse, Chuck Taylor appears to be channeling Eminem’s Slim Shady LP style. “I killed Dr. Dre in my basement last night / I was wasted last night, I went ape sh*t last night,” he raps, copying Em’s early running joke about kidnapping his mentor producer. He then gets topical, something Eminem did on his early albums to stir the pot. “Chopped his body up, and forget where I placed it last night / Had a slice of humble pie, I couldn’t taste it last night / Lost my taste and my smell, I got Omarion / Me and Dr. Fauci went to Crazy Girls and then we got our party on.” He makes comments about Lizzo, Saweetie, and others—all in the early Eminem style and delivery.

As the Hit-Boy-produced song progresses, the Uber driver appears to be Stan’s brother, from Eminem’s 2000 milestone song. It’s another deranged fan in an awkward exchange with The Game. The remarks suggest that the fan no longer feels Em’s music.

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In verse three, The Game airs grievances that go back more than 15 years. “Ask Dre, all I got is my word, my d*ck and my MAC 10 / One thing you can never have is my motherf*ckin’ Black… skin / This ain’t no suit that I wore / This ain’t a mansion, a hangin’ plaque, this ain’t no stupid award / So, oh, he goes platinum / And, oh, I’m on the ‘Math with him / He got all the Blackest friends / He wants to be African / Me, left for dead on The Doctor’s Advocate / Dre never executive-produced it, I just imagined it / Oh, here goes the magic tricks / Candy shops and the magic stick.” The Game alludes to his second major label album, which distanced him from Dre and others—despite its title—at a time when Game’s feud with 50 Cent was raging. In the ensuing bars, The Game invokes the name of Royce 5’9, D12, Big Sean, and seems to suggest that he should have become Aftermath’s star during a period where a reclusive Em battled addiction and personal issues. “You depressed, you just maskin’ it / You pop a Adderall, a Vicodin, and a Aspirin / But the ‘Math wasn’t Mathin’ in / So pass me the torch ’cause the torture in my mind / With the voice that defied rhymes will force the blind eye / To see that I was in the white Rolls Royce with five nines / When you was pretendin’ to be the white Royce da 5’9 / I just crossed a fine line / Might just force the white guy to call D12 so he can be the pork they grind, swine / And the biggest rapper in Detroit, that award is Sean Don / So uncork the Chardonnay and stick my fork in white wine.” Then Game attacks Eminem’s legacy and threatens violence. “I never heard you in a club, I never heard you in a bar / Eleven albums and ten never got played inside of my car / I’d rather listen to Snitch-9ine like 69 times / And participate in sixty-nines with 69 nuns than listen to you / You’re a Karen, call the cops, tell ’em it’s a Black man on your block / With a Glock and he got it cocked.” A few bars later, he also offers, “So ficky-ficky Slim Shady, please, stand up / Shoot the fade with me, I’d love to put these hands up.” It gets more personal by the lyric, as he says, “I could .40 Glock you, unarmed / Drop the world on your head with one arm / Dear Slim, Hailie’s with me and she’s unharmed for now (Dad, I’m really scared).”

In the close of the third verse, The Game keeps looking to provoke Eminem and his fanbase. “The ‘Renegade’ or the ‘Soldier,’ I really gave it to Hova / Twenty-three years, still ain’t penetratin’ the culture / You are not, Top 5, in mine, B.I.G or Pac eyes/ No André, no Nas, stop tellin’ white lies / Sniff a white line, this the right time / I Suge Knight Vanilla Ice, I’m not Mr. Nice Guy.” Notably, JAY-Z and Suge Knight are two figures that The Game has also dissed vehemently during his career. As is the case with Em, Knight is a former associate of The Game’s—both hailing from Compton.

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As the song nears its end, The Game continues with aspects of Eminem’s family, while alluding to being blackballed. “You done pissed off Jimmy, Universal, and Interscope / Know, I got Jimmy, Slim, 50, and Universal in a scope / ‘Cause I’m Shady, Shadier than him / I’m crazy, crazier than Kim / So when the Bat signal goes up in the clouds above the buildings / I hope you live long enough to see heroes turn into villains / Oh, you think I’m a Joker? Well, riddle me this / You love your mother? / Well, I’m cleanin’ out your closet for you and your half-brother / And I told you when I was in Detroit, I wanna go to 8 Mile / ‘Cause when I was little to get some M&M’s, I had to walk eight miles / But you wouldn’t leave the studio, your life is on loop That’s why I’m doggy in style, ’cause ni**as rather bump Snoop.” The Game also pokes fun at himself for an appearance on dating show Change Of Heart. In doing so, he jabs at Em’s failed relationship with Mariah Carey.

The Game then raps about Eminem’s parents. “And wipe down my stripper pole with the hair grease from your bandana / You wish you was Santana or Cam in them 10 J’s / Durag for 10 years and never had one wave / And I was that runaway slave, that they buried in that one grave / And some say he would back to haunt Slim Shady one day / Now I’m here, hope you ready, this is not mom’s spaghetti / This your dad was 22 when he ate lil’ Debbie / He takes the cake / ‘Cause she was only 15, so how could one not sympathize with her havin’ you as a teen? / She had to lose herself in the moment, give up her dreams / Just to see her son out here lookin’ like a wigger in jeans / Little Marshall Mathers, nad ’cause nobody thinks that little Marshall matters / That sentiment’s hard to gather.” Game then returns to the “Stan” concept, claiming he kidnapped the character’s brother. Within, he makes more remarks questioning Eminem’s position as a white man in a Black and Brown culture: “The sweatpants, the dad-hat, durag and no jewelry / Umm, is that cultural appropriation / Ask Paul if it’s even appropriate for me to make that statement, rude of me.“

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He closes with emphasis, alluding once more to Eminem’s past battles with addiction: “I know you fiendin’ for a Dr. Dre bass hit / How ironic, an addict in a basement / And now I chronic, ’cause I done had it with the fake sh*t / You never understood ebonics or a cadence / I press everything like a weight bench / And every time the plate hits, you off another playlist / Sorry, it ain’t workin’ out / Ni**as shootin’, Billy Blanks; it’s my winner’s speech / While I’m here, I should really thank MGK, UGK, Tech N9ne, Uzi spray / My other 12 personalities wasn’t really in the mood today / Hi, kids, here’s somethin’ funny, let’s all say, ‘Ni**a’ once / Crashed the car, hit and run / Jumped out, hid the gun / Your fans want a ‘Rap God,’ well, f*ck it, I’ma give ’em one / I came to put Slim in a box but he already live in one.”

In the final remarks, The Game alleges: “Pick that pen up, don’t be lazy / Call up Dre and get that Dre beat / Jump off stage if sh*t get crazy.“

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Eminem, who has addressed opponents in recent years, has yet to respond. Another former Eminem foe, Canibus, previously played with the “Stan” concept in an effort to diss Em on his C! True Hollywood Stories album.

DRILLMATIC Heart vs. Mind also features Rick Ross, Ice-T, Kanye West, 2 Chainz, Cam’ron, A$AP Rocky, and more.

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#BonusBeat: Other songs from from The Game, including DRILLMATIC Heart vs. Mind cuts, are currently featured om the official Ambrosia For Heads playlist: