Since entering August, Hip-Hop celebrations are in high gear as Heads march to August 11’s symbolic 50th anniversary. Notably, one of the superstars of Rap is dissing a legendary MC from the culture’s formative years. On the new song “Realest,” Eminem serves a diss to Grandmaster Melle Mel, his fellow Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame inductee. This comes less than a year after Em shouted out Melle (and over 100 other MCs) from his induction speech.

On a new song, “Realest,” by Ez Mil—who is the latest signing to Shady/Aftermath/Interscope, Eminem uses the track to go at Melle Mel, and others who have criticized him. “Hip-Hop has been good to me, huh / But when they say that I’m only Top 5 ’cause I’m white, why would I be stunned?” Eminem raps. “My skin color’s still working against me / ‘Cause second—I should be—to none / Bein’ white being why they put me at 5, nope, that’s why they can’t put me at 1.”

Why Every Rapper Owes A Debt To Grandmaster Melle Mel (Video)

In a year where lists have emerged (including the the Billboard/VIBE “Best Rappers Of All Time” ranked list that put Marshall Mathers at #5), Eminem is upset that he is not #1. “And that is the only retort, is I’m not played in the clubs / Muthaf__ka, put a cork in it / Only reason they still play your s__t in the clubs is because you still perform in ’em / I am a guest in this house, but I turned this b___h into a mansion.” This line follows Brand Nubian’s Lord Jamar calling whites a guest in Hip-Hop nearly a decade ago. In his lyrics, Em considers himself a guest—a position he’s taken publicly since a 2020 interview with Slaughterhouse’s Kxng Crooked. Em and Jamar had a word of words throughout the last five years. Many believe the jab about club appearances is aimed at former collaborator, The Game, who dissed Eminem with a scathing 10-minute attack in 2022. At the time, the Compton native was also critical of mentor Dr. Dre.

Like going at the Brand Nubian MC/producer in years past, Eminem goes at Melle Mel. He raps, “Shout out to Furious Five and Grandmaster Flash, but boy / There’s someone who really is furious / Stay out his path, his wrath avoid / I’ll be the last to toy with a juice-head whose brain is half destroyed, like a meteor hit it / Now with Melle Mel, he lost his ass to ‘roids.” Melle Mel has been a longtime advocate of fitness and muscle-building. Eminem is alleging that the artist’s gains are from using performance-enhancing steroids.

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The lyrics appear to come as a response to a March interview Melle Mel did with The Art Of Dialogue. In response to the Billboard/VIBE “Best Rappers Of All Time” ranked list, Mel (at #48) attributed Eminem’s #5 placement to his skin color. “Obviously [Eminem is] a capable rapper. If you was talking about sales, he’s sold more than everybody. If you were talking about rhyme style, okay he got a rhyme style. But he’s white. He’s white!” Melle asserted. “So now if Eminem was another n___a like all the rest of us, would he be Top 5 on that list when a n___a that could rhyme just as good as him is 35? That had records and all that? He’s 35. He’s white.” Although unclear if Melle was connecting the two, Future was #35. In that same interview taping, the Bronx, New York legend asserted why Busta Rhymes is a better MC than JAY-Z. Jay was crowned #1.

During that same interview, Melle Mel doubled down with criticism for Em. “Nobody wants to rap like Kendrick Lamar. Nobody wants to rap like Eminem,” the veteran said. “A lot of people wanted to rap, like [Tupac Shakur] and Biggie.” Previously, Melle had told VladTV that he believes he could beat Eminem in a battle.

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Eminem also co-produced the single with Slashmouth. Ez Mil is a native of Olongapo, Philippines who is reportedly now based in Las Vegas, Nevada. His album, DU4LI7Y: REDUX, is slated to release on August 11. He notably advocates for Em’s pole position in the lyrics: “I done got hit on the head, barely survived that s__t / Minus a nine from 10, Eminem’s spot still sits / But f__k a position, I’m tunin’ him in / Let all you rock out with it, I ain’t ever gonna be an opt-out mission / Get the G___k out with it, get to poppin’, dip out and smoke / With the homies we mobbin’, while I’m cleanin’ the stash of my calibers / Some of them might got ya’ name on ’em / Wanna brag about s__t that could happen / I am the reason that they got a chain on ’em / When I rap, they consider me a Gatling / Fillin’ up mags, I’m finna go clapping / Get in that bag with the G.O.A.T, ‘B-Rabbit,’ I know they hate this flow / I’m in the mode to get to killin’ again with the best stick in your dome.”

In addition to the new song by Ez Mil and Eminem, the Ambrosia For Heads playlist features recent music by past Shady Records artists Conway The Machine, Westside Gunn, and Royce 5’9 featuring Redman. Along with Royce, songs from Michigan artists including Page Kennedy, Black Milk, and Apollo Brown are on the playlist.

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#BonusBeat: In early 2018 AFH captured video of Melle Mel explaining why he originally felt his group’s “The Message” was not going to be successful: