Eminem has threatened to punch Lana Del Rey in the face during a new freestyle video. Rapping on camera to promote new compilation Shady XV, Eminem also referenced Ray Rice, the NFL player currently suspended after footage emerged of him assaulting his fiancee.
The verse in question runs as follows: “I may fight for gay rights, especially if they dyke is more of a knockout than Janay Rice/ Play nice? Bitch I’ll punch Lana Del Rey right in the face twice, like Ray Rice in broad daylight in the plain sight of the elevator surveillance/ Til her head is banging on the railing, then celebrate with the Ravens.”
Although Del Rey has yet to respond, Azealia Banks has already leapt to the singer’s defence, tweeting Del Rey with a now-deleted message that said: “But does Eminem know that I will personally punch him in his mouth?!”
In the past, Del Rey has admitted being a big Eminem fan, claiming in one interview: “He really changed my life. I didn’t know music could be intelligent. He wasn’t just rhyming for rhyme’s sake. That made me think I could actually talk about the way things actually were. He’s a genius.”
It is not the first time Eminem has attacked female pop stars in his lyrics. His 2000 hit The Real Slim Shady featured derogatory lines about Christina Aguilera, whereas a later song, Bagpipes from Baghdad, disparaged Mariah Carey’s relationship with her husband, Nick Cannon.
