Controversy

IT’S WAR! Gen Z vs. Millennials over the cancellation of Eminem

Gen Z has taken a break from criticizing skinny jeans and side-parts because they’ve recently discovered that some Eminem lyrics were a little extreme. They now want him cancelled. Because that’s what you do, right?

@snmmerr

to everyone that is canceling him I literally love u😁

♬ love the way you lie – sam

Realizing that the characters in Em’s songs could be violent, they want him expunged. His collaboration with Rihanna on “Love the Way You Lie” was the trigger for some, specifically the line “‘If she ever tries to f**king leave again / I’mma tie her to the bed and set this house on fire.” Gee, wait until they hear “Stan.”

So now there’s an online war between Gen Z (those born between 1997 and 2002) and the Millennials (b. 1980-1996) who made Em a superstar.

Boomers, off the hook for this one, can’t wait to see what this pans out.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 39009 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

28 thoughts on “IT’S WAR! Gen Z vs. Millennials over the cancellation of Eminem

  • If people cared more about themselves, and less about others, there would be a lot more tolerance in the world.

    This whole cancel culture thing is ridiculous.

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  • I WANT TO THROW UP! If you have to explain EMINEMS GENIUS….U DONT DESERVE TO UNDERSTAND!!!

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  • You little liberal turds get ur feelings hurt for anything f coca cola n f u. Shady will live on 4 ever.

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    • It isn’t isn’t war. I’m a millennial. We don’t claim him. Anyone who knows what’s what disliked him way before this all, when he did all that to Mariah.

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      • Mariah did all that to herself when she wanna lowkey shade him but okay. /shrug

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  • Eminem is always going to be a part of history. He himself has said lyrically that he just says whatever wild absurdity crosses his mind SPECIFICALLY TO TRY TO PISS YOU OFF. Look up the song ‘Get You Mad’

    He has set so many Guinness records and is still adding to the list and is a poster boy for the fact that Abuse at home CAN be overcome, even with negative surroundings and a lot of personal trials.

    Is someone with the intelligence, vocabulary and values he has someone you really want “removed” from everything? Guess what: either stop being so dramatic or go do what Stan or Mathew Mitchell decided to

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    • This isn’t a war. Em will destroy them. *grabs popcorn*

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  • As a Gen Z, I think this whole cancel culture is just ridiculous, and no matter how many people try to cancel Em, it’s just not going to happen! I’m a Gen Z and I listen to Em a lot and so do other Gen Z’s, and there is no war between nobody it’s just a bunch of idiots on Twitter, who unfortunately have the voice to speak for a whole damn generation! I grew up on Em’s music and this pisses me off!

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    • these are the disgusting infants who think they own the world and call their grandparents “boomers”. i am from gen z too and i dont want to be

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  • …cuz if it aint you today, itll be be you tomorrow…

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  • Gen Y isn’t criticizing skinny jeans or side parts. That’s gen Z… Good Lord, journalism is dead. It’s sloppy writing like this that makes me think I could be a best selling author xP Seriously! First sentence of the piece, and the author is already wrong. Way to go..

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  • These little children are all in their feelings these days. If they put more time into making something out of themselves and less time looking for something to bitch about, they might actually do something with their lives, like Eminem.

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  • Not a bad article honestly but the generation age ranges are wrong. And did you mean gen z instead of gen y in the first paragraph? Because gen y is millennials. Anyway not to bad 👍

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  • Oh boy just wait until they hear same song and dance

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  • Eminem must not be cancled u must mellenians yes i spelled it wrong on purpose

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  • I think you guys are FUCKED for even trying to cancel his damn career EMINEM is one of the greatest rappers ever. Theres NO taking EM out PERIOD!!!!!!!!

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  • Eminem cancelled? Haaa. If Congress couldnt do it in Y2K then its not going to happen. Eminem is more than a person. He is a movement & a household name. He is thermite, and hes not going to stop until he decides to. Or when people stop pissing him off. Trying to cancel Eminem is like killing John Wicks puppy. Nothing can save you from whats to come and I cant wait.

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  • Pretty sure it’s got nothing to do with politics to the idiot calling a bunch of kids liberals. Stop watching Q anon conspiracy theories.

    But seriously everyone else who’s normal, Eminem is the kind of artist who really doesn’t care what anyone thinks especially a bunch of kids. So maybe that’s the way to approach this.

    Ignore it because who cares????? Everyone has an opinion so get over it.

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  • Yeah we claim him lmao just because you don’t like him you think you speak for millennial? Tf out of here ahah dumb comment

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    • I said “every millennial who knows what’s what doesn’t claim him”. Meaning, YOU didn’t get the memo, YOU don’t know what’s what. He was cancelled long ago for what he did to Mariah in the early 2000s.

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  • I’m a gen z and I think this cancel culture thing is a good idea but going after Eminem is just going too far the whole cancel culture idea is being abused, like what’s wrong with skinny jeans or Amazon’s logo.
    Can you imagine they said it looked like Hitler?

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    • I hate to be the old auntie, but the only reason Gen Z thinks cancel culture is a good idea is because you guys aren’t old enough. The oldest Gen Z is only in their very early 20s, you guys haven’t lived yet. You don’t know what it’s like to change your minds and learn and grow. In 10, 15 years when you’ve made many mistakes, you’ll see that it’s not a good idea, people change and evolve, they shouldn’t be cancelled by one thing (or even multiple things).

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      • I’m with you, Lu. When my music went dormant I had to rethink what I was able to listen to because what was near and dear to my heart just wasn’t there much and those were days when things weren’t easily found like now so it was like it was gone (switched from saying it died to saying dormant because it’s more realistic nowadays – missed a lot of shows because of that lack of tech). I evolved (and, in some ways, devolved) and became more accommodating and expanded my horizons. My heart will always want my first loves: new wave, post-punk and punk but I am always looking for bands that fit that ethos and/or are interesting enough to catch my interest.

        This is the first I’ve heard of cancel culture and it’s seems so apropos of people who can only thing of thumbs up and the most popular things floating to the top (like reddit, etc.). I am all for boycotting companies and/or entities that do something I find particularly egregious but to do so for something as simple as being who they are in their lyrics or the lyrics that are written for them (apparently – not an Eminem or Mariah Carey fan) seems like a whole lot of whining to me from snot-nosed brats who haven’t grown up yet. If you’re going to ‘cancel’ someone, go after someone who is worth it for goodness sakes! Sure, that’s up for interpretation but certainly there’s some universality to some lines not being crossed. Lyrics are just lyrics. Some have meaning and some don’t. Some are meant to be taking seriously and some don’t represent the artist at all. When I was younger I took it all seriously. As I’ve grown older, I’ve learned not to get too close to my idols or those that I go all fangirl over (just isn’t worth it) and besides singing along to, I don’t deep dive into lyrics because I have less time as well. I think that’s probably a thing that will and does happen to everyone unless they are rich and/or lucky to have loads or free time.

        I happen to like Fear. I think Lee Ving is a badass. Do I like all their lyrics? Hell no. Do I think they are homophobic jerks? No, I don’t think so. From everything I read long ago, they were just making noise to make noise. The punk scene was about upsetting the status quo. And, just like all skinheads back then weren’t Nazi (&^(^%, not all punk bands who had questionable lyrics weren’t fill-in-the-blank (%^(&^%.

        I feel bad for kids whose parents made them grow up wrapped in bubble wrap who think the world owes them a life full of safety valves for every scenario. That’s what this all seems to come down to. Nobody is happy unless their world is bubble wrapped from every possible occurrence of something negative. The world is not your oyster. It’s dangerous and ugly and full of overt violence and hatred and evil. You shouldn’t feel safe or have any expectation thereof or any RIGHT to. That’s just magical thinking. So says the pessimist. (obviously, right!?)

        Ruins who also goes by Ru (for you, Lu )

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      • You are ridiculous first everyone in their 20s are millennials born between 80s to 00. The majority of people of all ages are not on some cancel crave… like you need to chill and don’t believe the hype. Second about this whole Eminem thing it’s all fake… if you did your research dude this all started because of one silly 12-year-old looking girl in some random video who pointed out a Eminem Lyric. Some weird young lady in her 20s or 30s saw it and made some cringe rapping video about it and inaccurately said a bunch of people or a whole generation was trying to cancel Eminem lol. No one is trying too it was just one random girl in a video and you fell for exaggerated fake Gossip media….like I said don’t believe the hype.

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  • Yes I strongly apologize for my generation I hate them too and love Eminem songs those idiots don’t know what culture is and don’t know the art of raps made by them cause Gucci gang and whatever the fck cause those songs are “great and have meaning” yes no those idiots ruin everything.

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  • i never heard about engine until recently as gen z

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  • The 80s to 00s is a whole lot of generation gap for example 1980 – 1985 is way lot different from some born in 1986 – 1994/5 but in the case of 1995 – 2003 this is the grey area especially 1995, 1996 and 1997 these group of children a lot more different than earlier ones because they lean towards gen z more or millennial depends upon the personality and upbringing, because this generation is zillinials born of 1995 – 2000s but in case of 2001 or up they are core gen z that is why the problem is happening

    Reply

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