From being a child star and even going into adulthood, Nick Cannon has always projected a positive image, but he was willing to let that go when it came to Eminem.
It was in 2009 when Em was feuding with Cannon’s then wife Mariah Carey. Before that, the “8 Mile” rapper claimed that he and Carey had a sexual fling, which she never admitted to, and that bothered him.
So on his “Relapse” album, Eminem dissed Carey and Cannon on the song “Bagpipes From Baghdad.”
“Nick Cannon better back the f–k up, I’m not playing I want her back, you punk,” rapped Eminem.
He also called Carey out of her name more than once in the song, and it’s something Cannon wanted revenge for. Carey later responded, however, with a diss song titled “Obsessed,” where she landed her own lyrical blows.
Cannon talked about the beef and his involvement with it during a recent stop at T.I.’s new podcast “ExpediTIously” and said he went looking for Eminem.
“We was flying back on a jet from Africa somewhere, and this mother f–ker drop a song talking sh-t, calling her all kind of b-tches and hoes. I’m like, this is my wife, this my new wife,” Cannon explained.
“I wrote this long ass letter saying I respect you as an artist, I’m actually a fan, I think you are one of the best to ever do it,” he added. “But from man to man, you talking out of pocket to my wife. You gotta be held accountable for that. I need to see you face to face. Face to face, let’s get to it. Whatever happens face to face, happens.”
Eminem grew to popularity as a battle rapper before being discovered by Dr. Dre, and that reputation often preceded him. So exchanging disses on record wasn’t something Cannon was interested in, and he wanted to settle things in a much more physical manner.
“I was like, ‘Look, if you wanna get on the phone, if I gotta go to Detroit. You done disrespected my wife,'” Cannon told Tip. “I gotta show my wife I’m a man, number one. And two, he said my name. I said, ‘I know I’m not going to be able to out rap you, but I will whoop your ass.'”
But Cannon said Eminem eventually apologized and that “cooler heads prevailed.”
Cannon and Carey were married from 2008 to 2016 and have two children together Moroccan and Monroe Cannon.
