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Music

Eminem Accuses the NRA of Controlling America in a New Freestyle

Performing at the iHeartRadio Music Awards, Em opened his Kehlani collab "Nowhere Fast" with yet another political screed.
Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for iHeartMedia 

If even Kid Rock can eventually realize the error of his ways and Axl Rose can go from redneck to resistor, then Eminem's pivot to radical anti-government freedom fighter isn't too nonsensical by comparison, even if people went a little too crazy over that BET Hip-Hop Awards cypher. Last night at the iHeartRadio Music Awards, Em again used a large public platform to condemn an American institution in a freestyle, because that's apparently the only way to communicate these issues to his audience without them thinking it's "fake news" or something. The new verse, added to his Kehlani-featuring song "Nowhere Fast," responds to the recently renewed gun control debate and goes after the NRA, accusing them of being an Illuminati-esque force that controls the US government.

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This whole country is going nuts / And the NRA is in our way / They’re responsible for this whole production / They hold the strings, they control the puppet.

Much like the anti-Trump BET freestyle, it's pretty funny to imagine how Em's Middle American fans will take this, though the conspiratorial tone of the critique is pretty close to an Alex Jones rant. It makes the NRA seem like an anomaly instead of an evil that's hard-baked into American culture and ideals. Plus, Em once rapped "I try to keep it positive and play it cool / Shoot up the playground and tell the kids to stay in school" a mere two months before Columbine happened so maybe he's not the greatest authority on gun control. You can watch Eminem's performance below, the freestyle takes up the first 30 seconds.

Phil is on Twitter.