In the early 2000s, two hip-hop titans Nelly and Eminem found themselves at odds, and now Nelly opens up about his true feelings about the Slim Shady and their feud.
- Mar 26, 2025
AceShowbiz - Years after his infamous beef with Eminem, Nelly gets real about the story behind their friction during an interview with Bootleg Kev. In a brutally honest conversation, Nelly revealed the root cause: a miscommunication.
"I misinterpreted something when I was really new, and I wanted to apologize to him," Nelly said. "But I was at a time where, I'm coming in, I'm the new guy, anybody talking… Well, somehow I misinterpreted that he had something to say about what we were doing."
Nelly's misinterpretation led him to take a jab at Eminem during an appearance on MTV's "Total Request Live" (TRL). Nelly's remarks, "I don't play with candy. I eat M&Ms... I just don't think [the] dude plan[s] on coming to tour to St. Louis," fueled the rumors of a growing feud between the two stars.
Eminem, known for his sharp lyrical rebuttals, responded on his 2002 track "Invasion." Referencing Nelly's hit "Air Force Ones," Eminem rapped, "Stomping in my Air Force Ones/ But you won't be able to tell/ If it's two pairs or one/ It's just gonna feel like so many feet kicking you."
Despite the tension, the feud never truly erupted. According to Nelly, the turning point came when they met in person at an event in Detroit.
"Somebody came and was like, 'Yo, Em wants to come through and holler.' I'm like, 'Okay.' Then he came in, and he's such a dope cat. He had Hailie with him, she was young. And he was like, 'Yo, man, my daughter.' I felt like a d**k," Nelly recalled.
From that moment, the two rappers managed to set aside their differences and develop mutual respect. Eminem would later shout out Nelly in tracks like "The Conspiracy Freestyle" in 2003 and "No Apologies" in 2006, further solidifying their truce.
Today, both stars continue to thrive in their respective careers. Eminem released the chart-topping album "The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grace)" in July while Nelly is currently celebrating the 25th anniversary of his debut album "Country Grammar" with a massive world tour.
Nelly summed up his feelings about the feud and its resolution, "I'm glad we got that out of the way. It's f**ked up when people that you f**k with and that you admire on a level… it's like, dude spits…. I'm glad we squashed that. Em is a cat."
The story of Nelly and Eminem serves as a reminder of how miscommunications can lead to conflicts, but also how understanding and dialogue can turn adversaries into allies.
