'I felt like a d***, man': Nelly apologises to Eminem for early career feud
Nelly explained that his feud with Eminem was actually a ‘miscommunication’ and he's glad they moved past it.
Nelly has apologised to Eminem for their decades-old feud.
The ‘Just A Dream’ rapper was embroiled in a rap beef with the ‘Lose Yourself’ hitmaker in the noughties, but Nelly has now admitted the scuffle was based simply on a “miscommunication” and he’s glad they’ve been able to move on from it.
Appearing on the ‘Bootleg Kev’ podcast on Monday (24.03.25), the 50-year-old star said: “I misinterpreted something when I was really, really new. I wanted to apologise to Em … Somehow, I misinterpreted that he had something to say about what we were doing.”
Nelly — whose real name is Cornell Haynes Jr — explained that he was a newcomer on the music scene in the early 2000s and interpreted one of Eminem’s lyrics as a slight toward him. Nelly later took aim at Eminem on MTV’s ‘Total Request Live’, saying: “I don’t play with candy. I eat M&Ms.”
On his 2002 track ‘Invasion’, Eminem — whose real name is Marshall Mathers III — called out Nelly’s song ‘Air Force Ones’ in the lyrics: “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.”
Nelly claimed the rappers managed to put any bad blood behind them and insisted he looks up to Slim Shady as “the GOAT”.
The ‘Hot in Herre’ rapper reflected: “I felt like a d***, man, because we were Eminem fans. Just miscommunication, man. Em is a dope cat, man.”
He also recalled Eminem inviting him to an afterparty in Detroit, where he said his own daughter, Hailie Jade, is a fan of Nelly’s music.
Ultimately, Nelly — who is married to ‘Rock Wit U’ singer Ashanti - added: “I’m glad we squashed that, cause Em is a cat.”
Both rappers are still busy today.
Nelly is currently touring worldwide to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his first album, ‘Country Grammar’. Last July, Eminem released the album ‘The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce)’, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.
