Rihanna and Eminem stand as highly acclaimed musicians in the industry, with several accolades under their names. Their years-long collaborations have been marked by notable ventures, including the Grammy-nominated song Love the Way You Lie. While they have been on great terms for the past years, things got a bit tense after the revelation of a previously unreleased verse from a song titled, Things Get Worse.
The leaked lyrics of the song stated how the rapper sided with Chris Brown over his assault on the Umbrella singer. The two were in a relationship for around a year before Brown attacked his then-girlfriend. He pleaded guilty to felony assault and was sentenced to five years of probation, one year of domestic violence counseling, and six months of community service.
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Eminem’s Unreleased Verse That Almost Devastated Rihanna
In 2019, an unreleased verse from a song titled Things Get Worse was leaked on the internet. As per XXL, following the lyrics leak, a full reference track also surfaced featuring some devastating lyrics surrounding Chris Brown’s abuse of Rihanna. The leaked verse featured Eminem singing,
“I’m not playing Rihanna where’d you get the V.D. at?”
“Let me add my two cents/Of course I side with Chris Brown/I’d beat a bitch down, too.”
The verse was reportedly recorded while he was working on his 2009 album Relapse. However, reports also stated that an edited version of the verse featured in B.o.B.’s 2011 song of the same name. The rapper’s representatives later released a statement saying that the leaked verse contains “something that’s over 10 years old,” emphasizing that it was discarded and rewritten.
He said, “After Eminem recorded it, he scrapped it and rewrote it.” The statement also said that he has a great relationship with the Diamonds singer. The leaked verse was a shock for many as both Rihanna and Eminem have worked together several times and were considered friends by many. The rapper later apologized to the Barbadian singer via his 2020 song Zeus.
Eminem Apologized to Rihanna Through a Song
Eminem issues a direct apology to his fellow singer with a song in his 2020 album Music to be Murdered By: Side B. The rapper acknowledged his past behavior in a song titled Zeus, as he apologized to Rihanna over the leaked lyrics.
“Long as I re-promise to be honest / And wholeheartedly, apologies, Rihanna / For that song that leaked / I’m sorry, Ri / It wasn’t meant to cause you grief / Regardless, it was wrong of me.”
Talking about the leaked verse in an interview with Sirius XM’s Shade 45, he said that he had no “recollection” of making something like that. “So I was caught off guard too. I was like, ‘What the f*ck, I said that?'” he stated. He also shared that looking back at it, he thinks that he “should have thought better of it,” while acknowledging his mistakes.
