When Eminem dropped the vicious remix to “Chloraseptic,” which found him smiting critics of his latest album Revival, fans wondered who might’ve been the target of the rap god’s wrath. Confirmation seemed to arrive that same day, on Monday (Jan. 8), when Em’s D12 bandmate Bizarre lashed out at Joe Budden, who’d bashed songs off the comeback album and its tracklist prior to its release. However, Bizarre says he simply pointed out that the shoe best fit Budden, the rapper-turned-media-personality who is also signed to Shady Records as a member of Slaughterhouse.

“Eminem didn't tell me anything... I haven't even spoken to him about who the song was for or about,” Bizarre tells XXL, adding that he took offense to the extent to which Budden attacked Em on a December episode of Complex’s daily show Everyday Struggle. “When I first heard Joe say something about the shit, I wanted to say something then, but it wasn't my place to jump out there. So when I heard Marshall going in on people that were going hard on him and his album [on "Chloraseptic (Remix)"], I'm just like, ‘Yeah you, Joe motherfucking Budden. You.’”

The scathing bars appear in the middle of Eminem’s verse on “Chloraseptic (Remix),” which also features Phresher and 2 Chainz. He raps:

“Not as raw as I was, 'Walk on Water' sucks?/Bitch, suck my dick/Y'all saw the tracklist and had a fit ’fore you heard it/So you formed your verdict/While you sat with your arms crossed/Did your little reaction videos and talked over songs (chill!)/Nah, dog, y'all sayin' I lost it, your fuckin' marbles are gone.”

The tension all seems to stem from an Everyday Struggle segment that aired on Dec. 6, on which Joe Budden assessed the Revival tracklist—specifically, it’s pop-star cameos. “I gotta see how Ed Sheeran fits in your story,” he said. “I gotta see how the fuck P!nk, my nigga, fits in your story. I don't know how Phresher—I don't know how any of these people fit in what you are seeing. And from what I know, Em, it sounds trash. Even though it didn't come with audio, we're looking at it, and the common folk are saying, 'This looks trash.'"

Budden’s criticisms continued one week later, on the show's Dec. 13 episode, when he gave his take on Eminem’s song “Untouchable,” which had just been released as a single. “It’s trash—one of the worst songs I’ve ever heard,” Budden said. “I don’t care if the content is great.” He went on to question the motives of Em’s political stance and wonder aloud if it’s a disingenuous gimmick.

“It was harsh,” Bizarre says of Budden’s comments. “It was more than just an opinion. To me, it was an assassination. He went ballistic. Like, ‘Hello, is this guy even your friend?’”

Yesterday, Budden dropped the latest episode of his Joe Budden Podcast titled "How Bizarre," on which he denied that Eminem was talking about him at all. "I don't think that Em was talking to me—number one—but boy did he kill that verse," he said. "I couldn't have trashed the album I never heard, and I was the lone person defending the tracklist.”

Bizarre doesn’t buy it though. “I wouldn't care if I didn't look at him as family,” he says. “People warned us about him... We went on tour with him before Slaughterhouse. [Joe] had dissed D12 back then, so we had a conference call to squash the beef. Then we finally let you in, you get cool with Royce, start Slaughterhouse and then as soon as you get into a position of power you go apeshit.”

He continues: “And then on his podcast, he's talking about, ‘Bizarre, you haven't spoke to Eminem in 15 years. That's the shit that burns me up inside. You know that ain't true. Don't just say some shit to be saying it. But I know Joe, he's about entertainment—I ain't about to be his entertainment no more... Two group members of mine died violent deaths over beefing, and obviously he's not a street cat; he don't understand this. So I'ma let him live in his cyberworld and when he catch them rib shots by the Migos, maybe he'll understand.”

Bizarre isn’t the only member of the Shady family to come to Eminem’s defense. Earlier this week, 50 Cent posted a photo of Joe Budden on Instagram along with a caption that read, "That was a bad idea, look you got a little ass whooping coming. It's not a big deal, you'll get over it."

“We're really big on loyalty,” says Bizarre, who is preparing to drop his LARS project with King Gordy on Feb. 16. “If you beefing with one of us, you beefing with all of us.”

See New Music Releases for January 2018

 

More From XXL