Obama Raps to ‘Lose Yourself’ After Being Introduced by Eminem at Harris Rally

Eminem spoke at a campaign event in Detroit for Kamala Harris and introduced the former president.

Obama then took the stage, joking that he was “feeling some kind of way following Eminem” adding that he was “nervous” about speaking, before smoothly sliding into Eminem’s 2002 single “Lose Yourself.”

“He’s nervous, but on the surface, he looks calm and ready/To drop bombs, but he keeps on forgetting,” rapped Obama before letting out a laugh, saying he was “gonna jump out” if Eminem ended up performing.

Later in the speech, Obama took a jab at Donald Trump for his failed town hall where the Republican nominee bizarrely opted to play music for 30 minutes instead of answering questions. “He’s just up there swaying to ‘Ave Maria’ and ‘YMCA’… Now I will say, our playlist might be better,” Obama said. “I’d have ‘Lose Yourself’ on there.”

Eminem hit the stage after speeches by former Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin “Megatron” Johnson, Sen. Gary Peters, and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, among others. In the speeches leading up to Eminem’s introduction, speakers had to call for medics for the folks in the crowd several times. Just Gov. Whitmer’s speech alone was paused at least six times to attend to audience members.

Elissa Slotkin, who’s running for Senate in Michigan, introduced Eminem as “someone who believes in Michigan.” The rapper  whose appearance at the rally was announced just this morning — has rarely dabbled in politics during his career, but he’s made his distaste for Trump abundantly clear over the years.

Back in October 2016, he released the scathing eight-minute track, “Campaign Speech,” and the following year, Eminem turned his freestyle at the BET Hip-Hop Awards into an anti-Trump rap. The freestyle opened with the infamous line  “That’s an awfully hot coffee pot/ Should I drop it on Donald Trump? Probably not/But that’s all I got ’til I come up with a solid plot”  which reportedly helped earn Em a visit from the Secret Service.

And in 2020, the Slim Shady rapper threw his support behind President Joe Biden in the final days of the campaign, allowing Biden to use his 8 Mile classic “Lose Yourself” in an ad. (This was a few years after the artist successfully sued a New Zealand political party for using a knockoff of the track in a campaign spot.)

AMN | Reporters | Source from Rolling Stone.