Plenty of hip-hop heavyweights have stepped up to do battle on the Verzuz stage over the past year, from Jeezy vs. Gucci Mane to Raekwon vs. Ghostface, series creators Swizz Beatz and Timbaland, Eve vs. Trina, and, most recently, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony vs. Three 6 Mafia.
But since the launch of the wildly popular pandemic must-see programming in March 2020, the one name that keeps coming up on everyone’s short list of potential unbeatable battlebots is the one and only Eminem. To date, though, Marshall Mathers hasn’t taken the bait. But Em’s longtime mentor, Dr. Dre, stoked the fires of desire on Sunday (Jan. 23) when he posted a clip of Slim Shady ripping his 100 m.p.h. finishing verse from 2020’s “Godzilla” in front of what looks like a home arcade with the taunt/message, “Marshall Mathers vs Who???!!”
Dre didn’t mention Verzuz by name, but he still managed to get Swizz fired up, with the producer-rapper weighing in with a “BUSTA!!!!!!!!!!! Let’s go,” followed by five fire emoji. It seemed like Swizz was onto something as the comments on Dre’s post were flooded with co-signs on the Busta suggestion and almost as many claiming that “nobody” can touch Em’s flow.
And though he later deleted it, T.I. also appeared to throw his mic in the ring with a raised hand emoji. Timbaland didn’t offer any suggestions, but the Verzuz co-creator was definitely into the idea, re-posting the Dre video and writing, “👀👀👀 @drdre said @eminem vz who?????? Happy Monday!!!!!!!”
Check out Dre’s and Timbaland’s post below.