Of all the old rap beefs that would be unearthed, i bet you weren't expecting Marky Mark and Eminem.
When it comes to old rap beefs, there are likely a few that come to mind if you are a hip-hop head. Maybe Nas vs Jay Z, Biggie vs Tupac, 50 Cent vs Ja Rule, but I reckon you would be hard pressed to find someone whose first thought would go to Eminem vs Marky Mark - aka Mark Wahlberg.
In case you didn’t know, before Wahlberg was starring in films, he was a rapper, known as Marky Mark. He was even part a hip hop group, Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. What a name.
Well, oddly enough, despite essentially being on the opposite side of the rap quality spectrum, there was some tension between Wahlberg and Eminem.
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A video of the pair on MTV's Total Request Live in 1999 has begun recirculating on social media and viewers have admitted to cringing at the tension between the pair.
In the clip, Eminem and Wahlberg fist bump and hug before shaking hands with the MTV host.
Eminem even starts things off with a little dig at the actor saying: “Ah we’ll just all stand together like a happy fun bunch.”
The trio then speak about progressing their careers in rapping and acting, stood very tense next to one another.
“It has the be the most uncomfortable interview ever. I'm not sure what is funnier....The hands or the cocky gum chewing,” one X user wrote.
“Eminem, Mark Whalberg, and Carson Daly on live TV in 1999. Absolutely zero chemistry between any of them, very awkward,” a Reddit user also commented.
“IDK I cringed even before Mark Wahlberg came out,” another added
“Wahlberg could have laughed it off. So cringe,” wrote a final user.
At the time, Wahlberg was trying to shift away from his rap persona in favor of acting and Eminem was told ahead of the interview not to refer to the actor as Marky Marky or bring up his rapping.
In a conversation with Anthony Bozza, who wrote the book Whatever You Say I Am: The Life and Times of Eminem, the rapper confirmed he was trying to get under Wahlberg’s skin.
He said: “Some dude who works for MTV tells us Mark Wahlberg is coming in, says he’d appreciate it if we don’t call him Marky Mark”.
“Then he comes up and he’s standing on the side when we was off air, and he’s like, ‘What, is there supposed to be some f****** tension in here or something?’ I pretended like I don’t hear him and s***.
“Then we’re on air I threw a stab at him. He didn’t want me to say Mark-y. Probably didn’t want me to say funk-y neither”.
In 2017, Wahlberg also confirmed the tension and admitted that he hated the rapper at the time.
Speaking a GQ video, where Wahlberg would reply to fans on the internet, he addressed a fan who was curious about Eminem mentioning the actor in his song Drug Ballad.
Answering the fan, Wahlberg said: “Very cool guy, very talented. And yes, I didn’t give him credit for that a long time ago. I was a hater because he’s a better rapper than me.”
Wahlberg even remarked that was likely the first time he had publicly admitted it. So, all is well it ends well.
Topics: Eminem, Music, Mark Wahlberg, MTV, Social Media
Gerrard Kaonga