Barack Obama showed off some of his rap skills after being introduced by Eminem during a Harris-Walz campaign rally in Detroit on Tuesday. The former president dropped some bars to “Lose Yourself” as he took the stage.
Eminem first spoke, wearing a Detroit Tigers hat, to introduce Obama and encourage folks to vote while highlighting the importance of freedom of speech.
“The city of Detroit and the whole state of Michigan mean a lot to me going into this election. The spotlight is on us more than ever, and I think it’s important to use your voice, so I’m encouraging everybody to get out and vote, please,” Eminem told the crowd. “I also think that people shouldn’t be afraid to express their opinions, and I don’t think anyone wants an America where people are worried about retribution, of what people will do if you make your opinion known.”
“I think Vice President Harris supports a future for this country where these freedoms and many others will be protected and upheld,” Eminem continued. “And here to tell you much more about that is President Barack Obama.”
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 “Lose Yourself.”
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“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 joked about Donald Trump’s 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 folks in the crowd.
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Elissa Slotkin, who’s running for Senate in Michigan, introduced Eminem as “someone who believes in Michigan.”
Eminem — 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, he turned his freestyle at the BET Hip-Hop Awards into an anti-Trump rap. That 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.
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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.)
An array of musicians have endorsed Harris in the lead-up to the 2024 election, along with Taylor Swift, Megan Thee Stallion, Jon Bon Jovi, Jason Isbell, Michael Stipe, Maren Morris, John Legend, and Stevie Wonder. Bruce Springsteen also endorsed Harris and just announced that he’ll perform at a handful of massive swing state rallies, including an event with Harris and Obama in Atlanta on Oct. 28 and one with just Obama in Philadelphia on Oct. 28.
