Eminem lyrics comparing the rapper to Manchester Arena bomber branded 'disgusting'

17 January 2020, 20:00 | Updated: 17 January 2020, 20:06

The relative of a witness of the Manchester Arena terror attack has criticised Eminem for comparing himself to the Manchester Arena bomber in his new song.

The girl, whose cousin attended the concert, said the rapper was "taking advantage".

"My little cousin was there and I know if she heard that she would be upset. It’s disgusting, you don’t joke about stuff like that. Really he’s just taking advantage of what happened to try and release a new album," she commented.

Manchester residents have also branded the lyrics “horrible”, “disgusting” and "unnecessary".

One man told LBC News: "I just don't think it adds any value to his to his music."

The man, who was visibly shocked, continued: "I wasn't a fan before and I'm certainly not a fan now!"

A young girl, who said she had close friends who had attended the concert, said: "He's trying to make money off people’s deaths."

Her friend commented: "I've lost respect for him now."

The US rapper dropped the unexpected album on Friday, in which he raps about the Manchester bombing attack.

In the song Unaccommodating, the US rapper sang: "I'm yelling 'bombs away' on the game, like I'm outside of an Ariana Grande concert waiting."

The 20-track album is a follow up to Kamikaze in 2018,

Dan Hett, whose brother Martyn was killed in the suicide bombing, said that the lyric was "lazy" and designed to help him sell his music to people "with poor taste in hip hop".

He added: "He's Ricky Gervais in a baseball cap."

Martyn Hett, was one of the 22 people who died when terrorist Salman Abedi blew himself up at the end of an Ariana Grande concert in May 2017.

A further 139 were wounded, more than half of them children.

Russell Hayward, Martyn's former partner, said it was "disappointing but not surprising" the rapper used controversial lyrics about the Manchester bomb.

He accused him of "dragging the victims’ families & Ariana back into a very dark time."

He added: "Not sure how popular he is these days but I hope any success he gets from the back of this is worth it."

His mother took to Twitter to condemn the lyrics, saying: "Ok, I just watched the 11 min clip. Feels like he is piggybacking on the fame of Ariana grande and Justin Bieber and says distasteful things about other celebrities. Not clever. Totally pointless.

"Totally no sense in any of his lyrics. I will ignore the possible barrage of insults I may receive from his fans."

The cover art for the album features a photo of the rapper, who is also known as Marshall Mathers, holding both a gun and an axe to his own head and was tweeted by him alongside the caption: "It's your funeral..."

The line about the terror attack is followed by a sound effect of a bomb detonating.

Local Manchester residents have spoken out against the "insensitive" lyrics.

One person told LBC News: "It’s insensitive. There’s plenty of other things to say in a song but not that. My friends know people who can’t see backpacks without feeling a bit jittery now. I’m not a massive fan of his music but that is a bit too far."

Another resident, who said they used to be a fan of the rapper, told LBC News: "I love what he does but I’m a bit shocked that he’s put that in a new single. It's just nothing to compare yourself to and feel proud of something so awful. It’s not really something that you should make money from."

"There’s a way of being controversial, like Stormzy and Wiley are doing their whole argument at the moment and it’s getting them publicity. But you don’t do something that’s literally affected so many people. There’s a hundred million things he could say instead" said another.

The album is based on an anti-violence message, however many people have reacted badly to the "insensitive" lyrics.

One social media user branded the song disgusting, she said: "Eminem literally just used a horrific terrorist attack that killed 22 innocent adults/children for a punchline in a song. I am disgusted."

Another wrote: "Eminem is a washed-up has-been. that ariana lyric of his is just a pathetic attempt for his album to get attention."

One horrified user called the lyrics "disgusting", saying: "Eminem really said in his new song "unaccommodating" the lyrics "bombs away like I'm at an ariana grande concert" and proceeded after with gun shots/explosions mocking manchester.. i am disgusted how did he or his team think this was okay? he's trash."

However, in contrast to the Manchester Arena lyric, the album's lead single, Darkness, calls for stricter gun control laws in the US.

The video contains a montage of news reports from recent mass shootings, captioned: "When will it end? When enough people care."

Eminem then urges fans to register to vote in the upcoming US elections, writing: "Make your voice heard and help change gun laws in America".

In the aftermath of the Manchester attack, the rapper tweeted his support for a crowdfunding campaign which aimed to help those who were impacted by the incident.