Eminem has been very open with fans recently following the release of two massive surprise projects in 2020, Music To Be Murdered By, which arrived in January, followed by its deluxe Music To Be Murdered By Side B, which arrived last month. The Detroit rap legend recently apologized to Rihanna on his new song "Zeus" for siding with Chris Brown in a decade-old leaked song. Opening up about the apology, he admitted he had "zero recollection" of the verse and recorded it during a time where he was relearning how to rap.
In an interview with Gray Rizzy from SiriusXM, the rapper recalled, "Like the rhyme schemes didn’t even sound like familiar to me. So I was caught off guard too. I was like, ‘What the f–k, I said that?'”
“I said it and I was wrong for saying that. It was f–king stupid. You know, a lot of times, especially with the Relapse record, when I first started learning how to rap again, because of the drug situation that I went through and having to relearn a lot of things, that was one of those things that it was like, ‘Well, if it rhyme, say it,'” Em continued.
While the 48-year-old didn't want to make excuses for his actions, he admitted it was a rough phase in his life during the Relapse era. “I should have thought better of it,” Eminem confessed. “You know, it was one of those things that, like I said, I don’t even remember recording, but record a lot of songs. So it was like, it’s, it’s tough sometimes.”
The track, which was recorded during sessions for 2009's Relapse, included a line referencing Brown's assault of Rihanna in 2009. Eminem and Rihanna have collaborated on a number of songs since then, including "Love the Way You Lie" the following year and "The Monster" in 2013.