It's been a busy week for the industry, and by extension, the industry's people-- from artists to management to publicists, everyone has likely been putting in extra work to cover event from A3C's annual festival and conference in Atlanta (which just wrapped up this past weekend, more on that to come shortly), to the BET Hip-Hop Awards out in Florida. The event itself was pre-taped, and thus has already happened-- we got a preview of the shenanigans to expect when we saw XXXTentacion's comment-inviting outfit. Despite the awards show being pre-taped, it seems everyone in attendance on Friday has been able to keep very tight lips on what to expect (keeping surprises as they should be, then). Still, DJ Khaled, as the night's host, seems to be excluded from keeping information under lock and key, at least, to an extent. DJ Khaled, the constant promoter, has taken to Instagram this morning to rouse up anticipation for the awards show, and he's definitely managed to accomplish said feat. With a word: Eminem.
Eminem's been rather heavy in the news lately, mostly for rumors; when the album is dropping, if it's finished, or not, and more. All these rumors have yet to result in proper confirmation of new music, but Khaled appears to have the key (who else!).
In his Instagram post, he announces Em's return to the BET Hip-Hop Awards' cyphers, one of the most anticipated segments of the event, and the most rewarding for fans to debate and dissect. Em last made an appearance in the BET Cyphers in 2011, with his Shady Records labelmates in tow. It was a memorable one to say the least, and hopefully we'll add another notch to Em's BET Cyphers list (he also hit their stage in 2009), with tonight's festivities.
In true Khaled fashion, the DJ alerted the world to the possibility of an Em freestyle verse by asking, or rather, telling fans (because there was an excessive use of exclamation marks yet no question marks) if the Em freestyle verse came in it. While we're left here to ponder this age-old question, check out the clip Khaled shared to tease this whole thing, which is extracted from Em's 2009 BET Cypher with Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) and Black Thought.
Tune in to the BET Hip-Hop Awards tonight to catch this new Eminem freestyle verse, assuming Khaled isn't making some cruel and unfunny joke. Other performer you'll get to see tonight include Cardi B, Gucci Mane, Migos, Playboi Carti, Rick Ross and more.