Eminem fans can finally rejoice about some new music in the pipeline as the Detroit rap legend announced his upcoming song “The King & I” for the upcoming movie ‘Elvis.’ Of course, a lot of the information surrounding the song is still kept a secret, but we finally got a release date and a snippet.
The ‘Elvis‘ movie showcases the life of the king of Rock ‘n Roll music, Elvis Presley. Eminem’s contribution to the movie soundtrack is quite special considering that Eminem often called himself the Elvis Presley of rap music. In Eminem’s infamous song “We Made You,” Eminem references Elvis, and also in “Without Me,” he calls himself the “worst thing since Elvis Presley.”
‘Elvis’ movie is set to release on June 24, 2022. “The King & I” track is scheduled to release on June 17, 2022. Eminem is assisted by hip-hop artist CeeLo Green on the track. The song has classic hip-hop feel to it. The song samples Elvis’ hit “Jailhouse Rock” song from 1957.
Listen to “The King & I” by Eminem Ft. CeeLo Green
Eminem “The King & I” Lyrics Meaning and Song Review
This song, like many of Eminem’s recent works, has too many bars to break down in an article. So, we will be highlighting some of the key bars and plays on words.
Verse 1
At the beginning of the song, Eminem references his humble beginnings–rolled-up toothpaste tubes and his shoes missing shoe laces. He came from poverty to become the highest-selling hip-hop artist of all time. Also, in these lines, Eminem references the song “Blue Suede Shoes” by Elvis Presley from 1995.
It goes: one for the trailer park, two for my baby-ma
Three for the tater tots, four if you ate a lot
Five if you came to rock
These lyrics are also a reference to Elvis’ “Blue Suede Shoes” which contains similar lyrics; “Well, it’s one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, now go, cat, go.”
Verse 2
In the second verse, Eminem talks about his blonde hair days. He was prime Eminem/Slim Shady back then and he soon became a fan favorite among millions. Hydrogen Peroxide is a chemical commonly used to die hair blonde color.
Not only Eminem became one of the top-five ranked rappers among millions of fans, but this success also raked millions of dollars in his pocket as well. So, Em did see his stock (investments/net worth) rise like the beanstalk from Jack and the Beanstalk fairytale.
Next, Eminem bursts into a diabetic scheme by spinning in phrases such as “pins and needles,” “pricks the finger,” and “Ozempic” (a medicine used to treat type 2 diabetes). He does so, all the while sending a threatening message to his competitors that they will get hurt if they go against him.
Next, Eminem goes into a boxing scheme where he spins phrases such as “going toe-to-toe,” “boxing with all my demons,” and drops the professional boxer Danny Garcia’s name in the midst.
Verse 3
In the third verse, Eminem brushes off the biggest critique against Elvis Presley. The king of rock n’ roll is often criticized for having stolen black artists’ music without giving any credit and profiting off of them. This is where Eminem finds some common ground with Elvis. Eminem is often called out for being a ‘guest’ in rap and hip-hop music genres which are predominantly thought to be black artists’ music.
Eminem says he might have roamed into unknown territory, but he did so to escape from other issues he was going through. However, there are no claims of Eminem stealing music from black artists or anyone for that matter.
Now I’m about to explain to you all the parallels
Between Elvis and me, myself
It seem obvious: one, he’s pale as me
Second, we both been hailed as kings
He used to rock the Jailhouse, and I used to rock The Shelter
Eminem compares himself to Elvis–both are white artists who made waves in predominantly black music genres. Also, both are hailed as kings in their respective music genres. Elvis has been crowned the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll music. Eminem is yet to receive his crown officially. But, unofficially, he has been crowned the King of Hip Hop music.
Eminem also references the ‘Jailhouse Rock’ movie, in which Elvis had a song by the same name and also acted in. The Shelter is a hip-hop club where Eminem used battle rap before he got his breakthrough in music.
But y’all miss the meaner me, back when I had felonies
That went over your head because you just fell on knees
So, ‘miss the meaner’ sounds like ‘misdemeanor’ which is a small wrongdoing that can be a felony. Also, Eminem was facing a lot of legal troubles when he was going through his Slim Shady phase and was a lot meaner than how he sounds today.
So, it is really easy for this double to go over the listener’s heads and Eminem points this out. When it does go over someone’s head, Eminem wins automatically. For one; that person is too preoccupied to listen to the lyrics. Secondly, that person bows down to a greater intellect than they have the comprehension capability for.
So, they fall on their knees in front of Eminem, and this is an easy stance for someone to throw something over their heads (because they are bent down). Just like the bar did.
This bar is all sorts of interconnected.
Believers, a little faith is all I seek from you
All I need to do is hear you say the same sh*t
My father said to me when I was just a week or two
“Marshall, I be leavin’ you” (Haha, stupid)
Finally, Eminem says that he gets the motivation to keep going in this rap game at 50 years old thanks to all the believers in his fan base.
Sit down for this clever wordplay that follows.
Eminem’s father left him and his mother when Eminem was a baby. He probably said nothing when he left, but Eminem does a clever play on words with the phrase ‘I believe in you.’ This is the phrase he wants to hear from his fans. But, it is nothing he expects his father to say to him. The only thing his father would have told him is “I’ll be leaving you,” which sounds eerily similar to “I believe in you.”
With this, we end this article. Just too many bars for a movie soundtrack!
Let us hear what you think about this song in the comments below. Check out the complete lyrics on Genius.