Smack You
Unreleased diss track by Eminem
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"Smack You" is an unreleased diss track by American rapper Eminem aimed at fellow rapper Ja Rule and record executive Suge Knight. Recorded c. 2003, when Eminem and his signee 50 Cent were feuding with Ja Rule, it leaked online more than two decades later, on January 13, 2025, with fans compiling it and numerous other Eminem songs that surfaced that month into an unofficial album titled Straight from the Lab 3.
In the song, Eminem mocks Ja Rule for modeling himself after Tupac Shakur and for associating with Suge Knight, joking that Knight is only interested in his publishing. He further alleges that Knight was responsible for the deaths of Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G., prompting Knight's son Suge Jr. to respond on the track "Ocean Krwi" and to make a statement defending his father in March 2025. That same month, following an FBI investigation, a former studio employee of Eminem was charged in connection with the January leaks.
Background and leak
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Eminem became involved in 50 Cent's feud with Ja Rule[1] after signing 50 Cent to his label, Shady Records, in 2002.[2] Initially, his involvement in the feud was minimal; it intensified after Ja Rule mentioned his daughter Hailie Jade on the diss track "Loose Change", where he rapped: "Em, you claim your mother's a crackhead and Kim is a known slut / So what's Hailie gon' be when she grows up?"[2] Eminem went on to release several diss tracks taking aim at Ja Rule, including "Bully", "Doe Rae Me (Hailie's Revenge)", and "Hail Mary".[2] XXL magazine speculates that "Smack You" was recorded around the same time as "Hail Mary", in 2003.[3] Uproxx likewise places its recording date at "around 2003".[4]
The song also sees Eminem take aim at Suge Knight, co-founder of Death Row Records.[5] In his 2004 song "Like Toy Soldiers", Eminem raps about Dr. Dre dissuading him from dissing Knight, which may be the reason why "Smack You" was never officially released.[6] The song leaked more than two decades later, on January 13, 2025, following several other unreleased Eminem songs that surfaced online.[3] Over two dozen songs leaked in January, and fans compiled them into an unofficial album titled Straight from the Lab 3.[7] Eminem's longtime spokesman, Dennis Dennehy, made a statement condemning the leaks and describing the surfaced material as "studio efforts never meant for public consumption... demos, experiments and ideas that are dated and not relevant so many years later".[5]
In March 2025, an audio engineer who formerly worked at Effigy—Eminem's recording studio in Ferndale, Michigan—was charged with criminal copyright infringement and interstate transportation of stolen goods following an investigation by the FBI. The engineer allegedly sold unreleased Eminem songs to individuals who, in January 2025, distributed over 25 songs online.[8][9] The Detroit Free Press reported that "Smack You" was presumably among these songs.[9]
Composition
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"Smack You" is approximately five and a half minutes long.[6] The song interpolates the chorus of Tupac Shakur's "Against All Odds".[1] "Smack You" also samples a phrase from Shakur's "Bomb First (My Second Reply)" that has long been interpreted by some fans as uttering the words "Suge shot me."[6] This phrase is repeated throughout the song[10] as Eminem proceeds to blame Suge Knight for the murders of Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G., rapping: "I'm holding Suge responsible for the deaths of the two greatest rappers to ever grace the face of this planet / If only the late, great Mr. Christopher Wallace could talk, he could tell you himself."[5] Shakur, a member of Death Row Records, was in the passenger seat of a BMW driven by Knight when he was fatally injured in a drive-by shooting, with Knight sustaining a non-fatal injury.[11] Knight's potential involvement in the death of the Notorious B.I.G. was also investigated by the FBI.[12] He has denied any involvement.[12]
Taking aim at Ja Rule, at whom most of the song's lyrics are aimed,[1] Eminem mocks him for modeling himself after Shakur and for trying to associate with Knight,[13] claiming in a joking manner that Knight only wants his publishing and that Ja Rule will be the next rapper "sittin' on the passenger side of that Benz that gets hit again".[10] Eminem also disses Irv Gotti—the co-founder of Murder Inc. Records,[14] which Ja Rule was signed to[13]—calling him "the Cookie Monster of rap".[1] The song also features vocals by Eminem's daughter Hailie.[15]
Reception
Writing for HotNewHipHop, Elias Andrews remarked that it is "bizarre" to first hear an Eminem diss track so long after it was originally recorded, noting that Eminem had recently made an effort to stop feuding and had mentioned his past Ja Rule disses in his 2024 song "Guilty Conscience 2".[1] Andrews spoke favorably of "Smack You", describing it as "an entertaining lyrical bombing from a rapper who, at the time, had a lot of grievances to air out".[1] Vice's Stephen Andrew Galiher was similarly positive, calling the song "one of Em's better diss tracks".[15]
Response
In March 2025, Suge Knight's son Suge Jr. and the Polish rap group Elita Kaliska collaborated on the song "Ocean Krwi".[16] In his part, Suge Jr. calls for his father to be freed from prison and disses "Internet gangsters", and although he does not mention Eminem by name, he said in a statement to NME that it is a response to "Smack You" that he recorded to "defend [his] father's honor".[16] In the same statement, he denied his father's rumored involvement in Tupac Shakur's death, noting that his father and Shakur were best friends, and he criticized Eminem for not having the courage to say these things "to his [father's] face" when he had many opportunities to do so, finding it "strange" that the song was released at a time when his father could not defend himself.[16]