Yelawolf Recalls Being Caught in the Crossfire During Eminem vs MGK Conflict

Picture this: You’ve got an awesome DJ Paul beat, a dream collaboration with Machine Gun Kelly, and Eminem on your wish list. That was Yelawolf’s reality when he put together “Trunk Muzik 3,” only to see the project caught in the crossfire of the infamous feud.

Yelawolf recently explained this predicament on Drink Champs, revealing how things went wrong. He came up with a fiery track featuring himself, MGK, and Eminem—“the craziest three-white-boy record of all time,” as DJ Paul put it. With his verse laid out and MGK excited about the idea, the only missing piece was the rap god himself. But months of radio silence followed.

The timing was really bad, as Yelawolf had no idea that Eminem was preparing a diss track aimed directly at MGK. This secrecy left Yelawolf perplexed when Eminem’s diss track dropped just as “Trunk Muzik 3” was about to hit the streets. Suddenly, Yelawolf found himself caught in a hip-hop whirlwind.

This is how Yela described the events:

I can’t say I was completely blind, there was something in the air. But honestly… DJ Paul, my brother, we were in Nashville working on “Trunk Muzik 3.” And he was like, “Man, I got this beat by “Rowdy.” If I could get you, Kels and Marshall on this track, it would be the craziest record by three white boys that’s ever been heard.” That was his whole thing. I was like, “Man, let’s do it.” I laid down my verse, sent it to Kels, and Kels was super excited. I told him the whole idea. I pitched the project to him. I said, “Man, I’m trying to get Marshall on this record, Paul produced it. It would be crazy if we could make it happen.” I recorded it, Kels recorded his verse, sent it to Marshall. It sucked. For months. I don’t know how long. I knew from that point on. I didn’t know a diss record was coming out. I’m on Shady (Records), and I have a record coming out on Shady, it’s a Shady release. (Eminem) is putting out this diss record. I had no idea. He didn’t tell anybody. And I’m sitting here with this record. Like, oh, man, what am I gonna do? I was an hour away from seeing it on the internet. Kels FaceTimed me. I FaceTimed, and Kels was shaking his head, like, no, man, no. I was like, “Hey, I don’t know what to tell you, man. At this point, I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to tell you. I haven’t talked to Marshall, but, you know, do what you do. I guess you want to act like a man and go for it, and go for it. But I can’t tell you what’s gonna happen between you and me.” I couldn’t tell him, like, this could become a problem between you and me. I was with Shady. If the general says go, you go. This is my gang.

I finally got Marshall on the phone. I was probably the only human being alive with both of them on the phone during this whole thing. Separately. I only had a few conversations with Marshall. When I talked to Marshall, I was in Toronto, and it was after he dropped the record. And then MGK dropped his shit, and he dropped this line, something like, “Don’t take me off the Yelawolf album.” I called Marshall. Obviously, I have the utmost respect for Marshall. I said, “Listen, man, I love this song that I had with Kels. I had a beef with Kels at first. But I met him, we handled it, we crushed it, everything’s good. And that was years ago. We’ve been good friends ever since. He’s my buddy. What do you want me to do?” And he was like, ‘Dude, no, put that shit out. People need to hear that song.’ He respected my career through it all. Also, because I didn’t know. If he had bashed MGK and then I had made a record with him, it would have been a disaster. But it didn’t happen that way. I was just in the middle.

Fortunately, respect prevailed. Understanding Yelawolf’s timeline and position, Eminem gave the song the green light for release. This act of acceptance saved the collaboration and prevented “Trunk Muzik 3” from being dragged into the feud.

Yelawolf’s story offers a glimpse into the collateral damage that can occur when rappers publicly clash. Despite unexpected obstacles, his loyalty to Shady Records and respect for Eminem’s creative process ultimately led to a win-win situation. The collaboration with MGK was born, and Yelawolf’s career remained unscathed.

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