After a lengthy federal investigation into Sean “Diddy” Combs for alleged sex trafficking, racketeering and other charges, the record producer was arrested September 16 and is being held in court despite attempts to post $50 million in bail. Many have been surprised by the details of the case — including that 1,000 bottles of lubricant were found when authorities raided his homes this year — but one person who was likely not shocked by any of it was Eminem. Fans are just now realizing that the rapper took some brutal shots at P. Diddy in his song “Fuel” months before the arrest.
Eminem has fired off plenty of jabs at the rapper with many names over the years, but some fans are just catching onto his wordplay in the song “Fuel” off of his latest album The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), which came out in July. After using the word “essay” to reference the abbreviation “SA” (sexual assault), Eminem goes on to intentionally misspell “rapper,” and apparently there are some who are just understanding the full meaning of what he did next. Check out this viral TikTok reaction:
@hollycockerill ♬ original sound - Jeff Reckson ❤️
Eminem raps, “I'm like a R-A-P-E-R,” and then says, “Wait, he didn't just spell the word, ‘Rapper’ and leave out a P, did he?” Fans get it now that the last part comes out sounding exactly like “P. Diddy.” One fan wrote on X (Twitter):
Fuel is going crazy viral cuz of them Diddy lines damn. Eminem ahead of the curve.
There also seem to be plenty of people who heard “Diddy” but are just now understanding the “P” is there too. Underneath another reaction video, a fan commented:
I thought he was clever with the ‘did he’ took me a while to realize he literally said ‘P DIDDY.’
Of course, other commenters pointed to the rest of the lyrics in the song, which reference Keffe D (real name Duane Davis), who was charged in 2023 with the murder of Tupac Shakur, a nemesis of Diddy’s friend the Notorious B.I.G. Davis has allegedly claimed that Diddy offered him $1 million to kill Tupac.
In the bonus track "Fuel (Shady Edition)," Eminem says even more, rapping:
Notorious B.I.G.'s death was the domino effects of 2Pac's murder, like facial tissue, whose clock should I clean next? Puff's? 'Til he's in police handcuffs, guilty, will he step up?
Eminem certainly did call that one, as Sean “Puffy” Combs now is being held in prison awaiting trial. The music mogul’s legal issues began late in 2023, when Cassie Ventura filed a lawsuit against her ex-boyfriend. While that suit was quickly settled, several others followed, and in March federal officials raided Diddy’s homes in Los Angeles and Miami. Following his arrest, he pleaded not guilty to the charges of sex trafficking and racketeering.
It looks like P. Diddy will get his day in court, but Eminem has already made his opinion on the rapper quite clear — whether fans realized it at the time or not.