Eminem explains why he dissed Will Smith in The Real Slim Shady

If you've ever wondered why Eminem dissed Will Smith in his 2000 hit song 'The Real Slim Shady, then here's your answer.

Listen to the rapper explaining his beef with the Fresh Prince star in an interview below:

Look, let's stop beating around the bush, whether you like Marshall Mathers or not, you probably know all the words to 'The Real Slim Shady'.

Still, no matter how many times we screamed the lyrics in a club, one line has always confused us, why did Eminem diss Will Smith?

For the very few not familiar with the song, there's a verse that takes aim at the Fresh Prince: "Will Smith don't gotta cuss in his raps to sell records / Well I do, so f**k him and f**k you too / You think I give a damn about a Grammy / Half of you critics can't even stomach me / Let alone stand me."

So, where did the line come from?

DOD Photo/Alamy Stock Photo

It's not exactly clear when Eminem and Smith's feud started, but according to the Fresh Prince's mate DJ Jazzy Jeff it could've been pretty early on in the Detroit rapper's career.

According to Jazzy Jeff, Smith said to Eminem after hearing a 'Just The Two Of Us' that he was "either gonna be the biggest flop in hip hop, or you are gonna be the biggest thing that we have ever seen in hip hop."

This was something the DJ said that Eminem never forgot and the tension seemed to rise after Smith gave a speech at the 1999 Video Music Awards (VMAs).

Smith's song 'Miami' (a bop) beat out Eminem's 'My Name Is' for the Best Male Video award that year.

And it's safe to say that his acceptance speech rubbed Eminem up the wrong way, with Smith saying: "To all my fans out there, I never killed nobody in none of my records. I never used no profanity and none of my records, and still, I managed to get up here. Peace."

And, given that Eminem and basically every other rapper he cares about is using a hefty peppering of profanity in their songs, it's easy to see why Slim Shady didn't agree.

Allstar Picture Library Ltd/Alamy Stock Photo

When questioned about his lyrics, the 'Lose Yourself' rapper said in an interview: "First of all, I used to respect Will Smith. [Now] he’s dissed the whole genre of rap. He dissed gangsta rap music.

"And that is one of the most influential musics out there. I respect him for saying his opinion, but not everybody is as happy as Will Smith.

"Not everybody sees life as happy and as positive as he sees it. So if he wants to rap about birds and bees and flowers, then let him rap about birds and bees and flowers, but don’t dis nobody else."

So, there you have it, Eminem meant what he said in his song, but still, people were quick to react to his 'happy as Will Smith' comment.