When the "Love Game" collaboration between Eminem and Kendrick Lamar dropped on 2013's The Marshall Mathers LP 2 , fans were braced for a lyrical bloodbath—a dark, aggressive track where two of the best technical rappers alive would fight for the crown. Instead, they got a playful, cartoonish, 1960s-rock-sampled romp through a dysfunctional relationship. The Subverted Expectation
The primary shock factor came from the . Fans expected a "hard" anthem or a serious storytelling track like "Mona Lisa". EMINEM VS KENDRICK LAMAR - LOVE GAME - NOT WHAT I EXPECTED
While the song sounds like they are just having fun, the studio process was much more intense. Eminem reportedly suspicioned Kendrick Lamar had a ghostwriter and tested him by asking his entourage to leave the studio so Kendrick could write his verse alone. When the "Love Game" collaboration between Eminem and
Rather than a modern trap or boom-bap beat, producer Rick Rubin used a prominent sample of the 1965 hit “Game Of Love” by Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders . Fans expected a "hard" anthem or a serious
The song is a "playful" track where both rappers jump into various characters and voices. It felt more like a throwback to the "As the World Turns"-era Slim Shady than a contemporary lyrical showcase. The Technical "Test" Behind the Scenes