Rap Devil
song by Machine Gun Kelly
"Rap Devil" is a diss track performed by American rapper Machine Gun Kelly. It is aimed at rapper Eminem. The song was produced by Ronny J and Nils. It was released on September 3, 2018, by Bad Boy Records and Interscope Records as a single from Kelly's second extended play, Binge. The song's title is a play on Eminem's "Rap God", and is his response to Eminem's song "Not Alike".
"Rap Devil" peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the United States; "Killshot" was Eminem's response.
Background and release
In 2012, Machine Gun Kelly tweeted about Eminem's daughter, Hailie Mathers: "Ok, so I just saw a picture of Eminem's daughter... and I have to say, she is hot as fuck, in the most respectful way possible cuz Em is king". At the time, Hailie was 16 years old and MGK was 22 years old. In an interview in 2015, MGK said about the tweet: "Pictures of [Hailie] had came out, and I'm like, what, 20 years old, 21 at the time?
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Rap Devil” is song by Machine Gun Kelly. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Devil, song and Machine, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “song by Machine Gun Kelly” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q60519432. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2018, 2012 and 2015.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Rap Devil”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Rap Devil primary sources, Rap Devil archive and Devil research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Rap Devil”?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Rap Devil” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.