Eminem was discovered thanks to making the rounds in the battle, so it serves to reason that he still have an affinity for the scene all these years later. Slim Shady has linked up with respected music video director Joseph Kahn to revisit the arena where he first cut his teeth as an emcee with a new film titled Bodied.
Set to premiere at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, Bodied takes a satirical and intense look at the world of battle of battle rap from the perspective of a white graduate student named Adam who is writing a thesis on the subject. The student’s school becomes alarmed when he becomes obsessed with the world he’s studying. In addition to highlighting the competitive craft with a cast that includes seasoned battle rappers Loaded Lux, Dizaster, Dumbfounded, and Hollow Da Don, Bodied also explores themes of racism and cultural appropriation.
Bodied stars Canadian rapper and Disney Channel alum Calum Worthy as Adam and will be produced by Eminem, his longtime manager and Shady Records co-founder Paul Rosenberg, and Adi Shanker (Castlevania). The cast also features Anthony Michael Hall (The Breakfast Club) and popular New York radio radio personality Charlamagne Tha God.
Our #TIFF17 Midnight Madness Opening Night Film is @JosephKahn’s BODIED, with Anthony Michael Hall, Debra Wilson, @cthagod and @CalumWorthy. pic.twitter.com/MNZ6C2Vkiy
— TIFF (@TIFF_NET) August 1, 2017
Earlier this week, TIFF offered up a first look at Bodied with a brand new trailer for the film. In the clip we see a nervous and nerdy looking Worthy about to take a stab at battling rapping, only to be annihilated by a rapper named Megaton, played by real-life emcee Dizaster. We’re not sure if Eminem penned any bars for the battle scenes in the film, but Dizaster’s barrage of defamatory rhymes definitely sound like that type of twisted wordplay Slim Shady himself would cook up.
In addition to serving as a producer for Bodied, Eminem recently appeared in the HBO documentary The Defiant Ones, is also working on his ninth studio album, which he first hinted at back in October 2016 upon releasing the Trump-bashing lyrical onslaught “Campaign Speech.” While not much is known about the upcoming LP, he rap icon was recently in the studio with 2 Chainz.
