Eminem, Just Lose It | Controversial Songs

In the fourth edition of Controversial Songs (2025), we explore the controversy behind “Just Lose It” by Eminem.

Bring on the controversy! Controversial Songs is a column that provides background information and insight into songs that raised eyebrows, stirred the pot, or were banned. The more censorship censor$hit, the better! The records that grace Controversial Songs are old and new alike, with all genres of music welcome.  In the fourth edition of Controversial Songs (2024), we explore the controversy behind “Just Lose It” by Eminem.

“Grab your left nut, make your right one jealous.” Leave it to Eminem to reference testicles.  If you were to look up controversy in a dictionary, something tells me there would be a picture of the rapper as a prime example. The Academy and Grammy award winner has experienced his fair share of controversy throughout his career.  “Just Lose It” is another example.  It is the 13^th track from his 2004 album, Encore. Dr. Dre and Mike Elizondo produced it.

So, what makes “Just Lose It” controversial? The lyrics first and foremost. “Come here, little kiddies, on my lap / Guess who’s back with a brand-new rap?” he raps in the first verse, continuing, “And I don’t mean ‘rap’ as in a new case / Of child molestation accusa-.”  Eminem is referencing The King of Pop, Michael Jackson.  Later, he claims he’s not jabbing at Jackson, but, I’m not so sure (“I done touched on everything but little boys / And that’s not a stab at Michael”).  Beyond MJ, Em enjoys poop references long before Ice Spice informed us “Think U The Shit (Fart)”.

“And it’s cool if you let one go

Nobody’s gonna know, who’d hear it?

Give a little poot-poot, it’s okay

Oops, my CD just skipped

And everyone just heard you let one rip.”

So, shade towards MJ.  Referencing nuts.  Dropping poopy bars. The chorus is one of the most memorable of Eminem’s career, once more jabbing at Jackson.

“Now I’m gonna make you dance

It’s your chance, yeah, boy, shake that ass

Whoops, I mean girl, girl, girl, girl…”

Beyond the lyrics, the music video is another source of controversy. Why? Eminem makes fun of Michael Jackson, including parodying the infamous Pepsi Commercial hair-burning incident. Jackson was upset with the rapper. BET banned the video, but it was eventually re-aired.  “Just Lose It” is polarizing – there is no doubt about that.  Still, the single peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified double platinum in 2018.

Eminem // Encore // Aftermath Entertainment / Interscope // 2024

Eminem, Just Lose It: Controversial Songs No. 4 (2024) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Aftermath Entertainment / Interscope; Andrea Mosti from Pexels; AcatXlo, OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay; christian buehner on Unsplash]