Eminem Backs El-Sayed Senate Bid Despite Kid Rock Friendship

On election day in Michigan, Eminem made his political leanings loud and clear — granting Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed permission to soundtrack his closing get-out-the-vote push with one of rap's most recognizable comeback anthems. The move lands with extra weight considering Em recently recorded a track with Kid Rock, one of El-Sayed's sharpest and most relentless critics.

'Not Afraid' Steps Into the Voting Booth

El-Sayed's final campaign video of the 2026 race leans hard on Eminem's 2010 banger "Not Afraid" — a track that announced Marshall Mathers' post-addiction return to form and still carries serious sonic punch more than fifteen years later. The candidate's team leaned into the lyrical energy with a cheeky in-ad line declaring he's "doing this for MI," a pun that lands right on cue with the beat. It's the kind of synergy that makes you think someone in that campaign war room actually listens to the album on repeat. According to Consequence, the music appears to have been officially cleared for use, making this a genuine endorsement of access rather than a rogue sampling job.

Eminem's Anthem Hits Campaign Trail for Dr. Abdul El-Sayed

The Kid Rock Complication

Here's where the story gets genuinely interesting. Just weeks before El-Sayed's campaign pulled "Not Afraid" into rotation, Eminem was in the studio — or at least on a track — with Kid Rock, a fellow Michigan native who has been loudly, relentlessly hostile toward El-Sayed. Rock didn't keep his criticism polite, either; he reportedly compared El-Sayed to the 9/11 hijackers, a statement that sits somewhere between inflammatory and deeply irresponsible.

Their collaboration, "Heal My Faith," dropped as part of Kid Rock's broader album project, and Kid Rock's 'Halfway to Jesus' Album Features Eminem Collaboration. The song didn't exactly set the Billboard charts on fire — its chart run was brief and unremarkable, suggesting neither the fans nor the algorithm had much patience for the pairing. There were also raised eyebrows about the track's production process; Eminem's 'Heal My Faith' Collab Had a Secret AI Ingredient, which added another layer of controversy to an already complicated release.

Em's Complicated Political Compass

Eminem has always been a walking contradiction in political spaces, and that hasn't changed. He's the guy who took a knee during a Super Bowl Halftime Show performance — a moment that felt deliberate and defiant — while also maintaining what he's described as an "old friendship" with Kid Rock, a man who has drifted firmly into MAGA territory. He's been criticized for not fully scrubbing certain language from his catalog, yet he keeps showing up in progressive corners of the political conversation, particularly when Michigan is on the line.

That dual existence is exactly what makes this El-Sayed endorsement-by-music-license so compelling. Eminem didn't cut an ad, give a speech, or tweet a voter registration link. He just said yes — and in the quiet permission of that yes, made clear where he actually stands when it counts.

The Senate Race Itself

El-Sayed is squaring off against former congressman Mike Rogers in the race to fill the seat held by Gary Peters since 2015. It's a contest that matters well beyond Michigan's borders, with control of the Senate still a live question. Whether a sixteen-year-old hip-hop anthem moves any undecided voters is genuinely unknowable, but as a closing-day energy injection, "Not Afraid" is hard to argue with. The beat still hits. The message still lands. And in a cycle full of noise, Eminem's quiet green light for a candidate his "old friend" despises might just be the most revealing thing he's done all year.