Why did Eminem diss his close friend Dr. Dre in the songs Real Slim Shady and Criminal, was there underlying tension between them?

Eminem did not nor would not ever truly diss Dr Dre,the man who he’s been quoted numorous times as being the one person who literally saved his life.

He said those things about Dre purely for shock value, not to be taken literally like most of what he says.

Dre knew and understood that from the very beginning which is why he himself was ingenious in not censoring him,unlike most other producers or labels of that era who wouldn’t even had given him the Rhyme a Day.

Dr.Dre was actually interviewed back around 1999/2000 and the person asked him “what do you think about Eminem saying those things about you”?

He laughed and said “that’s his art not reality, we have to let Eminem be Eminem” and he was right because if you took that away there would be no separating him from 1000000 other artists.