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Eminem has found himself in hot water recently following the release of his new single, ‘Houdini’. In it, we see his alter ego Slim Shady, an intentionally provocative character, step out of a portal into the middle of the street and assess the state of the current world. After setting eyes on a selfie stick, a robot walking a dog, and someone in a VR headset kissing an imaginary person, he decides to pass on his thoughts.

The rapper then starts firing shots in all directions, taking aim at targets randomly and seeing what hits as he mentions Megan Thee Stallion, R Kelly, RuPaul, Dr Dre and his own children. While the internet is having a field day reacting to some of Eminem’s disses in this song, they’re nothing compared to his other takedowns earlier in his career.

Initially from a battle rap background, Eminem can put together rhyming schemes in an incredibly unique way to constantly find different ways to insult people. On top of that, he has a way with words, which means that disses come in a way nobody will have experienced before. He can take something that’s been said about a fellow rapper previously and rephrase it to be ten times more damaging.

The truth is, there are more Eminem takedowns available than you could shake a stick at; however, this list will look at five of his most brutal.

Eminem’s harshest takedowns

Machine Gun Kelly

There was already tension between Machine Gun Kelly and Eminem after MGK called the Detroit rapper’s daughter “hot as fuck.” However, everything got really heated when Machine Gun Kelly realised the song ‘Rap Devil’, a play on Eminem’s ‘Rap God’, where he criticised the rapper for falling off.

In his response, ‘Killshot’, Eminem didn’t pull any punches, as he calls MGK a “Tatted-up mumble rapper,” making fun of his music and look. He also says that MGK is actually a fan, making references to the song ‘Stan’ saying, “Realised I forgot to call you back / Here’s that autograph for your daughter, I wrote it on a starter cap.”

Will Smith

In ‘The Real Slim Shady’, Eminem says, “Will Smith don’t gotta cuss in his raps to sell records, well I do, so fuck him, and fuck you too.” According to DJ Jazzy Jeff, the animosity between the two stems from something Smith said to Em before he signed for Aftermath Records.

Apparently, while the two were working on a song, Smith was given an exclusive look at the track that would become ’97 Bonnie & Clyde’, to which he said, “You’re either gonna be the biggest flop in hip hop, or you’re gonna be the biggest thing that we’ve ever seen in hip hop.” Turns out it was the latter, and Em has never let him forget it.

Mariah Carey

One of Em’s most famous beefs was with Mariah Carey. Early on in his career, the rapper made a number of references to the fact that he and Carey had been in a relationship. She refuted the claims, something that Eminem seemed to take personally. He rapped on the song ‘Jimmy Crack Corn’, “Your mind’s on us like mine’s on Mariah / And y’all are just like her, you’re all fucking liars.”

The beef is something which still lingers today; in fact, as recently as 2019, Eminem referred to the feud in his feature on Mary J Blige’s song ‘Lord Above’ where he says, “I know me and Mariah didn’t end on a high note / But that other dude’s whipped, that pussy got him neutered.” Which brings us to the next beef…

Nick Cannon

Carey’s now ex-husband was also caught on the wrong side of Eminem’s lyrics as he tried to defend his then-wife. Cannon wrote a Tumblr post saying he was taking action against Eminem, but that post has since been deleted.

While Eminem brought up the beef on ‘Lord Above’, he also wrote the song ‘Cold Wind Blows’, which brought Canon into question. He said, “Cos you went and pissed me off / Now I’m sitting and pissing on everybody / Give a fuck if it’s right or wrong / So back the Buddha, light a bong / But take a look at Mariah the next time I inspire you to a write song.”

Debbie Mathers-Briggs

Arguably, Eminem’s most notorious and complicated beef is the one with his mother. His first dig at her was on ‘My Name Is’, when he said, “99 per cent of my life, I was lied to / I just found out my Mum does more dope than I do.” Afterwards, she filed a number of lawsuits against her son, which he settled and boasted about. For instance, in ‘Without Me’, he says, “I just settled all my lawsuits, fuck you Debbie.” 

The most famous diss that Eminem unleashed against his mother was on the song ‘Cleaning Out My Closet’, which is the only track where she takes centre stage as opposed to just having the odd line sung about her. “Put yourself in my position; just try to envision witnessing your Mamma popping prescription pills in the kitchen,” he says before continuing, “But how dare you try to take what you didn’t help me to get / you selfish bitch, I hope you fucking burn in hell for this shit.”

They seem to have reconciled somewhat recently, as in the song, ‘Headlights’, he confesses he regrets writing the disses against his Mum. “I’m sorry Momma for ‘Cleanin Out My Closet’ / at the time I was angry, rightfully? Maybe so / Never meant that for to take it though / Cause I know it’s not your fault, and I’m not making jokes / That song I no longer play at shows / And I cringe every time it’s on the radio.”