Eminem has been revered as a lyricist for over two decades. The Detroit emcee (real name Marshall Mathers) exploded into the mainstream in 1999 with The Slim Shady LP and became a mainstay after the release of his Marshall Mathers LP in 2000. Eminem acquired his tongue-twisting lyricism and complex rhyme schemes through battle-rapping on the Detroit underground hip-hop scene.
Mathers is one of the most successful rap artists ever and has the best-selling hip-hop album of all time, The Eminem Show. Snoop Dogg, Dr Dre, and 50 Cent have all highlighted the emcee’s capability and superiority.
Mathers began to work the Detroit underground battle rap scene in the early 1990s. While Detroit was still finding its feet concerning hip-hop, Eminem was attending events at the city’s primary rap venue, The Hip-Hop Shop. The ‘Stan’ musician first began rhyming with his high school friend Proof and produced several demos as he honed his craft. Eminem is well-known for his angsty, provocative and heartfelt lyrics.
In an interview with Inside The Rhyme about his lyrics and writing process now, Mathers explained, “I don’t have the rage anymore that I used to have, but I still have the exact same passion. Sometimes it doesn’t always come out the right way.”
The rapper continued: “Sometimes I’m just like ‘What the fuck is that’ and I say, ‘take a pause, man’ I don’t know how I’m competing with, but I just wanna be….There’s a lot of great rappers, there’s a lot of great artists coming up in this generation now that it’s like I’m watching it and loving it, but the competitive spirit in me wants to keep up with the best of the best.”
‘Rap God’ was released in 2013. However, it was usurped by MGK in 2018 when he dissed Eminem with his track ‘Rap Devil.’ MGK (Machine Gun Kelly) had mocked and disparaged both Mathers and his daughter Hailie Jade while promoting his 2018 EP Binge. However, Eminem was actually oblivious to his existence until he saw ‘Rap Devil’ flippant subversion of his 2013 single. The Detroit lyricist ended up releasing a diss track entitled ‘Killshot.’
You can listen to the legendary isolated vocals of ‘Rap God’ in the video below.
