How many guest verses has Eminem done in his entire career?
Eminem has had what can only be described as a breathtaking journey in his career. From being homeless, working fast food jobs and battle-rapping in the grimiest parts of Detroit, the young man was quickly flung into fame and was soon a Diamond-certified artist.
Before his Slim Shady LP release in late 1999, Em was a musical genius on the verge of suicide due to his extreme poverty. Em had been on the underground in Detroit for years with his first album, Infinite, performing poorly, receiving little to no airplay by DJs in his city, and as a white rapper, everybody had written him off.
Em lived in the ‘8 Mile’ area of Detroit, meaning he lived near the road that divides Detroit. The 8-mile-long M102 motorway (colloquially referred to as ‘8 Mile’) is an infamous highway that is known for effectively segregating the metropolitan area of Detroit. Detroit’s inner city is rundown, and residents are primarily African-American. On the other side of the 8 Mile road, middle-class white neighbourhoods thrive. The road marks one of the steepest income divides in America.
Before his discovery by an Interscope intern at the 1997 LA Battle Rap Olympics, Em was effectively penniless. However, once his demo went into the hands of Dr Dre, things quickly changed, and within five years, he was one of the hottest MCs in the US and was appearing on tracks with the best rappers, such as Jay-Z, 50 Cent and many others.
Eminem once revealed how he approaches writing his guest verses in an interview with Genius, unveiling, “When I’m writing, I’m in the syllable game. I’m connecting five-six-seven-eight syllable phrases where every syllable rhymes. I get heavy into that. When I start rapping something, and I think of more syllables that connect with it, sometimes I want to just keep the scheme going forever.”
Elaborating on how he has done it on more than one song, the rapper continued, “I’ve done it before in songs, where the syllable scheme of the first verse ends up being the syllable scheme of the second verse, and the third verse — all the way down. I do it because the lines start connecting and making sense. Once I find something and lock in, it comes out pretty quick.”
So, how many guest verses has Eminem given away?
Eminem only features on tracks with artists that he actually enjoys and respects and won’t hop on any song. Some of his best verses are on others’ tracks and he has appeared on various singles. The ‘Stan’ rhymer has, of course, worked with multiple Aftermath acts, including Xzibit, 50 Cent, Dr Dre, and Kendrick Lamar.
Some of his most well-known collaborations include the likes of Dr Dre’s ‘Forgot About Dre’, Nicki Minaj’s ‘Roman’s Revenge’ and Jay-Z’s 2001 smash ‘Renegade.’ Eminem even produced the latter. However, few know the number of tracks Eminem has officially featured on.
As a featured artist on singles and tracks combined, the Encore creator has recorded 172 guest verses. One of his most successful collaborations was with Rihanna in 2010 for ‘Love The Way You Lie,’ a diamond-selling single.