He’s one of the greatest rappers of all time and has the record sales and humungous downloads to prove it, but that doesn’t mean that Eminem is able to avoid all criticism. The iconic rapper quickly became one of the most successful rappers ever, but not everything he has released has been a smash hit. Even some of his closest friends can pick out a dud or two.
Below, frequent Eminem collaborator and close friend Royce Da 5’9″ picks out not only his favourite Eminem album of all time but also the record he thinks is the rapper’s worst. It makes for a pretty exciting view of a legendary career.
Marshall Bruce Mathers III, a creative who is credited as being a pivotal figure in the popularisation of hip hop in middle America, has managed to break major racial barriers with his work since breaking into the mainstream and becoming one of the most commercially successful rappers of all time.
“If people take anything from my music, it should be motivation to know that anything is possible as long as you keep working at it and don’t back down,” he once said in a quote that typifies his approach to music. Of course, not everything can be a hit and it appears as though there is a generally accepted hierarchy for Eminem’s albums.
When Royce Da 5’9″ visited REAL 92.3 LA for a new interview with Bootleg Kev and DJ Hed, he was asked about Em’s catalogue and which two records he would put at opposing ends of the spectrum. Royce replied: “My favourite Eminem album is probably The Slim Shady LP, my least favourite is probably, I’ll say Revival.”
The news came weeks after The Slim Shady LP clocked up over one billion streams on Spotify, and, by doing so, gave the rapper eleven different albums with the accolade — a record. The Slim Shady LP joined the likes of 2010 album Recovery, 2018 album Kamikaze, 2020’s Music to be Murdered By and, of course, 2000’s The Marshall Mathers LP. It’s a reminder that despite Em’s work often being labelled as “unlistenable”, plenty of people are doing just that. With over eleven billion streams through Spotify alone, Eminem’s work is still clearly finding a willing audience.
Watch Royce Da 5’9″ pick out his favourite and least favourite Eminem albums of all time.
