Credit: Alamy

Eminem is an emcee who has a deep connection to hip-hop culture and when he wants to help a fellow rapper or pay homage to an act he makes sure to do so publicly and unapologetically. That said, he has a rather unusual way of supporting his peers.

The Detroit lyricist is not exactly known for his style, and he has never been at the forefront of fashion in any meaningful way. Eminem’s focus has always been on rap and the creation of music instead of curating an image. As such, he pays little attention to his live performance outfits.

The 8 Mile creator’s indifference to fashion has led to him often supporting his fellow hip-hop artists with his choice of t-shirts. During the 2000s, Eminem used his clothes to send a message and has rocked clothes as a tribute to other hip-hop icons from across the genre’s five decades of existence.

In 2019, it was reported he even considered naming his tour the ‘Rap Shirt Tour’. The tour, which saw him travel across Australia and New Zealand, was epic, and during one of his shows in Wellington, the emcee explained why he wears t-shirts with the names and faces of other artists during his live shows.

Speaking to the crowd, Em stated, “There’s a reason I do this, every single night on stage man! Hopefully, some of ya’ll might go buy their albums might go look ’em up. Maybe you don’t know who Masta Ace was, or Kool G Rap. I feel like you need to know because what they did for hip-hop is so fucking incredible because they made it go to that next level. These are the rappers that inspired me, man.”

The Encore rhymer has drawn attention to many rappers with clothing, and they are not always well-known. For example, he wore a tee depicting Black Sheep’s 1991 debut album, A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing, to a launch party.

Furthermore, for his 2018 appearance at the Bonnaroo festival in Tennessee, Em wore a t-shirt promoting Paris and his 1990 debut album, The Devil Made Me Do It. Even within hip-hop today, Paris is a mostly unknown figure. The San Francisco emcee, known for his politically charged lyrics, is one of many rappers whose music was suppressed by the industry, and his music videos were often banned from MTV.

As such, Eminem felt the need to promote him and that he did. The ‘Stan’ lyricist has also worn t-shirts depicting LL Cool J, Rakim, Redman, Run-DMC, Tony Yayo, Slick Rick and a broad range of more well-known icons within the culture.

Although we will never know, it is more than possible that as a result of Eminem’s support for artists such as Paris and Black Sheep, the artists themselves have seen more streams and had more attention on their music whether past or present.

Rappers Eminem has supported with t-shirts:

• Tony Yayo
• Slick Rick
• Run-DMC
• LL Cool J
• Black Sheep
• Paris
• N.W.A.
• Eric B & Rakim
• 50 Cent
• Redman