The True Rap God

The Songs

Eminem's debut single, "Just Don't Give a F***", was released in 1998 and included in The Slim Shady EP, as well as in the rapper's second studio album, The Slim Shady LP, which featured a re-worked version of the song.

Inspired by the birth of his daughter Hailie to make a living as a rapper, Eminem released his first independent rap album, Infinite, in 1996.

Though the album displayed flashes of his verbal prowess, biting wit, and flair for storytelling, the low-budget record failed to turn a profit or attract more than local attention.

The heavily hyped record became an instant success, going on to sell over three million copies. Eminem's first single, "My Name Is," mixed childish humor and energy with rampant profanity and flashes of violence — a potent and fascinating combination that felt different from anything else in rap.

Eminem released his second studio album, The Marshall Mathers LP, in May 2000. The album showed off Eminem's poetic talents as well as his emotional and artistic range. His songs vary from manically funny ("The Real Slim Shady") to heartbreakingly poignant ("Stan") to explosively violent ("Kim") to disarmingly self-critical ("The Way I Am"). 

In his song Rap God, he (USA) packs 1,560 words into a fast and furious 6 min 4 sec – that's a tongue-twisting average of 4.28 words per second!

In 2001, Eminem reconnected with several of his friends from the Detroit underground rap scene to form the group D12, recording an album called Devil's Night featuring the popular single "Purple Pills."

In 2002, Eminem released a new solo album, The Eminem Show, another popular and critically acclaimed album highlighted by the tracks "Without Me," "Cleaning Out my Closet" and "Sing for the Moment."

That same year, the artist was all over the airwaves with the 8 Mile track "Lose Yourself," which went on to win an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Eminem's next album, 2004's Encore, was less successful than his previous efforts. It still featured popular songs such as "Like Toy Soldiers" and "Mockingbird."

For the next several years, Eminem recorded very little music and was largely consumed by personal problems. Following his second divorce from Kim in 2006, Eminem slipped further into alcoholism and addiction to sleeping pills and prescription painkillers.

By early 2008, Eminem had managed to kick his addictions to drugs and alcohol and returned to recording music. He released his first album of new music in five years, Relapse, in 2009, featuring the singles "Crack a Bottle" and "Beautiful."

In 2010, Eminem released another album, Recovery, a highly autobiographical attempt to come to terms with his struggles with addiction and experience with rehabilitation. His most acclaimed album in years, Recovery struck a somewhat gentler and more inspirational tone than his previous music, with the popular song "Love the Way You Lie."

Eminem said, "I don't want to go overboard with it but I do feel like that if I can help people that have been through a similar situation, then, you know, why not?" The revealing album won Eminem a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album.

After 10 years and seven albums, the rapper who shocked, appalled, and fascinated the music world with the unbridled rage of his youthful music is reinventing himself as a mature artist.

"I started learning how to not be so angry about things, learning how to count my blessings instead. By doing that, I've become a happier person, instead of all this self-loathing I was doing for a while," Eminem said. "The music, I wouldn't say it's gotten happier, but it's definitely more upbeat. I feel like myself again." 

Eminem released his eighth album, MMLP2, on November 5, 2013. The announcement for the future Grammy-winning album, formally titled The Marshall Mathers LP 2, was made during the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards.

On the awards show, Eminem leaked a snippet of the first single from the album, entitled "Berzerk." He went to reach the top of charts with "The Monster," a track that also featured and earned a Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.

While nearly four years passed between Eminem's eighth and ninth albums, fans only had to wait a few months before he dropped his next studio effort, Kamikaze, on August 31, 2018.

The single "Not Alike" attacked rapper Machine Gun Kelly, known as MGK, for lewd comments he had made several years before about Eminem's then-underage daughter, Hailie. After MGK replied with the track "Rap Devil," Eminem followed up with the single "Killshot," a barrage of insults about MGK's talents and lack of success, which shot to number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.