In hip-hop, one hugely sensitive and important aspect of the culture is the ability of a rapper to hold his own against his peers, as competition is one of the most significant parts of the craft.

Sometimes, this competitiveness is sparked by ego and braggadocio, an artiste daring his peers to step to him lyrically, and oftentimes, it is way deeper and personal than just competition.

Rappers are known to use the craft to voice their displeasure at going-ons around them, more so, to vent their anger at a ‘disrespectful’ peer in the form of diss records.

Hundreds of diss records have dominated the scene at certain points, as rappers like 2Pac, Notorious B.I.G, Run DMC, Eazy E, Ice Cube, LL Cool J, Canibus, Jay-Z, Nas, 50 Cent and many more have used the medium to voice their frustrations and lay claim to the ‘throne’.

Pac’s ‘Hit Em Up’ directed at Biggie, Diddy, and a host of others at the height of their highly publicized feud(subsequently leading to their deaths), Jay-Z’s ‘Takeover’ directed at Nas and Mobb Deep, Ice Cube’s ‘No Vaseline’ directed at former N.W.A colleagues, and a host of other songs made blistering impacts on the rap scene upon their releases.

However, one record that had such monumental impact, that it has become a hip-hop language of some sort, was ‘Ether’, a response to Jay-Z and his Rock-a-fella camp, by Nas. Its impact being so much that an outwitted or out-rapped rapper in hip-hop is now considered to be ‘ethered’. Such was the ferociousness, aggression and impact of the 2001 record.

Amid all of these however, is a white boy from Detroit, a carnage of some sort that is notoriously and unapologetically known for his daring demeanor on the mic.

Enter Eminem, a dreaded and respected figure in the rap game, who isn’t the outright best ever rapper but is sure to find a revered spot in many top 5 dead or alive lists by hip-hop purists.

Slim Shady is notoriously known for taking constant jabs -amid homophobic slurs and murder threats- on a sizable number of his records since his breakthrough, even consistently going at his own mother.

He has, by virtue of his controversial nature and association with D12, Dr Dre and G-Unit, had to engage in a flurry of diss records –seriously or halfheartedly.

Since his emergence, he has been a nagging thorn in the flesh of female pop stars such as Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Mariah Carey, Jessica Alba and many more, while the late Michael Jackson and Will Smith also suffered some degree of lyrical attack from the blonde-haired genius.

Interestingly, some of these attacks by Marshall were nothing remotely personal, he just does it for sport and fun. When Marshall gets pissed however, not many artistes would definitely want to go there with him as it is his comfort zone, a threat to any rapper’s career.

Eminem attacks anything from the media to his mum, pop stars, ex-wife Kim, Presidents, and even wittily, his own close associates (Dre and D12), while he is also reputably known for stealing the show and outshining his peers as a guest spot on their records.

We take a nostalgic look at some of Marshall’s top attacks, those personal and those he did ‘for fun’. It is excitingly tedious to come up with ten, as he has tons of them.

1. ‘Kim‘ – directed at ex-wife, Kimberly Scott Mathers

What other way to start the list than with an emotionally hurt, angry Eminem going all out- as far as threatening to kill -the mother of his daughter, Hailie. It was widely known the rapper harbored a lot of resentment towards Kim whom he incessantly accused of being a slut on several records, despite marrying her twice(’99 and 2006) and divorcing on both occasions. On the Marshall Mathers LP cut Em ranted, “too bad b!tch, you’re gonna finally hear me out this time”……We bet she did!

2. ‘Nail in the Coffin‘ – directed at Benzino

The origin of this feud with Benzino dated back to the year 2000 when ‘Zino’s co-owned The Source, poorly reviewed Em’s diamond selling album, Marshall Mathers LP. Em played a blind eye until Zino hit out at him on a track, ‘I Don’t Wanna’. Em duly replied with ‘The Sauce’, before things spiraled prompting more releases. On ‘Nail in the Coffin‘, Em rapped “it’s not that we don’t like you/ we hate you period”……Benzino sure knew!

3. ‘Cleaning Out My Closet‘ – directed at his mum, Debbie Mathers

Eminem widely documented his childhood on several of his tracks, and a poignant topic he touches on is his mother’s addiction to drugs and her abuse of him as a child, one he claims she tried to influence him with. He pokes fun at his mum for this on several tracks such as ‘My Mom‘, but none resonated as much as The Eminem Show cut. On ‘Cleaning Out My Closet‘, he rapped “hate you mama/ Imma make you look so ridiculous now”. He has since apologized with ‘Headlights‘…..He sure did clean out his closet!

4. ‘Mosh‘ – directed at former United State’s President, George Bush‘s administration

Marshall is also reputable for baring his opinion on public issues such as politics and media coverage, as he demonstrated on songs such as ‘White America‘ and ‘The Way I Am‘. After attacking the President on ‘We As Americans‘, he stepped it up a notch on the Encore album cut, ‘Mosh’. On the track, the rapper who had been a subject of investigation as a result of a line on ‘We As Americans‘, simply blared out “Fvck Bush” and accused the entire government of being in a state of anarchy…..Quite some statement!

5. ‘Hail Mary‘ – directed at Ja Rule and Irv Gotti

This was simply a feud Eminem found himself in by virtue of his affiliation with 50 Cent, who at the time was Ja Rule’s arch nemesis. After several tracks from both camps(Murder Inc and G-Unit) and Ja poking fun at Em’s drug-addicted mother and daughter, Hailie, Em led his army in ripping into Ja, mocking him for his 2pac impersonation. Em rapped “Ja’s words being quoted in the Source/ stealing Pac’s sh!t like he just wrote it” and Ja’s rap career went downward spiral from there.

6. ‘Can-I-B!tch‘ – directed at Canibus and Jermaine Dupri

Canibus and LL Cool J had been sparring, then Bis alleged that Em co-wrote LL’s diss song towards him, ‘The Ripper Strikes Back‘. Em denied the allegation but it wasn’t enough as cordial relationship between the pair was damaged. He then took Bis to the cleaners with ‘Can-I-B!tch‘, rapping “Now once upon a time not long ago/ there was a little rapper about to blow/ but his album came and it was not good/ I think it went lead or double copper-wood”. Such a blow!

7. ‘Warning‘ – directed at Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon

When Eminem wouldn’t stop insinuating he once had intimate romantic moments with Mariah following a brief relation in 2001, referencing her in several songs such as ‘Superman‘, ‘When The Music Stops‘ and ‘Bagpipes From Baghdad‘, the R&B diva felt she had had enough and released her response, ‘Obsessed‘, depicting Em as an obsessed stalker. Em wouldn’t let that slide and ran amok with a scathing attack on the songstress and her then-husband, Nick, threatening to leak explicit tapes of their alleged romance. Em opened with “Only reason I dissed you in the first place/ is ’cause you denied seeing me/ now I’m pissed off”…..Safe to say the now divorced couple let peace reign after this tirade.

8. ‘Girls‘ – directed at Limp Bizkit, DJ Lethal, Dilated Peoples

Safe to say Eminem had a lot to let out with this track. Grudges arose over a diss song that was supposed to be recorded together with Limp Bizkit towards Everlast, with Em feeling betrayed by the group who reneged on the plan. He let it all out on ‘Girls‘ before he explodes(as he put it) and boy did he let them know. He rapped, “Then I look on the TV, now look who’s mentionin’ me/ That fuckin’ weasel, DJ Lethal, on MTV” and “I’d never involved my crew if it wasn’t for pupils/ Peoples, whatever your backpackin’ cypherin’ name is”…..*Lesson learnt: never piss Eminem off!

9. ‘Say What You Say‘ – directed at Jermaine Dupri

So So Def founder, Jermaine Dupri, paid the ultimate price of running his mouth against his music producing peers, Dr Dre and Timbaland, in an interview. Eminem along with Dre, duly laid claim to their spot on the beat thumping cut from The Eminem Show, ripping into JD and partly, The Source. Em rapped “If you ever mix me up or confuse me with a Canibus or Dre with a Dupri/ we’ll rub it in, every club you’re in/ we’ll have you blackballed and make sure you never rap-a-fucking-again”.

10. ‘I Remember’ – directed at Everlast

Eminem and Everlast’s feud supposedly stemmed from Everlast feeling ignored by Em at a backstage of an event and tempers flared from there. Both would direct several jabs at each other, with Everlast releasing ‘Whitey’s Revenge‘. On a sung-rapped track, ‘I Remember‘, Em poked fun at Everlast’s heart issues and attacks him for being sensitive. He rapped “And you were down with Syndicate, I went to get your shit/ man I was into it/ But then you went and took your style and switched the shit/ Now you sound ridiculous, you dickless piece of shit”……..So many quotables on this one and it made Everlast record a worthy response.

With these and many more, suffice to say Eminem is truly the epitome of ‘not giving a fvck!’

http://nexthop.com.ng/eminem-the-rapper-with-zero-fvcks-top-ten-diss-tracks/

I LOVE EM. NO HOMO

i love diz guy die
n thats y his cleanin my closet lyrics is still in my head

Greatest rapper alive

Probably the best white rapper ever,watched his movie 8miles again today,much respect to the white dude for gaining enough ground in a game dominated by blacks

hate it or love it Eminem is top3 dead or alive..no rapper alive can withstand him.

Kk

Ah love him xo mach

johnbuck81:
hate it or love it Eminem is top3 dead or alive..no rapper alive can withstand him.

Gbam! that's just the fact

Way to go Eminem .. Amma fan of em .. But he disses way too much .. Why??