Eminem

Eminem's enemies

Rap star Eminem, because of his battle rap style, created a large number of enemies in the music industry, including Ja Rule, Benzino, Everlast, the Insane Clown Posse, Canibus, and others. Many times, these hip hop rivalries stay on wax and are nothing more than lyrical sparring between artists. Other times, the confrontations have turned violent.

Here is a short list of rivalries that have followed the famous MC throughout his career:

Eminem vs Benzino

This is the best known recent beef that Eminem has had. While the dispute didn't erupt in a significant way until 2003, its roots date back to 2000, when Eminem's critically-acclaimed sophomore album The Marshall Mathers LP only received a 2/5 mic (the equivalent of 2/5 stars) rating from The Source, the leading hip-hop magazine at the time. While several subscribers protested the rating and it was eventually changed to 4/5 mics, Eminem clearly took offense, and included the lines "[...] 5 mics in The Source, ain't holdin' my fuckin' breath/But I'll suffocate for the respect 'fore I collect the fuckin' check" in "Say What You Say," a track from The Eminem Show.

In 2003, Benzino, a rapper who had secretly co-owned The Source for some time, released a diss single titled "Pull Your Skirt Up" against Eminem. The track attacked Eminem's "street cred" (although Eminem has never claimed to be "[...] reppin' the streets," a line Benzino includes in the song) and accused him of being a tool of the music industry. In the same year, The Source attempted to tarnish Eminem's image by digging up an old tape from his time as a young rapper in Detroit where he insulted black women and used the word "nigger."

Eminem was quick to respond with two underground diss tracks, "Nail in the Coffin" and "The Sauce," in which he attacked the credibility of The Source and claimed that Benzino was only attacking him to get his album The Benzino Project publicity. Though Benzino would later respond with more diss tracks, it is generally accepted in the hip-hop community that Eminem won the feud, as Benzino is not considered a very skillful artist after having poor sales from all of the albums he had released in the past(This would indicate some kind of pay for play access to the Source magazine as generally speaking when a recording artist has a flop he is relieved of his contractual obligations, but in Benzino's case with every flop he was given another recording contract with another major label, very peculiar in the business).

As a result of the beef, Shady/Aftermath ads were pulled from the magazine. XXL, which had featured negative coverage of Shady/Aftermath artists since Eminem included the lines "Okay, let me give you motherfuckers some help/Here -- DOUBLE-X-L! DOUBLE-X-L!/Now your magazine shouldn't have so much trouble to sell/Ah fuck it, I'll even buy a couple myself" on "Marshall Mathers," stepped in to fill the void, accepting Shady/Aftermath ads and doing a 180 in its coverage of its artists. Currently, XXL leads The Source in circulation, and Benzino's actions are generally perceived to have severely tarnished the image and credibility of the magazine.

Eminem vs Everlast & Dilated Peoples

On the Dilated Peoples album The Platform, hip hop/rock musician Everlast (formerly of House of Pain) insulted Eminem in a fairly subliminal and non-specific battle verse. Everlast in later interviews did state that he was targeting Eminem specifically in that verse, apparently behind a perceived slight of him by Eminem at a show. Eminem's response titled I Remember, however, specifically mocked Everlast for many things including the demise of House Of Pain, his conversion to Islam, and his new rock-orientated musical direction. The song was in itself a parody of this musical direction, with heavily strummed guitars and faux-melancholic sung vocals. Everlast responded on a track called Whitey's Revenge in which he incurred Eminem's wrath by mentioning that if Eminem were to go to jail in his then-ongoing assault trial, he would "look in on (his) lady and do things for (his) kid". Eminem quickly shot back with the single "Quitter" which was split into two parts, the first being somewhat reminiscent of I Remember and the second using 2Pac's uptempo Hit 'Em Up beat and featuring other rappers from Eminem's group D12.

In response to two couplets aimed at Dilated Peoples in Quitter, which referred to the group as "underground bitches", Dilated's Evidence and DJ Babu recorded a track titled Search 4 Bobby Fischer which attacked and mocked Eminem for many things including his dyed-blonde hair and his supposedly taking credit for other people's production work. This track was fairly well-received by listeners, and some felt that Eminem mocking Dilated for being "underground" in the first place was hypocritical considering that in the early stages of his career Eminem was heavily involved in the underground hip hop scene (and in fact once freestyled on radio with Dilated Peoples themselves.)

Eminem responded on a bonus diss track on D12's debut Devil's Night called "Girls," which is actually a solo track. The diss, while primarily directed at Fred Durst and DJ Lethal of Limp Bizkit (the latter had supported Everlast in the feud) included lines about Dilated Peoples, where Eminem claims that he never intended for "Quitter" to be leaked. He also states that he only involved D12 in the beef because of comments Dilated Peoples had made in support of Everlast.

Eminem vs Cage

After Eminem gained underground notoriety following the release of The Slim Shady EP, underground New York rapper Cage claimed that he had bit (copied) his style and lyrics for his "Slim Shady" persona. While not devoting full diss tracks to the feud, Eminem took shots at Cage in "Get You Mad" ("Wagin' wars, went on stage and sprayed Cage with 'Agent Orange' [underground Cage single]/And wiped my ass with his page in Source") and "Role Model" ("I bought Cage's tape, opened it, and dubbed over it.") Disses by Cage include "Illest 4 Letter Word," a full diss track, as well as "Escape to '88" ("Being black balled by a white MC, pause, I guess that faggot found the right MD") and "Still Babblin,'" which include shots at Eminem. The feud took place early in Eminem's career and has since been inactive.

Eminem vs Insane Clown Posse

This beef with Eminem and the Insane Clown Posse (ICP), goes way back to 1995. ICP consists of two people, Violent J (Joseph Bruce), and Shaggy 2 Dope (Joseph Ulster). Everything started in 1995, when Eminem was handing out flyers for a party where he was performing. The flyer apparently said "Appearance from ICP...maybe". Violent J wasn't too happy about this and he told Eminem to "fuck off" and that he wouldn't play at his party. This, apparently, struck Eminem the wrong way and he and ICP started to exchange dis tracks. He told people that he threw ICP out of a club in Detroit and he told a close friend that ICP were pussies for not responding. Eminem has dissed ICP on many tracks before. For example, on "Get You Mad," he says "dress up like ICP and have them come see you perform live" and on "Drastic Measures" he says, "ICP are over rated and hated because of their false identities". Within the past few years, ICP has recruited Detroit rap group Twiztid to the fold and this Detroit crew released their first diss towards Slim with the infamous "Slim Anus" track made by dubbing over select parts of Eminem's hit song "My Name Is" to give the song homosexual meanings. Eminem responded in the track "Marshall Mathers" from The Marshall Mathers LP, which includes the lines, "'Slim Anus,' you damn right slim anus/I don't get fucked in mine like you two little flaming faggots." The track following "Marshall Mathers," "Ken Kaniff (skit)," has ICP giving oral sex to fictional homosexual character Ken Kaniff.

On June 3, 2000, Mathers was involved in a heated dispute in Red Oak, Michigan with Douglas Dail, an associate of the Insane Clown Posse. During the confrontation, Marshall was observed to be holding a gun, which he kept pointed at the ground[1]. Being taken into police custody after an unrelated incident the next day, Marshall was charged with misdemeanor charges of brandishing a firearm in public, assault with a dangerous weapon, and two counts of concealed weapon possession, in two separate trials for the two incidents. In the Dail case, he pleaded nolo contendere to the charges of firearm possession and brandishing, receiving one year of probation, enforced concurrently with the sentence from the first case. [2]. ICP responded with an underground diss track called "Nuthin' but a 'Bitch' Thang" (a parody of Dr. Dre's hit single "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang",) which opens with Eminem being sodomized by Dr. Dre and continues with a response by ICP to "Marshall Mathers" and a reference to the Red Oak incident.

Eminem vs Royce Da 5'9"

This beef probably has been the most personal Eminem has had so far. Before Eminem was signed to Aftermath, he and Ryan Montgomery, better known as Royce Da 5'9", had been close friends in the Detroit underground scene. They worked together as the rap duo Bad Meets Evil, and appeared on each other's debut LP (Eminem on Royce's "Detroit Rock City", and Royce on Eminem's "Bad Meets Evil").

Problems first arised between the two in 1999 when Eminem introduced Royce to Dr Dre. At first Dre and Royce worked well together and Royce was scheduled to appear on Dre's critically acclaimed 2001 LP and to ghost write some of Dr Dre's verses. It was believed that Dre was going to give a record deal to Royce after 2001 came out but sadly their connection was severed when Royce's manager did a radio interview talking up Royce's position with Dre and made it out to sound like Dre was nowhere near as good as Royce. This offended Dr Dre so much that he immediately pulled all of Royce's material from the album and rescinded any record deal to Royce. Afterwards it was believed that the reason that Eminem never gave a record deal to his friend Royce was that he was afraid of also offending Dr Dre. There was also a strong amount of tension from the fact that members of Eminem's group D12 and Royce did not get along either. Members of D12 were afraid of losing their connection with Eminem and it does appear so when seeing that early in Eminem's career he used Royce as his hypeman instead of Proof (his current hypeman) and that Royce appeared on the Slim Shady LP, though no one from D12 did. Royce and Eminem have also worked on many songs together including "Scary Movies", "She The One" and the original version of "Renegades".

The friendship finally ended in 2003 when Eminem signed 50 Cent to his label while he had recently denied signing Royce claiming that he was too busy. This annoyed Royce and the beef began on the Anger Management Tour Mixtape. It was a highly disputed line from Royce on a freestyle on the DJ Green Lantern mixtape where Royce said "Fuck Anger Management, I'll hire someone to deal with my problems." Members of D12 immediately took this as a diss and talked Eminem into cutting off his old friend. Royce complained about D12 "getting in Em's ear" and changing his close friend to separate the two. Diss tracks between the two ensued over the next year which led to issues between Royce and Eminem. Following the line by Royce da 5'9', "quicker than Eminem can pinch Elton's ass," (poking fun at Eminem and Elton John's performance at the Grammys). Eminem has never officially come back - however, he 'subliminally' dissed Royce on the Invasion 3 freestyle:

"Rhinestones, are so nice, they shine so bright Especially at night, after a hit of ecstasy, ain't that right Rooooooooyyyyy---whoo wait a minute I'm ramblin'"

(Royce is known for wearing rhinestone-covered bandanas)

However, D12 (minus Eminem who has remained silent on the subject other than the previously mentioned diss) have only taken small shots at Royce, as on the song "Smack Down", a remix of 50 Cent's "Back Down" which they released on a limited edition mixtape on the internet; neither Eminem or Proof had any lines in the song. D12 never officially dissed Royce again, though Proof's "Many Men" remix does subliminally take shots at Royce. Violence has been a part of this beef as in Detroit Proof's ex-group Goon Squad, lead by the infamous Trick Trick, rushed Royce on stage who was doing a show for family members. Though never confirmed, rumors had it that Royce, a member of M.I.C., and Royce's own mother were forced to go to the hospital from the attack. The beef ended after a situation in Europe where D12 and Royce happeneded to both be touring at the same time. Rivals Proof and Royce got into a confrontation which lead to both men pulling guns on each other and both being arrested. While in jail the two squashed the beefs and there haven't been anymore diss tracks from either sides though Eminem and Royce have not worked again since. Royce has shown to be finished with his beef, showing love to Eminem on songs on the Death Is Certain LP and also on Independent's Day. Many speculated that Eminem talked about the sad beef on the D12 song "How Come" though Kuniva of D12 confirmed that his verse was about Proof.

Eminem vs Esham

On the track "Still Don't Give a Fuck" from his debut album The Slim Shady LP, Eminem included the lines, "I'm a cross between Manson, Esham and Ozzy." The line was meant as a tribute to Detroit rapper Esham, and he didn't take offense. However, the feud escalated later, and on the track "Kill You" from The Marshall Mathers LP, Eminem rapped, "I ain't 'acid rap,' but I rap on acid," apparently responding to accusations that he had bit Esham's style. Following the release of D12's debut Devil's Night, which was more shock-oriented than Eminem's solo albums, claims that he and the other members of D12 had bit Esham's style increased.

Esham took shots at Eminem on the track "Chemical Imbalance" from his 2001 album Tongues:

They won’t let me on MTV I’d beat up Carson Daly/And remind Eminem of D’Angelo Bailey/Hailie’s in a coma, Hailie’s in a coma/I smell the aroma, of a dead body/Chemi-cal imbalance Chemi-cal imbalance/Chemi-cal imbalance Chemi-cal imbalance/Drugs, thugs, slugs, niggaz get plugged/At an early age up in Detroit, nigga what?!

As a result, at the Warped Tour in Camden, New Jersey after Esham's album Tongues was released, Eminem's group D12(without Eminem because he was at home in Michigan), and 40 friends and associates of D12 assaulted Esham and T.N.T., a bandmate from his group Natas, pelting them with rocks and kicking them in the heads, leaving Esham with damaged hearing in his left eardrum, a concussion and a ruptured eyeball and T.N.T. with bruises and cuts. As a result, Esham, Natas and D12 were dropped from the tour. Esham told Billboard that he videotaped D12's entourage just minutes before the attack, for the possibility that the footage would be used for identification purposes in court. Esham also said that D12 were 100% in the wrong, and that him being kicked off for defending himself was horrendous. He also believed Eminem premeditated the attack. [3]

The Songs

Eminem vs Everlast

• I Just Don't Give A Fuck (Everlast Diss)
• I Remember (Everlast Diss) Featuring D-12
• Quitter (Everlast Diss) Featuring D-12
• Girls (Everlast Diss) Featuring D-12
• Whitey's Revenge (Eminem Diss)

Eminem vs Evidence

• Girls (Dilated Peoples Diss)
• Search 4 Bobby Fisher (Eminem Diss)

D-12 vs Royce Da 5'9"

• Back Down Royce (Eminem Feat. D-12 - Royce Da 5'9" Diss)
• Load Em Up (D-12 Diss)
• Many Men (Royce Da 5'9" Diss) (Proof)
• Malcolm X (D-12 Diss)
• Smack Down (Royce Da 5'9" Diss)
• The Conspiracy Freestyle (Royce Da 5'9" Diss)

Eminem vs Benzino

• The Sauce (Benzino Diss)
• Nail In The Coffin (Benzino Diss)
• Die Another Day (Eminem Diss)
• Pull Your Skirt Up (Eminem Diss)
• Bully (Benzino Diss)
• Doe Ray Me (Benzino Diss)
• Dear Slim (Eminem Diss)
• Built For This (Eminem Diss)
• Monkey See Monkey Do (Benzino Diss)
• The Matrix (Eminem Diss)
• What People Do For Money (Benzino Diss) (Proof & Swift)
• The Conspiracy Freestyle (Benzino Diss)
• Welcome 2 Detroit City (Benzino Diss) (Tricky Trick)
• Got It Twisted Freestyle (Benzino & Ja Rule Diss)
• Invasion (Benzino Diss)
• Go To Sleep (Benzino Diss)

Eminem vs Christina Aguilera

• The Real Slim Shady (Christina 'Diss')
• Will the Real Slim Shady Please Shut Up(Eminem Diss)

Eminem vs Canibus

• Can-I-Bitch (Canibus Diss)
• Stan Lives (Eminem Diss)
• Say My Name (Canibus Diss) Feat. Xzibit & Nate Dogg
• Square Dance (Canibus Diss)
• Get You Mad (Canibus Diss)
• Role Model (Canibus Diss)
• Phuk You (Eminem Diss)
• Curriculum 101 (Eminem Diss)
• DR.PHD (Eminem Diss)
• U Didn't Care (Eminem Diss)
• I'm Marshall (Canibus Diss)
• How Many MC's (Eminem Diss)

Eminem vs Cage

• Still C-A-G-E (Eminem Diss)
• Role Model (Cage Diss)
• And So Kiddies.. (Eminem Diss)
• Tired Lyrics from Detroit Michigan (Eminem Diss)

Eminem vs Ja Rule

• Bully (Ja Rule Diss)
• Loose Change (Eminem Diss)
• Hail Mary (Ja Rule Diss) Featuring 50 Cent & Busta Rhymes
• Bump Heads (Ja Rule Diss) Featuring G-Unit
• Go To Sleep (Ja Rule Diss) Featuring Obie Trice & DMX
• Doe Ray Me (Ja Rule Diss) Featuring D-12 & Obie Trice
• Keep Talkin (Ja Rule Diss) Featuring D-12
• Shit Hits The Fan (Ja Rule Diss) Featuring Dr. Dre & Obie Trice
• Got It Twisted Freestyle (Benzino & Ja Rule Diss)

Eminem vs Limp Bizkit and DJ Lethal

• Girls (Limp Bizkit and DJ Lethal Diss and Halig)
• Without Me (Fred Durst Diss)

Eminem vs. Insane Clown Posse

• Nothing But A Bitch Thing (Eminem Diss)
• Slim Anus (Eminem Diss)
• Ken Kanif Skit (ICP Diss)
• Marshall Mathers (ICP Diss)
• Get You Mad (ICP Diss)
• Monkey See Monkey Do (ICP Diss)

Eminem vs Jermaine Dupri

• Say What You Say (JD Diss) Featuring Dr. Dre
• Freestyle (JD Diss) Featuring Xzibit
• Say My Name (JD Diss) Featuring Xzibit & Nate Dogg
• Grindin' (JD Diss) Featuring Xzibit
• Canibitch (JD Diss)

Eminem vs Moby

• Without Me (Moby Diss)
• Say My Name (Moby Diss) Featuring Xzibit & Nate Dogg

Eminem vs Esham

• Still Don't Give A Fuck (Esham Diss)
• Shady MF (Eminem Diss)
• E.S.H.A.M. (Esham Diss) (Proof)
• Thug Pit (Eminem Diss)
• I'm Dead (Eminem Diss)
• Chemical Imbalance (Eminem Diss)
• Mr. Negativity (Eminem Diss)
• Detroit (Eminem Diss)
• Brain Surgery (Eminem Diss)
• Gloczup (Eminem Diss)
• All Night Every Day (Eminem)
• La La La (Eminem Diss)
• In Detroit (Eminem Diss)
• Back In Da Day (Eminem Diss)
• Ex-Girlfriend (Eminem Diss)

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