Throughout his extensive career, Eminem has faced off against many competitors and detractors in the rap game. Sometimes he starts the war, and other times it shows up at his front door. Whether he started the beef or not, listeners are usually in agreeance that he’s the one that ends it. While we patiently wait to see if Eminem responds to the Game’s 10-minute attention-seeking diss track, here are the Top 5 Eminem feuds. These are battles that were either his most challenging or interesting, and how they transpired.
5. Machine Gun Kelly
This is perhaps Eminem’s most famous feud because it is still fairly recent, and it helped boost Kelly’s career. In the past, dissing Eminem was often times a good way to ask to be publicly humiliated. As you’ll read further down, it hurt many careers back when social media was still in it’s infancy. Machine Gun Kelly decided to take that risk.
It all started with MGK tweeting about Eminem’s daughter Hailie Mathers being “hot as “fudge” back in 2012. It’s uncertain whether this was an attempt to get the Rap God’s attention or not. Kelly asserted that the icon responded by blackballing him from being played on his radio show Shade 45. Kelly, real name Colson, would mention it in a radio freestyle. In it he says that Eminem is no longer his favorite rapper because of it. He then jumped on a Tech N9ne feature and took it a step further by subliminally insinuating violence against Marshall. Tech was not aware at the time that Kelly was dissing one of his favorite rappers on his song.
"Rap Devil"
Three days later, Kelly would respond with a song and video titled “Rap Devil”. The song had MGK fans believing that he had ended Eminem’s reign at the top. The lyrics doubled down on his claim that Eminem had been hindering his career. It also took pot shots at his new look, including his beard and sweatsuits. In the video he was seen eating what viewers believe to be a bowl of cereal, then digging a grave as he rapped. Would this be the final blow in this beef? Would Eminem let this slide?
"Killshot"
The world sat anxiously awaiting a response from the battle rapper turned hitmaker. Then it happened. Nearly two weeks later, on the anniversary of Patrick Swayze‘s death, Eminem released “Killshot”. What’s the significance of releasing on that date? Well, Eminem did this intentionally. Kelly had claimed on his diss track to be the “Ghost of the Future”, and Swayze is best known for his movie Ghost. This song was Eminem delivering the killshot to this “Ghost”. He even mentions Swayze in the lyrics, referencing that Kelly’s career will be dead as well with one call to Interscope. Pretty genius move.
Hip-Hop fans agreed almost unanimously that Eminem had won this spat. He creatively shuts down Kelly’s contentions against him while using several double entendres and cadence shifts. He also intentionally returns the petty barbs about looks and style, while giving him a nickname that would haunt Kelly for awhile after. The song broke YouTube records and coincidentally, MGK left hip-hop in the months following it.
However, it did not end Colson’s music career. In fact, he began making music in the genre of pop punk and quickly rose to the top of it. He also landed a role in a few films due to his star rising, and managed to snag Megan Fox as his new girlfriend and fiancé. Eminem has playfully dissed MGK in a few lines since then, just for shits and giggles.
4. CAGE
Eminem’s feud with underground rapper Cage is one of his lesser known ones, but this beef lasted longer than others. Early in Slim’s career, fellow white rapper Cage claimed that Eminem bit his style. Eminem responded to his assertion jokingly on his major debut album the Slim Shady LP. On the track “Role Model”, he teases, “Bought Cage’s tape opened it, and dubbed over it”. He also pokes fun at him on a sketch featuring his original character Ken Kaniff. Kaniff is a psychotic fan asking to perform sexual favors for Eminem. Eminem asks the caller if he’s Cage.
This is where the back-and-forth begins. Cage didn’t take to these jabs lightly and released the songs “And So Kiddies” and “Illest 4 Letter Word”. These diss tracks are in classic battle rap style, full of physical threats and doubling down on his claim that Eminem stole his style and sound. Eminem would respond back with a one-liner in a freestyle refuting this claim once again. Slim flips it and says that Cage’s whole album sounds like things that he would say.
The thing that was so good about this particular feud is that it was two underground elites with roots in battle rapping going toe-to-toe. While Eminem didn’t seem interested in releasing whole songs about his rival, he did continue to fire back with one-liners. The B-side track “Get U Mad” takes a quick and clever shot at Cage.
Following this, Cage dropped another track aimed at both Eminem and Aftermath titled “Still Cage”, a parody of “Still Dre”. By this time, Eminem’s career was getting so big that Cage fell off his radar and he moved on to bigger targets. While this fall out was more humorous than it was gritty, the potential to be deadly on the mic was apparent from both sides. Watch the video above to catch every diss from both sides.
3. Everlast
Everlast was at the peak of his career when he and Eminem started their notorious rap feud. After the massive hit hip-hop anthem “Jump Around” with House of Pain, his solo career was doing very well. He had a bluesy alternative rock single “What It’s Like” sitting at number 1 on the Modern Rock charts, followed by a Grammy Award-winning single with Santana. Then he guest-starred on a Dilated Peoples song and made a subliminal diss directed at Eminem.
Everlast had a line on the song that went, “I buck a .380 on ones that act shady…” aimed at Slim. Whitey claimed the ordeal started with a handshake incident at a concert. According to him, Eminem left him hanging during the exchange and he felt disrespected by it. Well, Eminem caught the reference in the song and fired back soon after with an entire diss track titled “I Remember”. The song mocks Everlast’s decision to start making rock albums, and is performed in the same acoustic style Everlast had been experimenting with. He also brings up his health issues and weight.
"Whitey's Revenge"
The general public began to tune in at this point and wonder what had gone down between these two superstars. Everlast responded with “Whitey’s Revenge”, reaching back into his rap bag, and getting personal with his attack. He questions Eminem’s manhood, throws shade his mom and daughter, and challenges him to a physical fight. The gloves were off and it was about to get uglier.
"Quitter"
Many would say that Slim Shady’s next response to Everlast was a career killer. Everlast still put out music after it, but nothing seemed to get much radioplay going forward. Listeners began to turn their backs on Whitey Ford, lumping him in with the likes of Vanilla Ice and Snow. Why? “Quitter” was just that vicious. Eminem attacked with a ferociousness we hadn’t seen in him yet. Not only were his words like daggers, but he delivered them with an aggressiveness unheard in his previous beefs. Everlast must’ve really struck a chord (no pun intended). The track finishes with his rap group D12 kicking the Irish rapper while he’s down.
This is the song that ended that squabble once and for all. Everlast’s career faded from the limelight and Eminem continued to top the charts. However, many years down the road, Eminem would admit that “Whitey’s Revenge” was the best diss another rapper had ever hit him with. In a separate interview, Whitey revealed that he had a response recorded and ready to fire back, but that his team had advised him to let it go. Regardless, that beef is squashed and the two seem to have a mutual respect for one another nowadays.
2. Canibus
Of all the opponents Eminem has faced off with in his lifetime, Canibus had the potential to be the most dangerous. Like Cage, Eminem had a few lines for Bis on the songs “Get U Mad” and “Role Model” off the Slim Shady LP. Not really disses, although they could be interpreted that way. At the time, LL Cool J and Canibus had a back-and-forth going. A rumor popped up that LL’s response to Canibus’ first diss was ghostwritten by Slim. Then there was a misunderstanding between these two that lead to a cancelled collaboration. Consequently, in the midst of his infamous feud with LL Cool J, Canibus decided to take aim at Eminem too. And so it began…
"the ballad"
Cannibus released a few songs directed at Eminem, including “the Ballad”, a wordy track boasting that he’s the better MC. While the song is lyrical, the punchlines didn’t pack a punch like his previous diss tracks. “U Didn’t Care” was the other diss track, and a sequel to Eminem’s song “Stan”. Bis thought the original song was aimed at him, and wrote this from Stan’s perspective. It was creative spin on the fictional character, but failed to connect as solid diss track, even with Eminem’s haters.
THE EMINEM SHOW
Eminem would return the favor with diss lines scattered throughout 2003’s hit album the Eminem Show. “Say What You Say”, “Square Dance”, and “When the Music Stops” all prod and poke at the Jamaican MC. The gist of these lines are that Canibus is whack, and nowhere near Eminem’s level. He asks listeners to stop with the comparisons as he hurdles punches in Bis’ direction. He continued to diss him on a freestyle, still chiseling away at the point that Canibus is irrelevant. Next, Em jumped on an Xzibit track called “Say My Name” to spit on Bis a little more.
Canibus responded to this series of slander with a few subliminal diss tracks that flew under the radar. By this time, it felt like the masses had lost interest in hearing what Canibus had to say.
"Can-i-bitch"
Eminem decided it was time to dedicate a whole song to his enemy called “Can-I-Bitch”. The song is silly in nature, akin to “Without Me” or “Just Lose It”. The instrumental is zany and unfinished sounding, but lyrically, it’s funnier and sharper than any of Bis’ insults so far. In it, he poked fun at Canibus being a wordy computer nerd with no street cred. He mocks his voice and makes fun of Canibus’ hard fails at properly dissing him. Eminem also takes a few jabs at Jermaine Dupri, who had been beefing with Dr. Dre at the time.
Things seemed to cool down after this. There were subliminals being tossed around from both sides, but for the most part, the feud seemed to be fading away from the public eye. Eminem shifted his focus to Benzino and Ja Rule, who he was simultaneously squabbling with at the time. Many years later on Conway the Machine‘s track “Bang”, Eminem would reflect that “it sucked to hand Canibus his ass because he was a fan of his”.
Canibus, having a background in the battle rap scene had the best chance of all of Eminem’s adversaries to ruin him. He gave it several attempts but never went for the jugular the same way he did LL Cool J. Most would agree that Eminem won this one, due to his career continuing to rise while Canibus disappeared into obscurity. There are rumors that an unreleased collaboration between the two might actually see a release.
1. BENZINO
Of all of Eminem’s feuds, this is the one that get’s talked about the most. Why is that? Benzino was not his most lyrical challenger. He didn’t have the mic skills possessed by that of Canibus, Cage, or even Everlast. So why is this particular beef the most notorious of them all? Here’s the reason:
The short answer is that it was the most entertaining. Ray Benzino was co-owner of the hip-hop magazine the Source at the time. Eminem’s critically acclaimed album the Eminem Show had just released, but the Source gave it four out of five mics. Eminem felt slighted, and he had the feeling the magazine did so because of his skin color. So Marshall began to badmouth the magazine in various appearances and refused to do an interview with Benzino. Ray responded by dropping a freestyle dissing Eminem. Maybe the worst decision of his career.
"Pull Up Your Skirt"
Benzino fired more shots by releasing a diss track titled “Pull Up Your Skirt”, in which he took credit for Eminem’s success and says that he’s overrated. He calls him the 2003 Vanilla Ice, while claiming Eminem only got away with his wild antics because he is white. These tracks dropped while Eminem was already embroiled in his feud with Canibus, and was also being pulled into 50 Cent’s war with Ja Rule. Slim heard these attempts at dissing him though and dropped an iconic verbal assault back on Benzino.
"Nail in the Coffin"
Eminem went on a radio show around the time and said that Benzino is the worst rapper he has ever heard. His reply to Benzino titled “Nail in the Coffin” dropped and created a buzz throughout the hip-hop world. The song was both serious and humorous in tone, loaded with amusing insults. It pokes fun at Ray claiming to be a gangster, calling him a fake Pacino, and pointing out that he sucks at rap too. The track is full of punchlines that are rooted in a rap battle style. Eminem dismantles everything Benzino has said thus far about him and raps circles around him while doing so. Those following this dispute were convinced that this was in fact the nail in Benzino’s coffin, but Ray still had a lot more to say…
the Neverending Feud
From here on, it was a back-and-forth that went on for a few years. Benzino would drop a song that people would “boo” and trash, then Eminem would respond with a track that listeners seemed to agree was much better in every regard. Sometimes Benzino’s entourage would fire back, and other times, people in Eminem’s crew would chime in with a song or verse. There was close to 30 songs altogether throughout this exchange. Eminem’s “The Sauce”, which takes digs at the magazine’s credibility, it’s owner, and it’s dwindling sales, is one of the more notable tracks in this series. Many of the songs, including “Bully”, take swipes at Ja Rule as well. You could say that he was killing two birds with one stone.
Both Benzino and Ja Rule’s careers took a dive after this drawn-out war of words. Ja Rule was once a top selling rapper, and after his quarrel with 50 Cent then Eminem, the radio never really touched him again. It was worse for Benzino though. He was fired from his magazine, and the publication actually bragged that it was “Now 100% Benzino free!” at the top of it. Nearly 20 years went by, and Benzino never seemed to get over the whole thing, having public meltdowns on social media. Eminem continues to break records with sales and streaming numbers, while his one-time opponent argues with Em’s fans on social media. Needless to say, Eminem ruined this guy’s career…and mental well-being too.
After clashing with Eminem, Cage and Canibus’ careers drifted downstream into the land of the forgotten. Everlast and Ja Rule’s once flourishing careers came to a screeching halt. Not only was Benzino’s career over at the magazine and as a rapper, but his whole life appeared to be derailed as well. Needless to say, these guys lost their dispute with Marshall in most listeners’ eyes. Machine Gun Kelly is the only challenger who survived a beef with Em. While his career did blossom, he did switch music genres to make that happen.
Now rap fans are eager to see if Slim Shady responds to the Game‘s attempt to pull him into another back-and-forth. If he does reply, will he end the Game or perhaps send him over to the country music genre?
If you enjoyed reading the Top 5 Eminem feuds, be sure to check out my other article about the Real Slim Shady, regarding his best songs after his first Greatest Hits album Curtain Call HERE.
