Since the year 2000, fans were standing up for “The Real Slim Shady” in numbers that, for many people in the industry, were surprising and hard to comprehend. 20+ years later, Marshall Mathers has the ever-growing number of people “rapped” around his finger, and even though he is almost 50, he continues to defy the odds with content quality and hard work.
But many people are not convinced this previously blond rapper made it to where he is now because of his talent, as they think Eminem’s skin color and controversial lyrics manly contributed to his success. This may be surprising to some, but yes, Slim has a lot of haters out there. It seems like everything grows proportionally, even the amount of resentment.
No matter which side you are on, I think people with opposing opinions can at least agree that Eminem is as influential as ever. But is it justified? I am gonna claim it is, but I will not leave you without arguments.
What are the reasons for his success?
Reason number 1: amazing, catchy, funny, and relatable content
Many Eminem songs have an enormous variety to them. They are clever rhyme-wise, beats and hooks are extremely catchy, and lyrics are funny and often very relatable.
So what more can you ask for? Lyricists are dissecting the songs, young people are nodding to the beat, and the ones that don’t necessarily understand what he is saying will gladly turn the volume up because the flow and overall feel of the song are different.
There is something for people in all stages of rap game.
Reason number 2: Madness with an alibi
Eminem’s genius doesn’t lie just in the content of his songs. He managed to get away with many raw lyrics by applying that personality to the bad boy of rap, “Slim Shady”. This is his alter ego, to be more precise, his alibi, and he made some of his greatest hits with bleached hair.
How can you cancel a person that does not exist?
Reason number 3: You will never see Em icy
Eminem was his own person from the very beginning, which immediately singled him out from the crowd. Once he was singled out, it was up to him to express himself and to show off his talent. He did just that, in every way possible, and for once we didn’t see rapper covered in jewelry.
I polarize shit so the Thames might freeze” – a verse from The Ringer
Reason number 4: Extremely humble and inspiring
For a person that is considered by many to be one of the best in the rap game, Eminem does pay a lot of homage in his songs to rappers of all generations, even the ones that are no longer with us. And let’s not forget that he wrote some of the most inspirational rap lyrics of all time (when he was not Slim, of course).
Is there one person on this Earth who never heard of Lose Yourself? It’s like a “Freestyler” of rap, even 60-year-olds are familiar with it.
Reason number 5: Rappers who have him featured do a better job
To have Eminem in your song is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, artists attract more ears if Shady is featured, but on the other hand, more often than not they end up being dominated on their own track.
But another thing often happens – artists who look up to him tend to give an extra effort to try to avoid Shady’s shadow, and fans become victorious.
Reason number 6: A puzzle that is never completely solved
Marshall Mathers is known for double and even triple entendre gems, and after he is done “killing it” with his multiple-interpretation lines, the rap forensics like NoLifeShaq and Stevie Knight are called to examine the murder scene.
Some stuff flyes over their heads too, and it seems like the more you listen, the more new things you pull out from Eminem’s songs.
So what is your opinion, is Eminem justifiably adored? And where do you place him in your personal rap hall of fame?
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