8 of Eminem’s Infamous Rap Beefs Ranked

Eminem, born Marshall Matters, is a Grammy-winning rapper, entrepreneur, and producer.  He got his big break starring lead in the film 8 Mile back in 2002. His song from the film “Lose Yourself” won him Best Original Song at the Oscars, the first hip-hop song to win the award. He is now a 15-time Grammy-winning artist with no intention of slowing down. He’s set to release his 12th studio album, Shady XV, next month.

Although Eminem has had a lot of success in his career, along the way he’s stirred the pot and has gotten himself into many rap beefs with various artists. From Mariah Carey to Ja Rule check out  eight of his infamous rap beefs ranked:

• 8. Moby

  Musician and producer Moby and Eminem’s beef occurred during the 2001 Grammy’s where he called the rapper “misogynistic and homophobic” per Highsnobriety. Eminem didn’t take it too well and called him out in “Without Me.” Look at the awkward incident and the diss track below:

• 7. Joe Budden

  “The tracklist, without the benefit of a doubt, appears to be utter garbage,” Budden said about Eminem’s 2017 album Revival on his podcast.He then called the single “Untouchable” “trash” and “one of the worst songs I’ve ever heard.” Em retaliated on “Chloraseptic” and then later on his 2018 album Kamikaze, dissing Budden on the track “The Fall.”

• 6. Nick Cannon

  Nick Cannon started beef with Eminem when he was with then-wife Mariah Carey but the riff esculated he brought it up 10 years later per the outlet. At first, Eminem decided not to respond but then hopped on Fat Joe’s and Dre’s “Lord Above” and aimed straight for Cannon. Cannon later responded in a series of tracks titled, “The Invitation,” “The Invitation Canceled,” and “Pray for Him.”

• 5. Machine Gun Kelly

  Machine Gun Kelly didn’t get the memo to not talk about Eminem’s daughter Hailie. MGK infamously referred to Eminem’s daughter as “hot as f—” in a now since-deleted tweet back in 2018. That’s when the Detriot native released the diss track “Killshot” with album artwork with the likeness of MGK. In the song, Eminem came for his hair, lack of hits, and his ex-girlfriend Halsey. MGK also responded to Eminem in a diss track of his own called “Rap Devil.”

• 4. Will Smith

  At the 1999 MTV VMAs, during Will Smith’s acceptance speech for Best Male Video award, beating Eminem for the award, Smith slighted the rapper saying that he didn’t need to use “profanity or threaten people” to sell records per the outlet. Eminem didn’t take it lightly and released “The Real Slim Shady” with the line directed at the actor: Will Smith don’t gotta cuss in his raps to sell records / Well, I do, so f— him and f— you too.”

• 3. Ja Rule

  Eminem stayed out of Ja Rule’s and 50 Cent’s beef until Ja Rule took mentioned his daughter in his song “Loose Change.” Slim Shady doesn’t play about his daughter and released a series of diss tracks including “Doe Rae Me (Hailie’s Revenge),” “Bully,” and “Hail Mary” with 50 and Busta Rhymes.

• 2. Mariah Carey

  Mariah Carey’s and Eminem’s back-and-forth definitely tops as some of the best diss tracks from these influential artists. The beef started when Eminem speculated a relationship between the two in a 2002 interview with Larry King saying they have “hung out multiple times.” Mariah alleges a relationship never occurred so Eminem released private voicemails of her during his Anger Management Tour. The MC also attacked Mariah and Nick Cannon’s relationship in the track “Bagpipes From Baghdad.” Mariah responded by releasing the song and music video “Obsessed” where she dressed up looking like the “Lose Yourself” rapper.

• 1. Christina Aguilera

  In 1999, Eminem married Kim Scott and was trying to keep the ceremony underwraps until Christina Aguilera told press for her What A Girl Wants MTV special in 2000. The songstress also talked about “physical abuse in relationships” warning women to look out for certain behaviors, something else the MC did not take likely. Instead of having a sit-down interview on the incident he went straight to the booth and did what he does best and called out the pop star in the iconic diss track “The Real Slim Shady.” Aguilera wasn’t taking it either and showed she has some bars as well and did a remix of his diss track called, “The Real Slim Shady (Please Shut Up).”