Eminem is one of the greatest rappers ever to touch the mic. With over 20 years of rollercoaster-like career under his belt, 90 award wins over 362 nominations, and iconic performances at the most prominent award stages like MTV VMA, Oscar, and Grammy, he surely belongs to the Mount Rushmore of hip-hop.
Back in the days when Vanilla Ice was the standard of 'white-suburban rapper,' Eminem managed to break the stereotypes. You might deny his G.O.A.T status because he's white, something he freely admits on self-White America. Still, he had to overcome more significant challenges back in the days, and that what concreted his status.
Over the past 20 years of career, Eminem has been creating iconic moments like he recently did at the 92nd Academy Awards when he received a standing ovation from the crowd. To celebrate his accomplishments, we're looking back at 19 other iconic moments of Eminem's career in pictures with no timeline order.
18 When He Teamed Up Multiple Artists On The Anthem
In 1999, Eminem with other numbers of 90s notorious emcees: Sway, King Tech, RZA, Tech N9ne, Xzibit, Pharoahe Monch, Kool G Rap, Jayo Felony, Chino XL and KRS-One teamed up on Sway & King Tech's song, The Anthem. This underground classic music video was banned from TV. Eminem uses shock values to emphasize his status in the rap game as he raps, "This place is my house / I might as well erase my face with white out."
17 When He Brought Fake Slim Shadys At MTV VMAs In 2000
In 2000, Eminem delivered an iconic career-defining live performance at the MTV VMAs. He performed his international chart-topping hits, The Real Slim Shady and The Way I Am, brought an army of 100 Slim Shady clones who robotically bob their heads to the beats, and swept Radio City Music Hall, New York.
20 years later, the performance still blew us away.
16 When He Gave 5 Bits Of Advice For The Kids
Knows a lot about life, had a great deal of success, who knows more about a piece of advice for kids than Eminem?
In 2010, he made a rare live TV appearance on CBS' Late Show with David Letterman. The late-night host asked him to give ten pieces of advice for kids, and he delivered ten hilariously written bits of advice with a straight poker face. He said, "Money doesn't buy happiness -- it buys crazy-ass happiness."
As the show about to end, Shady delivered his one last advice, "Don't waste your time watching this show."
15 When He Performed Stan With Elton John
Eminem is never a homophobic, but back in the early 2000s, he was heavily accused of homophobia for problematic lyrics that often contain the f-slur. To make a strong statement about where he's coming from, he performed an accusingly-homophobic song, Stan, with Elton John, a living legend and an openly gay man, at the 2001 Grammy. He silenced the critics, and 19 years later, they reunited at the backstage of the 2020 Oscar!
14 When He Shaped The Sound Of YouTube In The Early 2010s Decade
The early 2010s was the start of the streaming platform era, YouTube, and Eminem played a part in it. In 2010, he released his Slim Shady-free album, Recovery, with songs like Not Afraid, Just The Way You Lie, and No Love serving as its singles. Both Not Afraid and Just The Way You Lie became the most-watched videos on the platform at that time. As per January 2020, both respectively have gained over 1.3 billion and 1.9 billion views.
13 When Christina Aguilera Introduced Him At The VMAs
Earlier in his career, Eminem is well-known for dissing A-list pop stars, including Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, Michael Jackson, and Christina Aguilera. Xtina made a comment on Eminem's early lyrics about his ex-wife, Kimberly Scott, which Eminem jabs back on his 2000 track, The Real Slim Shady.
But in 2002, they buried the hatched for good and hugged on the stage of the MTV VMAs, where she presented him an award for Best Male Video.
12 When He Made A Surprise Return To The Stage At 2006 BET Awards
The tragic and devastating passing of Eminem's longtime best friend, Proof (real name DeShaun Holton), in 2006, scarred a deep internal wound inside Eminem. After his passing, Eminem fell into even worse substance abuse and deep dark hole of depression.
But on June 27, 2006, he made a surprise appearance at the BET Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles and performed the remix of Busta Rhymes' Touch It. He might be grieving, but with such an epic live performance, he wanted to tell his fans that "he will be back."
11 When He Made A Cameo On The Interview
Eminem is gay - what?
In 2014, he made a funny cameo on Seth Rogen's controversial comedy movie about a fictional version of Kim Jong Un, The Interview. The lead character, journalist Dave Skylar (James Franco), interviews Eminem about his lyrics and his sexuality. He satirically replies, "I'm more shocked that people haven't figured it out yet ... I've been playing gay peek-a-boo for years. I've pretty much been leaving a gay bread crumb trail."
10 When He 'Ended' Afrojack In One Word
Is it me or Eminem really does have a thing on going against techno musicians (remember Moby from Without Me?). In 2013, Eminem and Will Ferrel (yes, Ron Burgundy) threw major shade at the EDM producer. The Anchorman had one final question for Eminem: "Afrojack has been talking shit about you, anything you want to say?"
Eminem took a brief pause and simply replied, "Who?." The Anchorman repeated the same question, to which Eminem asked again, "Who?."
Welp. That's a shady way to throw a shade.
9 When He Covered Snoop Dogg's Classic Song, Nuthin' But A G Thang, At 2018 Coachella
One, two, three to the four.
In 2018, Eminem showed love for his longtime collaborator, Snoop Dogg, by covering Uncle Snoop's signature hit, Nuthin' But A G Thang, at the Coachella Music Festival. The legendary emcee brought his mentor and friend, Dr. Dre, and created an unforgettable bond on-stage chemistry and performed their iconic collaboration, Forget About Dre.
8 When He Ran A Back-To-Back Victory Marathon At The Grammy And Dissed Them Years Later
Eminem is a household name in hip-hop who is familiar with award shows. He had won 15 Grammy since he made a breakthrough with The Slim Shady LP in 1999.
But apparently, there's bad blood going on between the rapper and the academy. In 2018, he sat down with Sway Calloway after the surprise release of the Kamikaze album and talked about how Grammy has been irrelevant and rigged over the last couple of years. Ouch.
7 When He Made A Rare Public Appearance During 50 Cent's Hollywood Walk Of Fame Ceremony
Hey Em, you know you're my favorite white boy, right.?
Eminem is a private person who rarely makes a public appearance if it's not necessarily needed. But in on January 30, 2020, he showed love and paid tribute to his homie, 50 Cent, "Of all the things I don't remember about 2002, I have a very clear memory of the first time I met 50. One of the first things I noticed when he walked into the room was his presence. It just kind of felt like he's going to be a star … He was the whole package."
6 When He Released 'Predicted' Toxic Stan Culture A Decade Ago
Eminem released his classic song, Stan, on November 21, 2000. In the song, Eminem tells the eerie story of Stanley Matthews, an over-zealously obsessed fan who increasingly gets violent towards himself and his pregnant girlfriend as the song progresses. Rapper Nas used the term 'stan' first on his Jay-Z's diss Ether. Thanks to him, the word is now commonly used by pop-culture lovers all over the internet as a word to describe their passionate love for their favorite celebrities.
5 When He Stole Drake's Detroit Show
What would happen when you gather all the smart kids to do a project together? The song Forever is the answer.
In 2009, Drake gathered Eminem, Kanye West, and Lil Way on Forever, which serves as the soundtrack to LeBron James's More Than a Game documentary. Fast forward to 2016, Drake brought Eminem to his Summer Sixteen gig in Detroit to perform the song and called him "the greatest rapper to ever get on the microphone."
4 When He Received A Standing Applause At 2020 Oscar Ceremony
Eminem set a massive milestone in his career in 2003 when he won Best Original Song for Lose Yourself and became the first rapper to win an Oscar. He never thought he'd make the cut, so he decided not to show up to the award and spent time with his daughter instead.
Fast forward to 2020, Eminem made a surprise appearance at the Oscar. He performed the iconic Lose Yourself and received a standing applause for it. Quite a terrific way to start a decade, isn't it, Marshall?
3 When He Summarized The 1.8-Hour Movie 8 Mile, Into 5 A Minute-Song
Still from 8 Mile.
Eminem is a master of story-telling. He made a brief recap of the whole 1.8 hours-length 8 Mile movie into a 5-minutes song, Lose Yourself. Not only tells the story, but he also keeps the incredibly complex rhyme scene throughout the song.
Rabbit Run and 8 Mile from the soundtrack album also use the same technique, and if you're bored of Lose Yourself, you might give these two underrated tracks a go.
2 When He Taught Jimmy Kimmel How To Rap
In 2009, Eminem had a face-to-face talk in Hollywood with late-night TV presenter, Jimmy Kimmel, and 'taught him how to rap' in a must-watch hilarious skit that aired on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Jimmy, a.k.a. Briefcase Joe learned from the Rap God himself: from the science of breaking down words to how to keep the record real by not giving a shout-out to a place you don't belong to.
1 When He And Rihanna Recreated Major Milestones Of His Career On The Monster
Eminem and Rihanna have unmatched chemistry, and on December 16, 2013, he released a quirky music video for their collaboration song, The Monster. The video sees Rihanna as Eminem's therapist. Eminem embarks on an elevator journey to some of the critical moments of his career: My Name Is, Lose Yourself, and The Way I Am music videos, as well as Stan performance with Elton John.