Highlights

• Eminem has sold over 100 million albums worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists in history.
• Despite family drama and music industry scandals, Eminem remains a heavily streamed artist with seven songs reaching over a billion streams each.
• Eminem's songs like "Forgot About Dre" and "Rap God" have become iconic and showcase his talent and impact in the rap game.

Eminem is undoubtedly one of the most popular artists of all time, particularly when it comes to his icon status in the rap game.

It is estimated that the self-proclaimed "rap god" has sold over 100 million albums worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists in music history! He was also the top-selling artist of the 2000s, and has received numerous Diamond certifications due to his success in the industry, and even won an Oscar, though he skipped out on the awards ceremony.

While he's always been at the top of his game, Eminem has also found himself dealing with family drama where he did not do the best for his ex-wife or kids or music industry scandal. Despite his feuds with people like Moby, Weird Al Yankovic, Machine Gun Kelly, and more, Eminem remains a heavily streamed artist, with seven songs having reached over a billion streams each!

Updated January 2024: This list has been updated to reflect the most recent downloads on Spotify. While Eminem's most recent work is Curtain Call 2, released August 2022, critics have been speculating that Eminem is working on new music. That speculation was all but confirmed by Eminem himself in January 2024 when he stated he was "working on a little something." Rumors are also circulating that Eminem will be collaborating on a track with 50 Cent on 50 Cent's new album.

15 'Forgot About Dre'

752+ Million Spotify Streams

Dr. Dre had gone nearly a decade between releasing his debut solo album and his second. As such, when it came time to work on 2001 Dre made sure to get plenty of support to make his album a success.

At the time that Dre was making his album, Eminem had become one of the most popular rappers on the scene. But instead of including Eminem in a song, Eminem came to Dre with the song, Forgot About Dre. A song that would not only help to further Eminem's career but make Dre's sophomore album a success as well.

"That was Eminem’s idea," Dre explained. "He wrote the song for me and Snoop originally. He laid the reference vocals for Snoop and I liked the way it sounded. So, we just kept it that way and I laid my vocals and that was it."

As to how and why Eminem wrote the song, is still a mystery.

"I had no idea of what, you know, what triggered him to write that song," Dre said. "You know, he just came in with those lyrics and we wrote some music to it and that was that."

14 'River' - Eminem feat. Ed Sheeran

807+ Million Streams on Spotify

Released in 2017, River is one of the darker songs that Eminem has worked on. This is because the song is about toxic relationships and how they can lead to emotional and physical abuse. It talks about the dangers of being in a relationship that is unhealthy and how it can lead those in it to make choices about their lives that could have devastating results.

Given that many people suffer in silence in toxic relationships, it is no wonder that this speaks to many. Because of this, it will always remain one of Eminem's and Ed Sheeran's, for that matter, most downloaded songs.

13 'Superman'

821+ Million Streams on Spotify

Superman was included on Eminem's fourth studio album, The Eminem Show. The song discusses the tumultuous relationships he had in his life with women ad why the same type of women kept coming his way.

Most interesting about this song, however, is that Mariah Carey was supposed to do the vocals on Superman, rather than Dina Rae. However, around the time that the song was released, Carey and Eminem had a falling out, rumored to be because of their relationship coming to an end.

Carey may not have ended up singing on the track but she is still included in the song via the verse: "What you tryin’ to be, my new wife?/ What you Mariah? Fly through twice."

12 'Smack That' - Akon feat. Eminem

886+ Million Streams on Spotify

While Eminem is a featured artist on Smack That, Eminem did more than just provide vocals for the song. He produced Akon's hit single as well.

"It’s interesting because every record I ever put out, I actually produced, except 'Smack That,'" Akon explained. "Eminem produced that record. Isn’t that crazy? He always had them small little sounds, it was something minute, but it felt like Eminem."

Akon went on to say, "Once he heard my concept to it, he was like, 'Yo, I’m jumping on this one'. And I said, 'You know what, if he jumps on this one, this will be a single.'"

The song did become a single, reaching number two on the chart and one of the most downloaded songs Eminem is on, according to Spotify.

11 'Not Afraid'

952+ Million Streams on Spotify

Eminem released Not Afraid after he came out of rehab. The song is an anthem of sorts of how Eminem is not afraid of what is to come being clean and sober. He will face it head-on, regardless of how big or small the problem may be.

"It was my decision to get clean, I did it for me/ Admittedly I probably did it subliminally for you/ So I can come back a brand new me, you helped see me through/" Eminem raps on the track, showing his seriousness to his sobriety. He even took a jab at Relapse, admitting it was not his best work, and promising to do better in the future.

Given that Eminem has been sober for nearly 15 years, he did not go back on his word to his fans and in the process got a successful single out of it.

10 'The Monster' - Eminem feat. Rihanna

963+ Million Streams on Spotify

The Monster has remained a popular song of Eminem's for the past decade simply because it is a song that everyone can relate to. This is because as hard as people may try, they are never able to "get rid of [their] demons." Instead, they become part of life's struggle. And it is how that struggle is dealt with that either builds a person up or tears them apart.

"You can’t necessarily, completely just not be fearful or not have an addiction or a problem so you kind of have to live with it and learn to like, kind of live with monsters," writer, Jay Bellion explained. "He’s not going to go away. The monster is still there but he’s got to learn to live with it and deal with it and kind of co-exist with your demons, ‘cause demons will never just be gone. You’ll never just be happy your entire life."

While Eminem may be talking about fame in the song, life is filled with struggles in general. And having a song to listen to that addresses those struggles is what has made it the tenth-most-downloaded Eminem song to date.

9 'Rap God'

1.036+ Billion Streams on Spotify

On the surface, Rap God appears to be a song where Eminem is doing nothing more than bragging about his rapping skills. But, "Eminem is aware that defining himself as a Rap God means bragging. But he’s doing it consciously. He knows he’s good at it, and that part of the rap game is to stand out among the others, so that’s what he does." But when the deeper meaning of the song is realized makes it clear why it has nearly one billion downloads on Spotify.

What is sad to see is that Eminem thinks the only thing he has to contribute to society is his ability to rap. He feels that without those skills he is "not that valuable as a person."

It is the theme of being identified by a skill or profession and not having anything else in life that people can relate to. And it is this reliability that makes Rap God so popular.

8 'Stan' - Eminem feat. Dido

1.039+ Billion Streams on Spotify

Stan was released nearly 25 years ago. It could first be played back in 2000, found on Eminen's album, The Marshall Mathers LP.

Collaborating with another popular artist, singer Dido joined Eminem on the track. This song is particularly popular and has earned a spot on this list, thanks to the resurgence of the term "stan" in American lingo over the last few years, often used to say that you are a fan of someone/support something.

7 'Godzilla' - Eminem feat. JUICE WRLD

1.340+ Billion Streams on Spotify

Godzilla was one of Eminem's first songs to break a billion streams. Coming in at 1.172+ billion listens on Spotify, this track is clearly a favorite among fans.

The song was released on the album Music to Be Murdered By in 2020. He collaborated with Juice WRLD, an American rapper who unfortunately passed away in December 2019. The music video was released in his honor a little over three years ago.

6 'Love The Way You Lie' - Eminem feat. Rihanna

1.399+ Billion Streams on Spotify

Eminem has collaborated with Rihanna on numerous occasions, but none have been as successful as Love The Way You Lie. This served as the second single from Recovery (following Not Afraid) and proved just as popular - if not more so.

Undoubtedly aided by the involvement of Rihanna, Love The Way You Lie spent seven weeks atop the Hot 100, sold nearly 13 million copies in the United States alone, and received five Grammy nominations (including Song and Record of the Year). As of writing, the song has enjoyed over 1.224+ billion streams on Spotify, making it the third most popular of Eminem's career.

5 'Mockingbird'

1.502+ Billion Streams on Spotify

Mockingbird is another top song on Eminem's discography, currently sitting at the sixth most played from his releases. He took this song solo and released it on the album Encore back in 2004.

Though this track has not won any awards, it has been nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance. Fans would obviously disagree with the choice to not recognize this song as the winner, but they continue to show their support on Spotify.

4 'The Real Slim Shady'

1.642+ Billion Streams on Spotify

Joining the aforementioned Stan from The Marshall Mathers LP, the beloved song The Real Slim Shady has breached a billion streams, coming in at over 1.410+ billion.

The track is well-known across America, even to those who don't seek out Eminem's work. The Real Slim Shary earned itself seven award nominations in 2000, as well as a Grammy nomination in 2001. It won the Grammy, as well as three MTV Video Music Awards.

3 'Till I Collapse'

1.848+ Billion Streams on Spotify

'Till I Collapse is a curious song to be Eminem's second most popular on Spotify, as it was never particularly big on the radio. The song was never officially released as a single, but despite that, it has been certified 5x platinum in the United States, platinum in the United Kingdom, and 2x platinum in Italy.

It's very rare for a non-single to perform in this capacity, and it remains Eminem's most popular "album song." The song has been streamed on Spotify over 1.685 billion times, which is simply astounding considering its status as a non-single.

2 'Without Me'

1.948+ Billion Streams on Spotify

Without Me is a track from the album The Eminem Show that makes it ot the list. Being the third most-streamed song Eminem has released, Without Me has been played over 1.670 billion times on Spotify.

Between 2002-2003, this song was given fourteen award nominations, spanning MTV, Grammy, and various other awards. Out of those nominations, Without Me won six: four from the MTV Video Music Awards, a Grammy Award, and a Mnet Asian Music Music Award.

1 'Lose Yourself'

2.044 Billion+ Streams on Spotify

It is not a surprise that Lose Yourself is the number one song on the list given that not only was it released 23 years ago, but it was a major song in Eminem's film, 8 Mile. But it is because the song became a "musical pep talk" for those facing adversity or challenge in life that it became so popular.

Lose Yourself is "a song that talks about seizing an opportunity, a single chance to achieve everything that a person has ever worked for." These are rare opportunities that come along and when they do, people have the choice to face their fears and get what they have worked to achieve or be too afraid to do so. People from all walks of life can relate to this. A fact that can be seen by the nearly two billion downloads from Spotify.

Sources: genius.com, Spotify, RollingStone