"I've always looked at battle rap as competition or war," Eminem said on his eleven minutes acapella freestyle in 2018, Kick-Off. Shot at The Shelter at St. Andrew's Hall in his hometown of Detroit, he said that the main objective is to destroy, completely obliterate your opponent by saying anything and everything to get a reaction from the crowd.
And recently, someone has just poked the sleeping bear. Nick "MTV Wild n' Out" Cannon reignited their old feud by adding more fuel to the fire. He frequently bashed Eminem in podcasts and interviews, saying that he'd fight Eminem physically. He also dropped two diss tracks against Eminem: The Invitation and Pray For Him.
Rumors also circulate around that a big rapper is going to drop a surprise album by December 20 this year, so it's intriguing what Slim has been up to, whether he's going to respond to Cannon's diss tracks or not. But before that, let's revisit the list of 20 people Eminem has dissed the most, ranked by numbers. Statistics are provided by ePro Team: Support for Eminem & Shady Records.
20 Vanilla Ice (rapper, 10 disses)
Notable song(s): Marshall Mathers (2000)
Rapper Vanilla Ice, born Robert Matthew Van Winkle, made a massive breakthrough upon releasing Ice Ice Baby in 1990. He was just 23 years old at that time. The song gained mainstream popularity among white audiences, something Eminem was really frustrated with.
"Vanilla Ice is just fake," he told Newsweek. VI jabs back by telling Vibe magazine that he's not a fan of Slim's 'squeaky voice.' He said, "Eminem raps like a girl, man."
19 Nick Cannon (rapper, 11 disses)
Notable song(s): Bagpipes from Baghdad (2009), The Warning (2009)
The feud can be traced to the early 2000s, when Mariah Carey, Cannon's soon-to-be-wife, was rumored to date Eminem, which she denied. Eminem fired back by name-dropping her on 2002's tracks, Superman & When The Music Stops.
Fast forward to 2009, he name-dropped The Christmas Queen, again. Cannon, who was married to her at that time, wasn't safe from Slim Shady's wrath. The feud's still hot and going until today.
18 Lindsay Lohan (actress, 15 disses)
Notable song(s): Same Song and Dance (2009)
Eminem's gonna Eminem. Sometimes, the reason he 'namedrops' a person is either because their names happen to rhyme, or he just feels like doing it. At 2005 MTV Movie Awards, he teased the Mean Girls actress by doing accents and poking fun with his version of Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog.
Years later, he name-dropped her on his horrorcore song, Same Song and Dance.
17 Joe Budden (rapper, 15 disses)
Notable song(s): Fall (2018)
In 2011, Eminem signed Joe Budden's four-piece group, Slaughterhouse, into his label, Shady Records. Under his management, the group only released one, and final album, Welcome to Our House, before its disbandment in 2018.
Budden made his displeasure clear. He felt that He constantly bashed Eminem on is podcast and interview, prominently criticizing Em's 2017 release, Revival. Shady snapped back at him on his 2018 surprise-album, Kamikaze.
16 The Source (magazine, 15 disses)
Notable song(s): The Sauce, Nail in The Coffins (2002)
The Source magazine, which was nodded as 'the bible of hip-hop' at that time, gave Em's classic album Marshall Mathers LP a lackluster review: two mics out of five. He didn't take it kindly and released two diss tracks against the magazine and its owner: Benzino. 'Zino fired back, called him 'The Rap Hitler', and released a 'racist' record Em made when he was 15.
15 Mariah Carey (singer, 19 disses)
Notable song(s): Superman (2002), The Warning (2009)
Mariah Carey was at her lowest point in life: being hospitalized, and the failure of her 2001 acting debut, Glitter Mariah Carey. During that period, Eminem claimed that he had dated the singer for six months. Due to her denial, Eminem named-dropped her on two songs from The Eminem Show album: Superman, and When The Music Stops. He also name-dropped her on 2009's Bagpipes From Baghdad.
14 Britney Spears (singer, 20 disses)
Notable song(s): The Real Slim Shady, Marshall Mathers (2000), Ain't Nuttin' But Music (2001)
Oops, Slim Shady did it again. This time, his target is the pop queen, Britney Spears. He called her music 'corny,' 'she can't' sing,' and her music is 'garbage.' Having said that, he said in an interview that his daughter Hailie is actually a big Britney fan, and she listens to some of her music. Aw!
13 Canibus (rapper, 25 disses)
Notable song(s): Square Dance (2002), Canibitch (2003)
Once upon a time, Canibus was a hot underground property of hip-hop. Before Dre signed Eminem, Canibus was at the high of beef against LL Cool J, and the two threw diss tracks against each other. Wyclef Jean, Bis' manager at that time, felt like Eminem ghostwrote Cool J's track. Em denied, and things escalated pretty severely from that misunderstanding.
12 R. Kelly (singer, 26 disses)
Notable song(s): Square Dance (2002), Canibitch (2003)
RnB singer R. Kelly, (born Robert Sylvester Kelly), was one of the victims of Slim's brutal twisted words. R. Kelly is famous for his illegal marriage with his 15-year-old protégée Aaliyah, and allegation of child pornography and abuse. The two might never cross the same path, but that doesn't stop Em from taking shots at him.
11 Machine Gun Kelly (rapper, 27 disses)
Notable song(s): Killshot (2018), Not Alike (2018)
MGK was once a big Stan of Eminem. In 2012, he tweeted how then-16-years-old Hailie is 'hot,' but with all respect, 'cuz Em is king.' Years later, the tweet still got him blackballed. Em' banned his songs from his radio station, Shade 45. MGK didn't take it so well and make a subliminal shot at him in a collaboration MGK did with Tech N9ne. The subliminal shot resulted in Em dissing MGK on his 2018 surprise album, Kamikaze.
10 George Bush (former US president, 29 disses)
Notable song(s): Mosh (2004)
No one is safe from Slim, including USA officials. Eminem passionately disagreed with Bush's governing approach. He raps on Mosh, "The stars and stripes have been swiped, washed out and wiped / And replaced with his own face, mosh now or die / If I get sniped tonight, you'll know why—'cause I told you to fight!"
9 Ja Rule (rapper, 33 disses)
Notable song(s): Do Rae Me (2003)
50 Cent and Ja Rule's beef started way before Em signed 50 to Shady Records. When he's under Shady, Eminem eventually got caught up in this unpleasant situation. Ja threw stray shots at 50, Dre, and everyone in the label, including Eminem, on Loose Change. The damage was severe, as Ja mentioned Hailie's name on the track.
Eminem, along with 50 and the rest of Shady squad, fired back. Since then, Ja's career has never recovered.
8 Marshall Bruce Mathers, Jr. (his father, 38 disses)
Notable song(s): Cleanin' Out My Closet (2002)
His father, Marshall Bruce Mathers II, left him and his mother when he was little. He vividly describes this childhood wound on Cleanin' Out My Closet and wishes he was dead. Eminem apologized in 2017, as he raps on Arose, "Thank my father too / I actually learned a lot from you / You taught me what not to do."
He passed away on June 27, 2019, from a heart attack.
7 Michael Jackson (singer, 39 disses)
Notable song(s): Just Lose It (2004)
In 2004, he raised some eyebrows for his parody of Michael Jackson on Just Lose It music video. The music video includes Jackson's 1984 accident, where he accidentally set his hair on fire during the Pepsi commercial, and the allegations surrounding him.
"I've admired Eminem as an artist, and was shocked by this," Jackson told LA radio station.
Eminem apologized, and BET pulled the video from its channel.
6 Insane Clown Posse (rap duo, 40 disses)
Notable song(s): Marshall Mathers (2000)
This all started back in 1997 when Em threw a record release party for Slim Shady EP at St. Andrew's Hall. He approached Violent J of ICP and handed him a flyer, and it read, "featuring appearances by Esham, Kid Rock, and ICP (maybe)." Violent didn't take it too well and disregarded Em because he didn't contact him before putting their name on the flyer.
Proof, Em's best friend, squashed the rivalry.
5 Donald Trump (US president, 44 disses)
Notable song(s): BET 'The Storm' Freestyle (2017).
Along with George Bush, the now-president of the USA was Em's latest politician figure victim. He bashed the entire Trump administration on his 2017 pugnacious freestyle, The Storm. Following his 2017 release, Revival, he also bashed Trump on several songs like 'Like Home' and 'Framed.' Later, the Secret Service paid a visit to his mansion regarding his 'inappropriate and threatening comments.'
4 Christopher Reeve (actor, 44 disses)
Notable song(s): Purple Pills (2001), Medicine Balls (2009).
Eminem is a huge fan of comic books, and he had been cracking jokes about Christopher Reeve, Superman actor, for over 15 years!
The reason? For the sake of shock value. He raps on his 2009 track Medicine Balls, "Now everybody's pissed at me like it's my fault / This name rhymes with so many different words geez / So one last time, Mr. Christopher Reeves / Won't you break it down for me and just spit the verse please."
3 Benzino (rapper & media executive, 73 times)
Notable song(s): Nail in the Coffin (2002).
Benzino, born Raymond Scott, was the mastermind behind The Source magazine. Before Eminem's rise to fame, The Source featured him on the Unsigned Hype column. Riggs Morales wrote, "This Motor City kid is a one-of-a-kind talent, and he's about to blow past the competition, leaving many melted microphones in the dust."
Benzino's career never recovered, and he stepped down from the editorial board in 2005.
2 Marshall Mathers (himself, 81 disses)
Notable song(s): White America (2002), Walk On Water (2017).
Eminem has a smart way of twisting words and disarming critics. He steals the thunder by deprecating himself. He applies this very same strategy on his semi-biographical movie, 8 Mile.
In this case, Rabbit admits all his weakness –leaving Papa Doc with nothing else to spit against him. Hence, Rabbit wins and strips Papa Doc's off his confidence entirely.
1 Kimberly Scott (his ex-wife, 125 disses)
Notable song(s): 97' Bonnie & Clyde (1999), Kim (2000).
Sadly, things got sour between the lovebirds once Eminem rose to the superstardom. He wrote numerous songs about her, notably 97' Bonnie & Clyde, and Kim. In these two songs, Eminem fantasizes about killing her and dumping her body to the bottom of the lake using help from his then-infant daughter, Hailie.
Eminem apologized more than a decade later on 2017 track, Bad Husband.