For anybody even mildly familiar with hip-hop, it is well known that Eminem is one of the greatest lyricists in the 50-year history of the genre. All throughout his career, whether it be his early years where his albums were a bit more focused conceptually, or his later and more recent years where he’s been determined to blow your mind with his rhymes, Em’s always liable to drop eye-opening bars one way or another.
Videos by American Songwriter
We canvassed the lyrics throughout his career and gathered some of the most memorable. Here are eight of the best Eminem lyrics.
Fuck money! I don’t rap for dead presidents / I’d rather see the President dead / It’s never been said, but I set precedents
This lyric comes from Eminem’s 2003 song “We As Americans,” first used on his Straight From The Lab mixtape and later added to the deluxe version of his 2004 Encore album.
Will Smith don’t gotta cuss in his raps to sell records / Well, I do, so fuck him and fuck you too! / You think I give a damn about a Grammy? / Half of you critics can’t even stomach me, let alone stand me
This lyric comes from “The Real Slim Shady” off Eminem’s third studio album The Marshall Mathers LP (2000). Contrasting his approach from Will Smith’s typical, non-explicit rapping, “The Real Slim Shady” would peak at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and is currently certified 7x platinum by the RIAA.
I’m supposed to be the soldier who never blows his composure / Even though I hold the weight of the whole world on my shoulders / I ain’t never supposed to show it / My crew ain’t supposed to know it
This lyric comes from Eminem’s “Like Toy Soldiers,” included in his aforementioned, 2004 Encore album.
I murder a rhyme one word at a time / You never heard of a mind as perverted as mine / You better get rid of that nine it ain’t gonna help / What good is it gonna do against a man that strangles himself?
This lyric comes from Eminem’s “I’m Back” off The Marshall Mathers LP.
God forbid I forget, go and jump out the window / Somebody better child-proof it cause if I lose it, we can rewind to some old Ja Rule shit and I can remind motherfuckers how I do shit
This lyric comes from Eminem’s song “Greatest,” off his 2018 album Kamikaze. Here, he specifically mentions his previous beef with Ja Rule, and makes a reference to the song “Doe Rae Me (Hailie’s Revenge),” which he wrote in 2003 as a diss to Ja Rule. The song was a response to Ja Rule name-dropping Em’s daughter Hailie in a song directed towards Eminem.
But for me to rap like a computer must be in my genes / I got a laptop in my back pocket / My pen’ll go off when I half-cock it / Got a fat knot from that rap profit
This lyric comes from Eminem’s notorious 2013 song “Rap God,” which he used to emphatically prove how he was head and shoulders above every other lyricist in rap at the time. Setting records for words per minute in a song, Em’s slick-tongued approach was show-stopping.
I’m Hannibal Lecter, so just in case you’re thinking of saving face / You ain’t gonna have no face to save by the time I’m through with this place
In 2009, four of the biggest names in hip-hop came together for an all-time great collaboration. Bringing together, Eminem, Lil Wayne, Kanye West, and Drake, “Forever” truly inspired great competition and high-level rapping from the quartet. In fact, in an interview after the song was released, West explained that Em’s verse was so good, he decided to rewrite his entire verse so he wasn’t out-shined.
“When I heard Eminem’s verse on Drake’s shit, I went back and rewrote my shit for two days,” West said. “I canceled appointments to rewrite. I fucking care!”
I got a list, here’s the order of my list that it’s in / It goes: Reggie, Jay-Z, 2Pac and Biggie, André from OutKast, Jada, Kurupt, Nas, and then me / But in this industry I’m the cause of a lot of envy / So when I’m not put on this list, the shit does not offend me
This lyric comes from Eminem’s 2002 song “Till I Collapse,” included in his fourth studio album The Eminem Show.
Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
