Lyrics: “Will Smith don’t gotta cuss in his raps to sell records—well I do, so f*** him, and f*** you too.”
Background: In 1999, Will Smith’s song “Miami” beat Eminem’s “My Name Is” for Best Male Video at the MTV Video Music Awards. During the acceptance speech, Smith pointed out that he could sell records without swearing or killing anyone—a clear jab at Eminem’s profanity-ridden rap songs. So naturally, Eminem couldn't miss a chance to fire back at the former Fresh Prince on his next single “The Real Slim Shady” on The Marshall Mathers LP (2000).
Lyrics: “I should call the loony police to come get me/ sCause I’m so sick of being the truth I wish somebody finally admit me/Into a mental hospital with Britney.”
Background: From "Marshall Mathers" to "We Made You," Eminem hardly releases an album without at least one Britney Spears diss—and 2013's The Marshall Mathers LP2 was no exception with this diss in “Evil Twin.” However, Britney Spears remains an Eminem fan, calling him “a genius” on her short-lived reality show with ex-husband Kevin Federline.
Lyrics: “Vanilla Ice don’t like me/Said some sh** in Vibe to spite me/Then went and dyed his hair just like me.”
Background: Eminem and Vanilla Ice have never been on exactly friendly terms, since Eminem has worked really hard to create his own legacy as a white rapper rather than follow in the footsteps of Robert Van Winkle. In 1999, Vanilla Ice gave Eminem just the ammunition he needed when he told Vibe magazine that Eminem “raps like a girl.”
Shortly after, Vanilla Ice began donning a close-cropped, bleached hairstyle that is very similar to Eminem’s signature ‘do. But even when Eminem called him out in “Marshall Mathers” on The Marshall Mathers LP (2000), Vanilla Ice stayed cool, insisting to the Washington Post in 2006 that he didn’t have any hate for Eminem at all and that he’s “glad there’s another white guy out there having success.”
Lyrics: “And Moby?/You can get stomped by Obie/You 36 year old baldheaded f**, blow me/You don’t know me, you’re too old, let go, it’s over/Nobody listens to techno.”
Background: After electronic producer Moby accused Eminem of misogyny, homophobia, and anti-Semitism during the 2001 Grammy awards, Eminem struck back in true Slim Shady fashion with these lines from “Without Me” on his album The Eminem Show (2002). After the fact, Moby stood his ground on the allegations, but said there were no hard feelings and even complimented Eminem for his song “Mosh” in 2004.
Lyrics: “F*** Bush until they bring our troops home…Someone’s trying to tell us something/Maybe this is God sayin’ we’re responsible/For this moster, this coward/That we have empowered.”
Background: In an uncharacteristically political song called “Mosh” on his album Encore (2004), Eminem tries to use his influence during the eve of the presidential reelection to call out President George W. Bush for his incompetencies. However, as we all know, Bush did receive a second term and has never acknowledged the incident.
Lyrics: “I’m anti-Backstreet and Ricky Martin/With instincts to kill N’SYNC, don’t get me started/These f***ing brats can’t sing and Britney’s garbage.”
Background: Though this particular dig was pulled from “Marshall Mathers” on The Marshall Mathers LP (2000), there were others on the same album that voiced Eminem’s disgust with pop music. Another example is from “The Real Slim Shady” that states: “I’m sick of you little girl and boy groups all you do is annoy me/So I’ve been sent here to destroy you."
(Image via Flickr)
Lyrics: “Damn, I think Kim Kardashian’s a man/She stomped him just cause he asked to put his hands/On her massive gluteus maximus again/Squeeze it, then squish it, then pass it to her friend.”
Background: Unlike many of Eminem’s celeb disses, this shot at Kim Kardashian was completely unprovoked in “We Made You,” Relapse (2009). It seems that sometimes Eminem just simply enjoys poking fun at whoever is famous at the time. Kim certainly didn’t have any hard feelings, saying that she felt honored to be mentioned in one of Eminem’s songs since she is such a huge fan. She even goes on to say that even when he is harsh to other celebrities, they should learn how to “let it go and have a sense of humor."
Lyrics: “S***, Christina Aguilera better switch me chairs/So I can sit next to Carson Daly and Fred Durst/And hear ‘em argue over who she gave head to first/You little b****, put me on blast on MTV/‘Yeah, he’s cute, but I think he’s married to Kim, hee-hee!’/I should download her audio on MP3/And show the whole world how you gave Eminem VD.”
Background: During an MTV special in 2000, Christina Aguilera spilled the beans about Eminem’s secret marriage to his child's mother, Kim Mathers, in 1999. In response to his private matters being made public, Eminem exploited some of the rumors about Christina in “The Real Slim Shady” from The Marshall Mathers LP (2000). Christina completely denied any truth in the lyrics written about her and retaliated with a song of her own, titled “Will The Real Slim Shady (Please Shut Up).” However, all seemed well between the two when they were spotted hugging backstage during the MTV VMAs in 2002.
Lyrics: “Stuck a pin in Jessica’s head and walked away/And she blew around the room like a balloon/I grabbed the last can of chicken tuna/Out the trash can and zoom.”
Background: Jessica Simpson made herself an easy target after wondering aloud on her reality show if the "Chicken of the Sea" she was eating was really chicken. Eminem joined the rest of America in making fun of the actress on his song “Rain Man,” from Encore (2004).
Lyrics: “Wow Mariah, didn’t expect you to go balls out/B**** shut the f*** up ‘fore I put all them phone calls out/You made to my house when you was wild’n out before Nick/When you was on my d*** and give you something to smile about.”
Background: The long-running feud between Eminem and Mariah Carey began in 2001, when it was rumored that the two were dating. However, a year later while Eminem was confirming the relationship during an interview with the Rolling Stone, Carey was completely denying the whole affair in her own interview with Larry King. After Eminem mentioned Carey’s dishonesty in several of his songs, Carey released a song called “Obsessed” in 2009 that was clearly directly at Eminem’s beef with her. Eminem was quick to respond though, with “The Warning.” Carey has been silent on the issue ever since.
