20 Insanely Great Eminem Tracks Only Hardcore Fans Know
Since the release of his second album, The Marshall Mathers LP, in May 2000, Eminem has seen his celebrity grow into a sun orbited by his own label (Shady Records), his partners in rhyme D12, a planet of fans, a nascent movie career (with the release of 8 Mile this fall) and an asteroid field of cops, lawyers and judges.
So, you think you’re an Eminem fan just because you memorized the first verse of “Lose Yourself”? Prepare to have your mind blown by these diabolically brilliant tracks that only our 2013 cover star‘s biggest fans know about.
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Soul Intent, “Unrealistically Graphic” (1992)
Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage As a high school teenager in Detroit, the rapper then known as M&M joined forces with Chaos Kid to form Soul Intent. As part of the Bassmint Productions crew, the duo recorded several demo cassettes that are now as rare as hen’s teeth — if you want a copy of 1995’s “F#@!in’ Backstabber” cassingle, it will set you back about $560 on Discogs. “Unrealistically Graphic” is from 1992’s Still in the Bassmint — it’s definitely amateur hour, but Em’s already displaying his twisted sense of humor, promising that, uh, “I’ll do you like laundry.” Eminem’s collaborator Chaos Kid committed suicide in 2011.
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Eminem, “Infinite” (1996)
Image Credit: Sal Idriss/Redferns Years before meeting Dr. Dre, Eminem recorded the Infinite LP for a local Detroit label in hopes of building his buzz. Virtually no one heard it at the time – it reportedly sold about a thousand copies. But his one-in-a-million lyrical skills were already there, as heard on the acrobatic title track: “Yo, my pen and paper cause a chain reaction/To get your brain relaxin’/The zany-actin’ maniac in action…”
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Indigenous Tribe feat. Eminem, “Drastic Measures (Microphone Autopsy)” (1997)
Image Credit: Scott Gries/ImageDirect This guest appearance alongside Detroit underground group Indigenous Tribe was apparently issued on cassette around the time of Eminem’s 1997 Slim Shady EP, back in the days when he was making a name for himself at subterranean showcases like Rap Olympics and Scribble Jam. While the song is kinda wack, Eminem’s verse — he’s third on deck — is worth checking out. “Hurry, I’m trying to pick up Cage’s sister early,” he raps, taking a shot at indie rapper Cage, who was complaining to anyone who’d listen that the fast-rising Eminem had stolen his style.
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Da Ruckus feat. Eminem, “We Shine” (1998)
Image Credit: Dana Edelson/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images “We Shine” is a rare gem from Eminem’s Detroit years. Over a buttery beat that flips samples of Isaac Hayes and Jeru the Damaja, Slim Shady spits Nineties-style similes like “We quick to pull the gat out, and set it/And leave you with more shit missing than a Lil Kim radio edit.”
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Bizarre feat. Eminem, Fuzz Scoota, “Trife Thieves” (1998)
Image Credit: Frank Micelotta/ImageDirect/Getty Images Recorded for Bizarre of D12’s 1998 debut EP Attack of the Weirdos, this track is mostly notable for Eminem’s hilarious adlibs. When Bizarre raps, “I’m the reason niggas come 10 deep and end up leaving solo,” you can hear Eminem in the background crying, “I’m by myself!” However, his classic, assonance-heavy flow is on wild display too. “I’ll pile five dudes in a Pinto and pull up to/The 7 Mile drive-through at McDonald’s and pile drive you.”
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Shabaam Sahdeeq feat. A.L., Eminem, Kwest Tha Madd Lad, “5 Star Generals” (1998)
Image Credit: Getty Images You know those super-deep tracks Stan mentioned to prove he was Em’s Number One fan-slash-stalker? This rugged posse cut – released by Brooklyn rapper Shabaam Sahdeeq and featuring a characteristically crazed guest verse from pre-stardom Eminem – is probably one of the things he was talking about.
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Sway & King Tech feat. Eminem, “Freestyle” (1999)
Image Credit: Don Zulaica/Liaison/Getty Images Back in the Nineties, L.A. radio staples Sway and King Tech documented sessions recorded during their Wake Up Show broadcast on the Wake Up Show Freestyles series. Numerous volumes feature Eminem. On 1999’s Vol. 5, he spits alongside Akinyele and Planet Asia, working out material that would appear on “Busa Rhyme” with Missy Elliott: “They call me Boogie Night, a stalker that walks awkward/Stick figure, with a dick bigger than Mark Wahlberg.” Em ended up beefing with Wahlberg on MTV’s Total Request Live a year later.
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Eminem, “Any Man” (1999)
Image Credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic This fiendish tune, recorded for underground mainstay Rawkus Records’ Soundbombing II compilation, features some of Em’s most provocative rhymes ever (“I hope God forgives me for my sins/It probably all depends on if I keep killing my girlfriends”). Depending on how you feel about over-the-top fictional violence, it’s either wickedly clever or incredibly offensive.
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Eminem, “Get You Mad” (1999)
Image Credit: Nicky J. Sims/Redferns Recorded for a disc by Wake Up Show hosts Sway and King Tech (and also released as a Slim Shady LP bonus cut), “Get You Mad” is vintage Shady at his funniest and most ruthless. “If I hurt your self-esteem and you get dissed too bad, you know I just be saying that to get you mad,” Eminem taunts after calling out a long list of rival stars — including LL Cool J, Insane Clown Posse, Master P, Brandy, Aaliyah and more. Many more.
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Bad Meets Evil, “Scary Movies” (1999)
Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage Thanks to “Nuttin’ To Do”‘s release just as Eminem’s stock was soaring with The Slim Shady LP, the Bad Meets Evil 12-inch was popular enough to breach the Billboard rap charts. However, the B-side was the real winner. Eminem delivers an absolute blackout verse as “The one man that will drive off of the Grand Canyon/And hop out of a Grand Am and land in a hand-standing.” The Source co-founder Jonathan Schecter’s Game Recordings — which also had a side hustle in “Game Girls” softcore DVDs — released the tracks with cover art that featured porn stars Crystal Knight and Midori.
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Limp Bizkit feat. Eminem, “Turn Me Loose” (1999)
Image Credit: Catherine McGann/Getty Images “I don’t do black music, I don’t do white music/I do fight music for high school kids,” raps Eminem on this Limp Bizkit demo. Originally recorded for the band’s Significant Other album, it was never officially released, but eventually leaked out via bootlegs; while the opening line of his verse would end up on The Marshall Mathers LP. Eminem eventually turned on the band and dissed them on D12’s “Girls.”
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DJ Spinna feat. Eminem, Thirstin Howl III, “Watch Dees” (1999)
Image Credit: Frans Schellekens/Redferns With a plodding beat crafted from Madness’ “One Step Beyond” and a boilerplate verse from Thirstin Howl III, this is one of the weaker tracks on DJ Spinna’s 1999 production showcase Heavy Beats Vol. 1. But Eminem mines the track’s creepy tone with aplomb, painting himself as “the old man who lives upstairs and starves his pets/Who never leaves his house, ’cause he thinks his car is possessed.”
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Eminem, “Bad Influence” (1999)
Image Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images Would future California mayor Arnold Schwarzenegger have approved of Eminem’s contribution to his turgid 1999 flop End of Days? “Bad Influence” mocks the premise that celebrities can steer impressionable teenagers to harm themselves, and he gleefully screams, “C’mon! Just pull the plug!” Months later, he’d explore similar issues with much more seriousness on the classic “Stan.”
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Funkmaster Flex feat. Eminem, Dr. Dre, “If I Get Locked Up” (1999)
Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage On this track with Dr. Dre for Funkmaster Flex’s 1999 Def Jam mixtape-album The Tunnel, Eminem is in shock mode, proving that he might be the only man who can get away with lines like, “Hell yeah, I punch my bitch/And beat my kids in public, suck my dick” If that sounds offensively unfunny, he also mocks the Columbine High School shootings (“Became a role model after Colorado/Now all they do is follow me around and yell, ‘Bravo!'”) and pokes fun at his beloved hero 2Pac (“If I only had some fucking hair I’d pull it/Faster than a bullet/Out of 2Pac’s chest before the ambulance came too late to do it”).
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The Madd Rapper feat. Eminem, “Stir Crazy” (2000)
Image Credit: Peter Pakvis/Redferns Eminem on a Kanye West beat? Yes, it happened on this deep cut from Tell Em Why U Madd, the lone album from the Madd Rapper (a.k.a. Deric “D-Dot” Angelettie from Puff Daddy’s Hitmen squad).
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Outsidaz feat. Eminem, “Rush Ya Clique” (2000)
Image Credit: M. Caulfield/WireImage At one point, Eminem became an affiliate of this sprawling but talented Brick City crew that also counted Pacewon and Rah Digga as members. Many expected the Outsidaz to blow out of the East Coast underground with their 1999 EPÂ Night Life, but today they’re mostly remembered for “Rush Ya Clique.” Eminem sounds at home among these battle rappers as he says, “I’m so weeded I could freestyle for 16 bars.”
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Eminem and Redman, “Off The Wall” (2000)
Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage This dream matchup united two of the best punchline rappers in history for the soundtrack to The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps. The Erick Sermon beat largely falls flat, but Eminem gets to work through his beefs with MTV pop stars like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. Redman arguably delivers the better shots as he promises to “rip your lips off, kiss my ass with it.”
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Eminem, Masta Ace & J-Black, “Hellbound” (2000)
Image Credit: Brian Rasic/Getty Images During his 2003 Rap Album of the Year Grammy acceptance speech for The Eminem Show, Eminem memorably shouted out Juice Crew veteran Masta Ace as a key influence. The two had actually worked together years earlier on “Hellbound,” a track for the 2000 compilation Game Over that reused video game themes. Eminem unfurls his Slim Shady routine over a sample from the Soulcaliber game, and promises he’ll “fuck the planet until it spins on a broken axis.” Masta Ace comes off too, as he raps, “My shit goes dark and as deep as a train tunnel/My flow spill like using the wrong end of a funnel.”
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Bad Meets Evil, “Renegade” (2001)
Image Credit: Kristian Dowling/Getty Images You’ve probably heard the version of this track that came out on Jay Z’s landmark The Blueprint — but true heads prefer the widely bootlegged original take, where Em trades the same mean-mugging verses with his hometown pal Royce da 5’9″ instead of Jay. Eminem handily steals the spotlight on both songs.
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Tony Touch feat. Eminem, “Symphony in H” (2013)
Image Credit: Kristina Bumphrey/Starpix/Shutterstock In 2013, Tony Touch released The Piece Maker 3: Return of the 50 MC’s, a sequel to his influential 1996 mixtape Power Cypha (Featuring 50 MCs). Eminem was among the MCs who showed up to pay tribute to the New York mixtape legend. During a minute-and-a-half freestyle, he rhymes, “Got an Oscar but I’m still a Grouch/I use it a doorstop and a prop for the broken leg for the couch.”