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With 42.5 million albums sold domestically, Eminem is one of the top-selling musical artists of all-time. He is the single best-selling artist of the 21st century. Add that up with all his Grammys, VMAs, and of course his Oscar Award to see just how successful he is. Yet, for all his achievements, despite all the commercial appeal and critical acclaim, all the platinum plaques and magazine covers, despite the fact that so many people can recite so many of his lyrics by heart ("His palms are sweaty..."), Eminem still has underrated songs.
Some of these songs, these little-known gems, were released before he blew up and never discovered by the masses. Some came out and were just overlooked, and then forgotten about for one reason or another. Some were never given an official release, tucked away on a bonus disc or a mixtape or a foreign release, lost in the shuffle of his prolific output. And others, even songs that have been heard by millions, they just aren't nearly appreciated enough. All deserve a second listen.
Check out these 15 Underrated Eminem Songs that every fan should get more familiar with and every Stan will swear they already know all the words to.
Related: The Best Eminem Songs
Related: The Best Eminem Albums
Related: Complex Cover Story - Dec 2017 : Eminem On How Jay Z Inspires Him and Trump Infuriates Him
Eminem "Just The Two Of Us" (1997)
Producer: Bass Brothers, Eminem
Album: The Slim Shady EP
Ever think it odd that there's a song called "'97 Bonnie and Clyde" on The Slim Shady LP, even though the album came out 1999? Well, it's because the original version of the song actually appeared on the The Slim Shady EP—the record that got Em buzzing in the underground and eventually signed to Dr. Dre. But the song was first released under a different name, "Just The Two of Us." Not that the original version of "'97 Bonnie & Clyde" is all that much different from "Just the Two of Us." In fact, the lyrics are all basically the same. The real difference is the beat. If you've been listening to the remake for the last 10 years it might be hard to accept that the song had a previous version. However, if you heard the original and then heard the remake, it might've been hard to accept the newer one. Either way, just know that this song previously had a different beat and fewer sound effects. Listen to both, then decide which one you like better. —Insanul Ahmed
Outsidaz f/ Eminem "Macosa" (1998)
Producer: Pace Won
Album: N/A
It's a damn shame neither of Outsidaz' songs with Eminem (the other song was "Hard Act To Follow") ever got a real release. The problem was sample clearance. (What do you expect when you sample Pink Floyd and Michael Jackson?) Still, hearing Em rap alongside the not-so-famous Newark true-schoolers is a reminder he's always been an underground rapper at heart. The way his voice cuts through the track, it's obvious the best is yet to come for young Slim Shady. His racy vocabulary and one-of-a-kind flow powers over a very formidable Outsidaz crew starring Pace Won and Young Zee. Wonder what those guys are up to? It would be kinda dope if they got together again for old times' sake. —Brian Brooks
Bad Meets Evil "Nuttin' to Do" (1998)
Producer: Rob "Reef" Tewlow
Album: N/A
We dare you to find a more lyrical pairing of rappers than Eminem and Royce da 5'9". While the Detroit duo didn't team up for an official album until 2011's Hell: The Sequel, they first paired up in 1999 to release the single "Nuttin' to Do" / "Scary Movies." While "Scary Movies" became a cult classic and one of Em's more celebrated tracks, "Nuttin' to Do" is often overlooked.
"Nuttin' to Do" is typical Em in his early Slim Shady incarnation. The song is another lyrical exercise where Em does drugs, raps like a mental patient ("Nurse, look at this straitjacket, it's crooked"), and takes shots at the label A&Rs he was no doubt dealing with while trying to get a record deal. But it's just oh so clever, evidenced by lines like, "Forget a chorus, my metaphors are so complicated/It takes six minutes to get applause." —Nick Sella
Eminem & D12 "Get Back" (2000)
Producer: Alchemist
Album: The Piece Maker
In the late '90s, Eminem was just a pure rhymer. His raps weren't particularly "meaningful," he hadn't totally developed his songwriting, and he didn't always have much subject matter, but he was a rapping machine who put words together effortlessly and told off-the-wall anecdotes. Every other rhyme saw him in some sort of a medical facility (this time he hits both the dentist's office and the hospital), taking a shitload of random drugs, and then spewing rhymes in barrages, "Collapsed, had a relapse and called three cabs/And had to be dragged, back to rehab, with bloody kneecaps." If you never heard this song before (it was a cut on Tony Touch's album so it was easy to miss unless you were a diehard Em fan) it's a treat for Em fans who always wished Em would just rap over more Alchemist beats. —Insanul Ahmed
D12 "Shit On You" (2001)
Producer: DJ Head, Eminem
Album: Devil's Night
If anything epitomized D12's shock rap juvenilia in its prime form, it's "Shit On You," which is about shitting on you. Over a gentle descending melody and whispered hook. That's really the concept, and each rapper elects to explain their relationship to that concept in a variety of ways. For Em's part: "My adolescent years weren't shit to what I do now/I never grew up, I was born grown, and grew down." In keeping with his opening lines, his verse degenerates from knowing lines ("The more ignorant the incident is? I fit in,") to simply describing the different ways he'll (yeah) shit on you. Or maybe spit on you. Or do the opposite, and piss on you. Maybe he'll pop a squat; maybe he'll do it like a Biggie skit. Either way, no matter what, he'll pull down his pants and.... —David Drake
D12 "Girls" (2001)
Producer: Eminem
Album: Devil's Night
Everything about "Girls" seems ridiculous in retrospect: calling dudes "sissies," white rappers (naturally) scrapping with other white rappers, and vociferous, brutal beef over TRL-based slights. Em had beef with Everlast, while their mutual aquaintance, DJ Lethal (of both Limp Bizkit and House of Pain) played it neutral. That is, until: "Then I look on the TV, now who's mentioning me/That little fucking weasel, DJ Lethal, on MTV/After I gave you props on that song on national TV/You're talking 'bout Everlast is going to whip my ass when he sees me?/C'mon dog, you was supposed to be on that song." Oops. Em goes on to mock the Limp Bizkit hit "Rollin'" and Fred Durst's penchant for talking about how much people hate him. "They don't hate you," Em says, "they just think you're corny since Christina played you." (That's Durst's former girlfriend Christina Aguilera.)
Em had his fair share of pop culure conflict back in the TRL days. But no matter how strange it may have seemed then, looking back, one thing is certain: he generally decimated someone once he targeted them: "And fuck Bizkit!/Cuz I know you're saying 'Fuck D12'/But not to our face, under your breath, to yourselves." —David Drake
Thirstin Howl III f/ Eminem "Watch Deez" (1999)
Producer: DJ Spinna
Album: Heavy Beats Vol. 1
There are probably a few better examples of Em's perfectly articulated blend of self-flagellating humor, brutal cartoon sociopathy, and no-holds-barred punchline rapping. But definitely none so underrated. Em cuts off his own arm because he's denied a renewal of his Darvocet prescription (the FDA ended up banning this drug in 2010 because it caused heart problems!) It's line after line of absurdity (he'll strip you naked and pistol whip you in order to force you to...take advice) and lurid shock humor. Em's character in the song is completely disgusting, "piss and vomit red," hearing voices in his head and abusing prescriptions. It's the when-cornered-act-crazy defense, delivered with such economy and precision that not a word is wasted. Em has bugs crawling out of his head and eats knives, an over-the-top cavalcade of memorable punchlines that make him seem like the kind of person you probably don't want to ever stand within ten feet of—nevermind fuck with. —David Drake
Eminem "Stimulate" (2002)
Producer: Eminem
Album: "Cleanin' Out My Closet" Single B Side
"Stimulate" is not untrampled subject matter for Marshall Mathers. But it's one of his most evocative expressions of his complex, antagonistic relationship with the trappings and superficialities of fame. His performance has a buzzed, manic confidence at odds with the song's dark mood of frayed nerves, like the sudden clarity of stimulants breaking through the overhanging clouds of alcohol withdrawal. It's easy to look at this song in the wake of Em's struggles with drug addiction in those terms: "I don't mean nobody harm, I'm just partyin'" sounds more like a stage of denial than a throwback to parties in the park.
The entire song feels like a balacing act between psychedelic exploration and the verge of burnout, as flanging guitars snake around Em's acrid, ironic singing. Bitterness drips from every phrase, as if each must be measured for sincerity: "Maybe one day we can make some progress/Food for thought, see how long it takes to digest." But the song wrestles with more than just those who attack him from the outside. Each line folds in on itself to capture every contradiction in a brutally honest appraisal of the situation that lets no one off the hook—including himself. The final verse finds Em exploring his personal resonsibility to his fans, and the internal conflicts this brings him: "I try to stimulate, but kids emulate," he explains, then: "It's inhumane for me to see you influenced but pretend you ain't," before "It's such, a pleasure, every button that I touch/I treasure every glutton that I punish in my lust, but..." —David Drake
Eminem "Rabbit Run" (2002)
Producer: Eminem, Luis Resto
Album: 8 Mile Soundtrack
Being featured alongside a song like "Lose Yourself"—which won an Oscar, spent 12 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard, and became the first rap song ever to be nominated for Song of The Year at the Grammys—would make any song underrated. That's the case for "Run Rabbit Run," a vintage Eminem "rapping-for-the-sake-of-rapping" track. The three minute onslaught of rhymes tells the struggle of Eminem's semi-autobiographical character Jimmy "B-Rabbit" Smith from 8 Mile. It has the same seize-the-moment feel of "Lose Yourself," but without the stadium rocking production. Like "Lose Yourself" and 8 Mile, it's centered around battle rapping. But this battle seems more like a marathon, and our hero is running for his life. —Nick Sella
Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. f/ Eminem & B-Real "911" (2003)
Producer: Eminem
Album: West Koasta Nostra
Eminem isn't a gangsta rapper, but it was always kinda fun when he got a little gangsta. The early part of his career he wore the "only white guy in the room" chip on his shoulder like an anvil and instead played up the psychopath killer angle. But in the mid-2000s, once 50, D12, and Obie Trice had Shady Records in full effect, Em started feeling himself a bit more. Plus he started seeing the benefits of having so much damn money ("It's funny, I guess money does have its advantages"), to the point he could recklessly call out his enemies. No names are named on this song, but seeing as this track came during the height of the Benzino beef it's not hard to tell who this is aimed at. Thankfully, they never took it beyond wax. —Insanul Ahmed
Eminem "We As Americans" (2004)
Producer: Eminem, Luis Resto
Album: Encore (Deluxe Edition)
Eminem isn't a political person, but sometimes he became a political rapper. Unlike most rappers, who barely even acknowledged things like the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Em had a field day pointing out the hypocrisy of grandstanding politicians who wanted to take him to task for cursing too much. But he got a lot more pointed on his fourth album, Encore. It features his most straight up political song, "Mosh," but the bonus disk included "We As Americans"—a song about, of all things, the Second Amendment.
After pleading guilty to possession of a concealed weapon and assault, Em got two years probation in 2001 which must have inspired bars like, "They took away my right to bear arms/What I'm 'posed to fight with bare palms?" The lines that really got him in trouble came during the second verse when he claimed, "I don't rap for dead presidents; I'd rather see the President dead/It's never been said, but I set precedents" which actually lead to a Secret Service investigation (though they admitted it wasn't a big deal). Still, it was ironic Em would rally against Bush but also rap about gun rights as the GOP has made defending the Second Amendment a part of their platform for years. —Insanul Ahmed
Eminem "No Apologies" (2006)
Producer: Eminem, Luis Resto
Album: Eminem Presents: The Re-Up
Eminem Presents: The Re-Up is a pretty forgettable entry in Eminem's catalog. The mixtape-turned-commercial-release was a vehicle to give the spotlight to the various artists that were signed to Shady Records right before Eminem's hiatus from music in the late 2000s. Yelawolf and Slaughterhouse are the faces of Shady Records today; but Cashis, Bobby Creekwater, and Stat Quo were supposed to join Obie Trice and D12 as the flag bearers for the house that Eminem built back then. The single "You Don't Know" was the only track to get major radio play but a few solid solo Eminem tracks can be found among the mostly throwaway posse remixes. The clear highlight of the entire album is this track, which feels like a leftover from The Eminem Show with its gritty Eminem production, and verses dealing with personal issues and anger towards critics. This just reminds us how much Em's drug addiction sucked because he could have been making songs like these in the five-year span between Encore and Relapse. —Nick Sella
Eminem "Elevator" (2009)
Producer: Eminem
Album: Relapse: Refill
Eminem was never one to show off about money. Despite being one of the richest and most successful rappers ever, he never boasted about having loads of cash. (Ironically, most rappers who do always rap about all their money don't actually have all that much of it.) But on "Elevator" he takes a moment to step back and look at his riches and what they've brought him: A 9,000 square feet house with an elevator that's so big going to the fridge apparently takes an hour. Em is routinely praised for his lyrics, but his songwriting really shines through here. Few rappers could write a hook that's this complicated but still so damn catchy. Also, few rappers actually live in a house with an elevator. —Insanul Ahmed
Eminem "Deja Vu" (2009)
Producer: Dr. Dre
Album: Relapse
Eminem is the definition of a soul baring artist. However, that quality was overlooked in the negative reaction to Em's accents on Relapse. But "Deja Vu" is an exceptional song, one of his finest works ever. It's a harrowing song, one that highlights many of Em's core skills—his knack for complicated, half-sung hooks, his powerful lyrics, and his willingness to reveal every last detail.
And "Deja Vu" is a song all about details, right down to the Three Musketeers bar he falls asleep eating, the Cowboys and Buccaneers game he watches, and the hydrocodone he hides inside his pornos. Em always gave up the intimate details of his life, but hearing him talk about the depths of addiction was something new. Like Yogi Berra said, "It was like déjà vu, all over again." —Insanul Ahmed
Eminem "Seduction" (2010)
Producer: Boi-1da, Matthew Burnett
Album: Recovery
This song doesn't have a very original concept for a rap song. On the surface, it basically boils down to "your girl wants me because I'm the fucking man." But it's executed at such a high level. He opens with, "I feel like I'm morphing into something so incredible that I'm dwarfing all competitors/Better get your girlfriend in check, it's psychological warfare." Em came up as a battle rapper, so finding a way to diss the competition in an indirect and creative way this far into his career is a pretty impressive feat. —Brian Brooks