He sold 11 million copies of an album that has a skit where the Insane Clown Posse suck a dick. He’s got more Oscars than Tom Cruise, Joaquin Phoenix, and Edward Norton combined. His first Top 10 single had him complaining about boy bands, and his latest has him complaining about mumble rap.
The word “Stan” is in the dictionary (though, to be fair, give some credit to Nas for formalizing its use as a noun). He’s been protested by GLAAD and embraced by Elton John. He’s been praised by Kanye West, Drake and Kendrick Lamar, and caught the ire of Michael Jackson and Lynne Cheney. and used as DNC pump-up music by Barack Obama (who also kept Em on his iPod). Bush’s secret service, dissed on Twitter by Donald Trump Jr. He’s a rap purist and a pop star, managing #1 Billboard Hot 100 hits that don’t shy from mention of things like Kool Keith and fromunda cheese. He’s been called one of the greatest rappers of all time by Jay-Z and music for people who “drink way too much Mountain Dew” by Earl Sweatshirt. Verbally gifted, painfully self-aware, deliriously problematic - there’s really nothing like the last two decades of Eminem, the blonde swordsman.
