Eminem Was so Jealous He Wanted to Diss 1 Rapper Before Realizing It Would Be 'Career Suicide'
Eminem was so jealous of a rapper that he wanted to take a shot at him. Here's why he realized this would be a mistake.
Music
Eminem said one rapper impressed him so much that it frustrated him. Here's why he almost took a shot at the other artist.
by Emma McKee
Published on February 1, 2025
Two of the biggest rappers in the music industry are Eminem and Lil Wayne. The two artists have decade-spanning careers and have seen more success than many artists can dream of. In the early 2000s, Eminem said he nearly threw this away by dissing Lil Wayne in a song. He shared why he decided this would be a mistake.
In 2006, Eminem began feeling jealous of Lil Wayne. He viewed him as a âgenius,â but he once thought of himself as the stronger artist.
âI would hear lines of his, the way heâd connect his words, and I thought, âMan, I can do that s***. He ainât that dope,ââ he told Spin Magazine in 2010. âIâm hearing this dude say some clever, witty s*** and Iâm not doing it, so I feel f***ed up.â
He decided to put out a diss track featuring Kanye West but ultimately decided against it. He believed the backlash would be too extreme.
âIf I had done something like that? Where they were at and where I was at?â he said. âIt would have been career suicide. They would have f***inâ murdered me.â
Just three years later, Eminem, Wayne, and West all appeared on the song âForeverâ by Drake. West and Lil Wayne reportedly rewrote their verses after hearing Eminemâs.
âWhen I heard Eminemâs verse on Drakeâs s***, I went back and rewrote my s*** for two days â I canceled appointments to rewrite,â West said, per Genius. âI f***ing care!
Drake, Eminem, and Lil Wayne | ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images
Eminem believed they all approached the song differently, but found West and Wayneâs verses impressive as well.
âEverybody approached the beat different,â Eminem said. âKanye was crazy, too, and Wayne. I just saw the beat differently than anybody else did; for some reason, I felt like the beat was a double-time beat, so I rapped faster.â
Over the years, Eminem and Wayne have collaborated on âForever,â âDrop the World,â and âNo Love.â Lil Wayne said he felt nervous when he first reached out to Eminem about working together on âDrop the Worldâ in 2010.
âI was scared, actually, when I called Eminem for a song,â he told The New York Times in 2023. âThat is a monster.â
Lil Wayne and Eminem | ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images
He believed that they approached music in similar ways, though.
âHe must have the same thing I have with words,â he said. âLike, we canât get them out of our heads. Every meaning, every aspect of them. Things that rhyme, we hear it. I already know the gift and the curse that he has. And I love to hear the way he puts it together.â
All of the songs they collaborated on eventually went multi-platinum.