Eminem Has Named These 15 Rappers As His Favorites

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Eminem has scattered his praise across interviews, podcasts, lyrics, and very public shout-outs, so there is no tidy master list hiding somewhere in his notebook. His answers shift depending on the question, and new names have entered the conversation over the years—very considerate of him. Still, certain MCs keep resurfacing whenever he discusses the craft. Those repeated endorsements offer the clearest picture of who sits near the top of Slim Shady’s personal rap pantheon. | © Dave J. Hogan

1. 2Pac

Calling 2Pac one of his greats was hardly a casual nod: Eminem also produced most of the posthumous album Loyal to the Game after personally writing to Afeni Shakur. Pac could sound furious, wounded, political, and intimate—sometimes within the same track—and that emotional directness sits close to Eminem’s own instincts. He first placed Tupac in his famous “’Till I Collapse” roll call and named him again in 2020. That is less a passing favorite than a permanent fixture. | © Columbia/Kobal

2. JAY-Z

JAY-Z made both of Eminem’s most public lists, first in “’Till I Collapse” and again in 2020. Their shared record “Renegade,” which Eminem also produced, has been dissected so obsessively that the verses may qualify for their own forensic department. The exhausted debate over who “won” often obscures the real attraction: two elite writers using completely different forms of control. Jay’s compressed writing, conversational authority, and strategic precision explain why the admiration has endured.| © John Phillips

3. The Notorious B.I.G.

Biggie’s name was inevitable, but Eminem has never treated him like a ceremonial inclusion. He listed The Notorious B.I.G. in “’Till I Collapse,” repeated the choice in 2020, and supplied a new verse for the posthumous “Dead Wrong,” creating a wonderfully unhinged collision of styles. Big’s gift was making dense internal rhymes sound conversational, as though elite technique required no visible effort. For a rapper as obsessed with syllables as Eminem, that deceptive ease is catnip. | © Larry Busacca

4. Lil Wayne

Lil Wayne belongs to the smaller group of younger stars Eminem has praised as active competition, not merely as heirs to hip-hop history. Em has said Wayne raps with the goal of being the best, the same competitive standard he sets for himself. Their chemistry across “Forever,” “Drop the World,” and “No Love” turned mutual respect into three heavyweight sparring sessions. Wayne’s alien metaphors and refusal to approach a beat predictably make this an especially logical Shady selection. | © Randy Miramontez/Dreamstime.com

5. Nas

Eminem’s Nas fandom has receipts: he named him in “’Till I Collapse,” returned to him in the 2020 list, and once described a sealed copy of Illmatic as the most coveted item in his cassette collection. Eventually, they shared “EPMD 2,” a meeting that felt overdue enough to require paperwork. Nas offers a different kind of technical mastery from Eminem—calmer, more cinematic, less eager to show the machinery—but his precision as a storyteller makes the connection easy to understand. | © Matt Salacuse

6. Kendrick Lamar

Eminem did more than slot Kendrick Lamar into a crowded list; he has called him a top-tier lyricist not only of his generation but of all time. That distinction matters coming from someone who treats rap like an endless qualifying exam. Their collaboration “Love Game” let both artists lean into character work, shifting voices and perspectives rather than simply racing through syllables. Kendrick’s conceptual ambition and vocal elasticity hit two of Eminem’s favorite pressure points at once. | © Arturo Holmes/MG23

7. J. Cole

J. Cole may not have a collaboration with Eminem yet, but the respect is unusually concrete. Eminem has said he checks what Cole and Kendrick are releasing because hearing them compete makes him return to his own writing with sharper urgency. He also included Cole in his 2020 greatest-rappers answer, placing him beside the artists who built the vocabulary of the genre. Inspiring Slim Shady to stop admiring his trophy cabinet and reopen the notebook is a fairly serious endorsement. | © David Peters

8. André 3000

André 3000 was already in Eminem’s lyrical roll call before an André guest verse became a mythical creature sighted only every few years. His inclusion in “’Till I Collapse” was reaffirmed in 2020, proving the original nod was no rhyme of convenience. André can be technical, funny, philosophical, melodic, or gloriously strange without ever sounding indecisive. Eminem prizes verbal invention, and the OutKast legend has spent his career making unpredictability feel perfectly controlled. | © Emma McIntyre

9. Rakim

Rakim is one of the names that explains why Eminem hears syllables as building materials. When Eric B. & Rakim arrived, the God MC moved rhymes inside the bar, stretched patterns across lines, and made intricate writing sound unhurried. Eminem has repeatedly credited him as a teacher, named him in the 2020 list, and thanked him again during his Rock Hall speech. Their styles are not identical, but the shared obsession with internal structure is easy to trace. | © Keith Hutter

10. LL Cool J

LL Cool J was not merely an influence hanging somewhere in Eminem’s record collection; he was the childhood template. Eminem has admitted that he wanted to be like LL, down to coveting the rope chain from the “I’m Bad” video—a wish LL eventually fulfilled by gifting him one. They later performed “Rock the Bells” together and finally traded verses on “Murdergram Deux.” When your poster becomes your collaborator and jewelry supplier, “favorite rapper” almost feels understated. | © Frazer Harrison

11. Royce da 5’9”

Royce da 5’9” is the one favorite who also functions as Eminem’s regular sparring partner. As Bad Meets Evil, they turn verses into relay races, passing syllables and unfinished thoughts back and forth with the precision of two people who genuinely enjoy making rap unnecessarily difficult. Their partnership stretches from early cuts like “Scary Movies” to the chart-topping EP Hell: The Sequel and beyond. Eminem’s 2020 inclusion of Royce simply made public what their music had demonstrated for years: he trusts Nickel’s pen. | © Paras Griffin

12. Redman

Redman owns the most flattering placement Eminem has ever given another MC: first in the ordered “’Till I Collapse” roll call, where “Reggie” appears ahead of JAY-Z, 2Pac, and Biggie. That choice shocked casual listeners but made perfect sense to anyone familiar with Slim Shady’s DNA. Redman’s elastic delivery, grotesque comedy, vocal characters, and appetite for controlled chaos all echo through early Eminem. He repeated the endorsement in 2020, just in case anyone thought Reggie had been chosen for the rhyme. | © Valerie Macon

13. Treach

Treach’s place here rests heavily on one verse that rearranged Eminem’s brain. Em has recalled hearing Naughty by Nature’s “Yoke the Joker” and becoming so discouraged by its intricate rhyme patterns that he spent a summer wondering whether he could ever reach that level. Admiration eventually beat despair, and the challenge pushed him deeper into compound rhymes. Treach’s clipped consonants and attack-minded cadence became part of the technical education Eminem later celebrated in both his 2020 list and Rock Hall speech. | © Pyramid Entertainment Group

14. Big Daddy Kane

Eminem did not leave critics to reverse-engineer Big Daddy Kane’s influence; he annotated it himself. On “Yellow Brick Road,” he connected his early experiments with compound syllables directly to Kane, whose rhymes could be acrobatic without sacrificing swagger or clarity. Kane also appeared in the 2020 favorites list and among the “teachers” thanked during Eminem’s Rock Hall speech. The admiration reaches beyond technical fireworks: Kane proved that a meticulous lyricist could still sound commanding, charismatic, and dangerously comfortable. | © NY1

15. Kool G Rap

Kool G Rap is the selection that separates a casual greatest-hits debate from a serious conversation about technique. Long before rapid multisyllabic rapping became a marketable stunt, G Rap was stacking internal rhymes, twisting breath patterns, and turning street narratives into widescreen crime scenes. Eminem named him in 2020 and later counted him among the artists who provided his “hip-hop education” at the Rock Hall. You can hear why: G Rap built much of the machinery that Eminem would eventually drive at unsafe speeds. | © Mac Media