These are what we call the 'YMMV items.' Things that some people find in this work. We call them 'your mileage might vary' because not everyone sees these things in the same way. This starts discussions in the trope lists, a thing we don't want. Please use the discussion page if you'd like to discuss any of these items.
YMMV: Eminem
Alternative Character Interpretation: Those for and against him alike can't quite figure out whether he "really means it" or not. He's generally more intelligent and sensitive than his loudest detractors would admit, but still angrier and sicker than his younger fans' parents would like.
It COULD be a case of him writing his angriest, most disturbing songs in order to get rid of his demons, so to speak. For example, Alfred Hitchcock, the Master of Suspense in the movie business, once said "The only way to get rid of my fears is to make films about them."
Award Snub: The Marshall Mathers LP got awards left and right and is widely regarded as one of the best rap albums ever. Yet when it came time to award the Grammy for Album of the Year, it had two acclaimed rock albums to combat: Steely Dan's Two Against Nature and Radiohead's Kid A. The Academy chose the Steely Dan album, apparently because it was a safer choice than a rap album or an experimental rock album.
Inversely, at least early in his mainstream career, he seemed to win awards in rap categories by default.
Bile Fascination: This is how he got a lot of his early audience, since he started his career in that transition period where people were getting tired of Gangsta Rap but hadn't fully embraced Crunk/Club Rap yet. He tended to alternate between Black Comedy and songs about killing women, and stuff you could dance to or was meant to be remixed.
Draco in Leather Pants: Despite his rude behavior, calling Christina Aguilera a whore for having the audacity to think writing a song about killing your wife was distasteful, and his homophobic and sexist lyrics (at least, how a lot of people interpreted them to be), he was still one of the top artists of the '00s and loved by teenage girls. He isn't at all villainous, however he is a controversial figure to most who just can't understand the overlooking.
To be fair, she was making assumptions about something she knew nothing about and it wasn't her place to put his business out there.
He lampshades this in the lyrics for "The Real Slim Shady":
"Feminist women love Eminem/
Chicka-chicka Slim Shady, I'm sick of him/Look at him
Walking around, grabbin' his you-know-what/Flippin' the you-know-who
Yeah, but he's so cute though..."
Dude, Not Funny!: Michael Jackson did not take well towards Eminem making fun of him in his Just Lose It music video. The backlash even resulted in B.E.T. pulling the video from airwaves.
Ear Worm: Put on an Eminem song - any Eminem song. Chances are it stays stuck in your head for days and days.
He commonly overshadows other artists such as Rihanna, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj and even Jay-Z (Whether Em was actually better on Renegade than Hov can be debated, but the reviews said Em's verse was superior) when collaborating with them. Hell, he outshone Kanye West, Lil Wayne and Drake all on one song, Forever, Shady was indeed back.
The fact that the overwhelming majority of music consumers in the US is white and Eminem is one of the few prominent white rappers in the mainstream music industry also brings about somewhat Unfortunate Implications. (Eminem himself has even lampshaded this on a few songs such as "White America" and "Without Me".)
Face of the Band: He's the only recognizable member of D12 (though new fans might come to remember Bizarre, who stands out for being The Fat One and having the most out there lyrics). Lampshaded with the D12 song "My Band", in which the other D12 members bitch about the situation (and Em brags about it).
Eminem fans claim that Cageripped Eminem off, even though this doesn't make any sense. Logically, since the two rappers debuted at the same and only have a slight similarity, via being from separate rap scenes and not having the same influences, it's impossible for either one to have ripped each other off; while Cage made claims that Eminem ripped him off early in his career, he has since retracted these claims for the reason that they make no logical sense. Likewise, it's equally impossible for him to have ripped off Eminem.
Esham's "acid rap" style was a main source of influence for Eminem. When Esham insulted Eminem for "biting" his style, Eminem Fan Dumb responded by insulting Esham and claiming not to have heard of Esham, even though The Slim Shady LP had Eminem calling himself a cross between Manson, Esham and Ozzy.
Fandom Rivalry: Eminem fans vs. the fans of pretty much anyone who has ever feuded with Eminem, including Juggalos, Cage fans, Everlast fans, Esham fans, etc.
"Funny Aneurysm" Moment: Encore's "One Shot 2 Shot" has Em and D12 rapping about a shooting at a D12 concert. Proof's death two years later made this song even scarier than it already was, and Proof's line "Believe me, I'm leavin' a carcass today" makes the impact even worse.
Harsher in Hindsight: The video for Like Toy Soldiers (released in early 2005 as a single), which depicts Proof dying of gunshot wounds. Proof was shot to death about a year later.
Not to mention Kim, an already disturbing song about Eminem murdering his then wife Kim, is made a bit more disturbing when in Love The Way You Lie he reveals they were both mutually abusive towards each other.
Most of his songs about partying and drugs, especially "Drug Ballad", become this in light of his overdose.
BBC Radio 1: "This is not an autobiographical lyric [...] It's one of Eminem's flights of fancy, albeit one into a very real situation. Clearly he understands the psychology well, and can express the feelings with enormous clarity. Rihanna's role in all of this is interesting though."
"Marshall Mathers" becomes this after Rich Cronin's death
Hilarious in Hindsight: During the third verse in "Without Me," Eminem takes a shot at Moby, claiming "Nobody listens to Techno!" Several years later, Ke$ha, Lady Gaga and other techno-based artists take over the charts. Just as hilariously, the year "Without Me" came out (2002), Kylie Minogue and her electro-poppy "Cant Get You Out of My Head" take over the charts world wide, as — of course — does Moby with "We Are All Made of Stars."
Ho Yay: Memorably in the Dr. Dre song "What's the Difference", "I love you dawg." Though he did mean it in a father-son sort of way. Him and 50 Cent though...
Also in "My Dad's Gone Crazy", "All this time me and Dre have been fuckin' with hats off!"
Retroactively taken to new levels with Proof in several songs on Recovery, most notably "You're Never Over". Apparently they had pet names for each other...
Now I'm gonna make you dance It's your chance Yeah, boy; shake that ass Oops, I mean girl Girl, girl, girl...
Not to mention "Lighters":
And pardon me if I'm a cocky prick but you cocks are slick Who you dicks try to kid, flipped dick, you did the opposite You stayed the same, cause cock backwards is still cock you pricks I love it when I tell em shove it ("And in conclusion... penis, penis, penis.")
Hype Aversion: More cynical listeners believe Eminem's success is 30% talent and 70% because he's white, and that critics treat him as if he single-handedly invented hip-hop.
In some interviews (and stated in "White America") he kinda agrees with that cynical opinion.
Jumping the Shark: For those who believe his drug addiction killed his rap talent permanently.
Magnum Opus: Eminem has two: Stan and Lose Yourself. They're his most critically acclaimed songs, with the former regularly appearing on "Greatest ____ Songs Lists" and the latter won him an Academy Award.
"Where the fuck is Kanye when you need him? Snatch the mike from 'em, bitch, Imma let you finish..."
In some corners of the internet, 'stan' and 'stanning' are terms for hardcore fanning. Mostly used in jest.
A lot of those places have been using it so long that the original meaning/origin is often completely unknown to people.
Many rappers have referred to Eminem's "Stan", like Nas on "Ether" (you a fake, a phony, a Stan) and Lupe Fiasco on "Lu Myself" (Like Stan, I'mma stand till it answers me).
Rearranging the lyrics of "Lose Yourself"; in particular, spamming the line "Mom's spaghetti".
One-Scene Wonder: His guest appearances have a habit of outshining the host artist, like in Drake's song "Forever".
Or on "Drop the World" from the Lil Wayne rock album. Most people weren't fans of the album, except for the song Em was on.
Judging by the sales on-line, his appearance in "That's All She Wrote" on T.I.'s latest album is being viewed the same way.
The last song they did together ("Touchdown") was godawful - Em actually admitted that he considers his verse on that song one of the worst he's ever made.
His duet with Jay-Z, "Renegade", is the most literal example of this trope: Em's the only guest on the whole album. This was even lampshaded by Nas during his feud with Jay, saying "Eminem murdered you on your own shit!"
The ironic thing is that his verses were prerecorded before Jay-Z got a hold of the track. It was originally supposed to be a Royce da 5'9" song*
the "Jigga-Ji-Jigga" near the end of Em's first verse was recorded over the words "Royce, the king of Detroit" when Jay picked it up
Possible lampshading on the track "Rain Man" where the beat cuts out and it's revealed that it's because Dr. Dre fell asleep at the console.
True Art Is Angsty: Cracked notes here that "As [Eminem] gets his life together his songs sound more and more like remixes and covers of the old ones. He'll never do 'Bonnie & Clyde' again."
Averted in the case of his more humorous songs, if one looks mainly at the songs themselves and not at Em's state of mind when he composed them.
Weird Al Effect: "Will the real Slim Shady please stand up?" is actually derived from the 1960s/70s game show To Tell the Truth's catchphrase "Will the real [person's name] please stand up?", used to reveal the true mystery guest.
