Jul 14, 2015

I would think so.. there's artists like Jay, Nas, & Pac that have put out subpar material, and they definitely have a spot on it, imo.

Pac
Biggie
Jay
Nas
Em

The Mt. Rushmore of Hip-Hop

 

Jul 14, 2015

You know, I have no doubt that he would be regarded as the GOAT w/o question. Few artists matured as much between projects like he did and adapted to the culture in such a way. I was watching a performance of the Up in Smoke Tour on BET, and even after performances from NWA, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, and Dr. Dre, the crowd went insane when Eminem came out to close with his verse from "Forgot About Dre" which still has my nephew running around screaming "Whadda ya say to somebody you hate?" Plus an interview with Talib about Eminem talking about his time with the Outsidaz, and how within two months, he was blonde, Slim Shady, and on the cover of Rolling Stone. Looking back on his discography now, we know with Infinite and SSEP that he was around, but when he first came out with SSLP, it would be easy to assume he blew up overnight.

I am probably one of the few who still has tremendous respect for Eminem and his career. He still strives for greatness even when he falls short. I'm sure overcoming addiction mixed with trying to start from scratch basically as far as his writing style, when sober, was a hurdle to climb. Anyone who's ever been on drugs and tried to write s--- when they're off them can tell you it's a tremendous difference creatively. He's still experimenting fifteen years later. He's f---ing with new rhyme patterns, techniques, deliveries, flows, story telling, metaphors. He is still finding ways to be relevant in a climate where real rappers aren't as respected by the masses as bubble gum artists who can produce tracks that get radio play easier. Dumbing s--- down is expected.

Every now and then I go way off track but to summarize, yes I do think think his hypothetical death over a decade ago would have cemented his legacy as the greatest.

 

Jul 14, 2015

Also, there would be conspiracy theorists arguing that he was assassinated because the industry wouldn't let a white rapper be the biggest rapper in the world.

 

Jul 14, 2015

Maybe. A slew of great unreleased material would definitely be released, further cementing his legacy at the time. h---, even if he died of his overdose whenever it was (07/08?) I still think his legacy would be huge. 1 bad album because of a drug addiction would be excused.

 

Jul 14, 2015

his legacy is already the GOAT according to the masses

 

Jul 14, 2015

You become more beloved when you die and become bigger than what you were. Happens with every artist that dies so young or while they are still in their prime. ( Tupac, Biggie, Kurt Cobain, etc)

That being said, if he died right after 2003, which included the release of 8 mile and Eminem Show, he would be recognized in the same catergory as Tupac and Biggie. Would he deserve it, thats a different question, but death sorta puts you on a pedestal. His impact would be bigger and more noticeable in todays music.

 

Jul 14, 2015

I've said this a bunch of times before on S80 and SL. If Em died after 8 Mile, we would all deify him as one of the greatest ever. His earlier stuff would still age poorly, but we would all be talking about how much potential he had and what amazing things he would have gone on to do.

Kinda like we do with Pac, Biggie, and everyone else who WAS great, and died before their time.

 

Jul 14, 2015

Imagine his legacy if he died on 9/11... We wouldn't have heard TES but d---.

 

Jul 14, 2015

Regardless of when he dies he'll still go down as one of the greatest of all time and put up in a league based off what I can see from here the internet community doesn't want him to be in. In reality outside of the internet I've never heard a bad thing said about Eminem from personal experience or other artist maybe its because they don't have someone big enough to tell them otherwise.

 

Jul 14, 2015

If he died in 2003? I think he would have had the biggest legacy of all hiphop artists who have passed away. Not saying he should, but considering he had a bigger fan base than Big and Pac, his death would probably have made a bigger impact. In terms of material, everything he did back then was flawless, and he did it so effortlessly. Kind of sad to see some of the s--- he does these days.

He still will be considered one of the GOATs, although people won't forget a lot of the s--- material he's put out after that. But still, once it's all said and done, I don't think people will remember him from his bad material, but more at how great all of his best material was. And he has a LOT.

Big and Pac were kind of lucky in terms of their legacy. They didn't really have a chance to fall off.

 

Jul 14, 2015

if he leaves earth he'll be bigger than pac no question

 

Jul 14, 2015

i dont think it would matter that much. Eminem will always be Eminem. Actually, i think his legacy is stronger than than it would have been if he died 2003. I mean he has already done like 300+ released songs. nobody expects him of them to be great or classics. he has like 30-40 songs that are basically masterpieces. although he isn't producing his best things nowadays he does a lot of good to very good songs. i think his persona and legacy is much more diverse now in comparison to 2003. also him battling addiction and coming back at the top of the rap game(regardless that its s-----y nowadays) made his image that much stronger. his fanbase must have grown so much during the recocery era to a point that a lot of yonger people took interest in him and looked at his earlier work as well.

 

Jul 15, 2015

I think every rapper hits a wall in their career at some point and we didn't get a chance to see that from Biggie and Tupac but if they were still alive there would of been a point in their career that they would of released meh or wack music

But because they both died in their prime they have maintained their legacy in Hip Hop as the GOATS and I believe if the same happened to Eminem it would of been the same case

 

Jul 14, 2015

over 20,000 d--- - @Narsh meet your grandfather

 

Jul 14, 2015

If Eminem died then he would be known for what "could of been" or people would say he died to soon and he would be a legend. If Eminem died today he would be known as the greatest of all time, (I.e. Michael Jackson) because he came back and reinvented himself and became relevant again.

 

Jul 14, 2015

Time to carve another head

 

Jul 14, 2015

On the hip-hop one, it's 5

 

Jul 14, 2015

But there's only 4 people on mt Rushmore..

 

Jul 14, 2015

When he will stop to rap, he will be considered as one of the greatest, maybe the goat. And if he died in 2003 i think it would be pretty much the same, what he has done for Hip Hop with his first 3 albums is something nobody will be able to recreate