Eminem has never shied away from controversy, but despite his history of rap feuds, he rarely engages in serious beef with fellow artists. However, in a 2014 interview with Big Boy, the Detroit rap icon revealed that during his post-relapse struggles in 2009, he almost recorded diss tracks aimed at Lil Wayne, Kanye West, and Drake.
Eminem’s Creative Struggles After Relapse
While working on his 2010 album Recovery, Eminem (real name Marshall Mathers) admitted feeling frustrated and insecure about the state of hip-hop. He envied the success of Lil Wayne, Kanye, and Drake, which led to bitter thoughts about dissing them.
“I was watching what was going on in the game… Anybody who was really killing it at that moment—I felt so bad about myself and the music I was creating that I started to turn into a hater.”
Eminem openly struggled with self-doubt after battling prescription drug addiction from 2006 to 2009. He confessed that during this time, his natural creative process became nearly impossible, making him resentful of other artists’ success.
The Almost-Career-Ending Diss Track
Eminem admitted that he was so close to recording a track dissing everyone at the top of the rap game, saying:
“I’d pop the CD in and be like, ‘Fck, man, I’m not doing this no more.’ I came very close to—like, for me, it would have been career suicide—because I felt like, ‘I should make a song just dissing everybody in the game right now!’”*
He later referenced these toxic thoughts in his song “Talkin’ 2 Myself” from Recovery, rapping:
“Hatred was flowing through my veins, on the verge of going insane / I almost made a song dissing Lil Wayne.”
Why Eminem Never Went Through With It
When Big Boy asked if he ever actually wrote the diss, Eminem revealed he never acted on the urge:
“I just had the thoughts, walking around the studio. Deep down, I wasn’t happy with myself. There were some really dark moments in there.”
Instead of launching a career-ending rap war, Eminem channeled his energy into a collaboration with Lil Wayne. Shortly after recording “Talkin’ 2 Myself,” he teamed up with Wayne for the hit track “Drop the World.”
The Influence of Drake’s “Forever”
Interestingly, Eminem’s target list was partly inspired by the Drake track “Forever,” which featured Lil Wayne, Kanye West, and Eminem himself. At the time, the Detroit rapper was battling addiction and felt overshadowed by his younger peers.
Eminem’s Reflection on Addiction and Self-Doubt
Eminem has always been open about his struggles with addiction, which played a major role in his creative insecurities. When asked by Big Boy if his drug use contributed to his self-doubt, he admitted:
“During that time, I couldn’t see myself even being able to do anything sober—talk to people, record, watch movies. I couldn’t do anything without being high. I was taking pills just not to feel sick.”
Fortunately, Eminem overcame his struggles, and instead of igniting unnecessary rap beef, he focused on rebuilding his career, leading to his massive comeback with Recovery.
