#TBT: Eminem Freestyles

In his acclaimed movie "8 Mile," Eminem's character, Rabbit, (ultimately based on Eminem) is showcased as an absolute beast at freestyle rapping. Everyone who saw the movie surely remembers when Rabbit went in over Mobb Deep's "Shook Ones Pt. II" beat and absolutely roasted Papa Doc. 

While his on-screen freestyle was epic, Eminem wasn't just acting when he won that tournament; not at all. You see, for years Eminem was battle rapping in competitions and on radio stations near his hometown of Detroit. He continued laying down freestyles throughout his career, always proving that he's razor-sharp even when going off-the-dome. 

Today we're taking a look at some of Eminem's finest freestyle moments. From the late 90s into the early 00s, Slim Shady proved himself to be absolutely lethal on the mic. If you don't believe us, just watch...

Let's take it back to 1997, when Eminem was still a pretty unknown white dude from Detroit. He had no status, but his bars were still great. Here he goes looney and raps about a night at the club...

"Distorted, ordered by the court to be aborted
Snorted, right before these vocals were recorded
Morbid, too perverted- stay alerted
Went to the club, murdered the first slut that flirted
Deserted, abandoned by my mama and it hurted
The worst nut my daddy ever squirted
Screamin, cussin, buzzin when I'm bustin, open sores pussin
I need another dose of Robitussin"

"That's pretty nasty, man," the host says after Eminem rips some absolutely horrifying bars. No wonder this dude was so polarizing when he dropped.

"Jewelling at the way your jewellery sparkles
Head full of charcoals
Smoked out brain particles
Burning holes in clothes articles
A retarded fool since I started school
Burned the weed before I learned to read
Disregarded rules
Skipping classes to blaze the blunt ashes
Kissing front dashes and smashing up cars like stunt crashes
Hall passes for restrooms
Chewing mushrooms
Doing rush fumes in the lunch room"

Slim Shady isn't quite a stoner rapper, but here he raps about being too blunted to win freestyle battles. You can find this one, and so many others, on the unauthorized compilation The Freestyle Show. 

"I’m on some loced shit, some fed up with the bein’ broke shit
I’m not to joke with, bitch I don’t sell crack, I smoke it
Havin' a coke fit, goin' through withdrawals daily
Shoot up with mescaline in front of my baby daughter Hailie
My brain’s dusted, I’m disgusted at all my habits
Too many aspirin tablets, empty medicine cabinets
Losin' battles to wack rappers cause I’m always too blunted
Walkin’ up in the cypher smokin’, talkin’ about 'Who want it?'"

Eminem is so good at painting the story when he rhymes. He truly embodies some sort of cartoonish villain when he's rapping, particularly in these early freestyles.

"Met a retarded kid named Greg, with a wooden leg
Snatched it off and beat him over the fucking head with the peg
Go to bed with the keg, wake up with the 40
Mixed it with Alka-Seltzer and Formula 44D
Fuck an acid tab, I'll strap the whole sheet to my forehead
Wait until it absorbed in, and fell to the floor dead"

Hear Eminem and the goons of D12 go in on the instrumental of what would later become "Say What You Say." After Bizarre absolutely crushes his verse, Eminem really goes in.

Slim Shady's rhymes have always made people feel sort of uncomfortable, and these bars are of absolutely no exception. Hear Eminem spit some of his most offensive lyrics to date in this freestyle. 

Eminem and Proof were a fire duo back in the day, and this freestyle from MTV News is evidence (as if you ever had a doubt). Proof, who passed in 2006, kills it alongside his boy Eminem, who of course annihilates the verses as well. 

Come 2001, Eminem had a great bit of confidence. He had taken over the airwaves, the TRL and BET Countdowns, and the Billboard charts to boot. With his fellow D12 members, here they take over Rap City. 

You know when a rapper is rapping about the rap he just rapped, that it's really comin' off the dome. Hope you followed that, and if not, just know that this was for real off the dome.

Here's one more for Proof, who crushed it alongside his partner in crime in 2000. On Tim Westwood's radio show, the Detroit MCs displayed why they are a couple of the rawest rappers out there, especially in the freestyle game.