Eminem has had what can only be described as a breathtaking journey in his career. From being homeless, working fast food jobs and battle-rapping in the grimiest parts of Detroit, the young man was quickly flung into fame and was soon a Diamond-certified artist.
Before his Slim Shady LP release in late 1999, Mathers was a musical genius on the verge of suicide due to his extreme poverty. Mathers had been on the underground in Detroit for years with his first album, Infinite, performing poorly, receiving little to no airplay by DJs in his city, and as a white rapper, everybody had written him off.
Mathers lived in the ‘8 Mile’ area of Detroit, meaning he lived near the road that divides Detroit. The 8-mile-long M102 motorway (colloquially referred to as ‘8 Mile’) is an infamous highway that is known for effectively segregating the metropolitan area of Detroit. Detroit’s inner city is rundown, and residents are primarily African-American. On the other side of the 8 Mile road, middle-class white neighbourhoods thrive. The road marks one of the steepest income divides in America.
Before his discovery by an Interscope intern at the 1997 La Battle Rap Olympics, Mathers was effectively penniless. However, once his demo went into the hands of Dr Dre, things quickly changed, and within five years, he was one of the hottest MCs in the US and was charging feature fees at the same rate as artists such as Jay-Z, 50 Cent and many others.
The price a musician charges for a guest verse always depends on how current and relevant they are. However, sometimes they can be breathtakingly high and, in some cases, extortionate.
In 2010, without one album to her name, Nicki Minaj revealed that she was already charging $50,000 for one 16-bar verse and last year, 1990s veteran Snoop Dogg revealed that his standard fee is $250,000. On average, relevant rappers demand $300,000.
Although it may be hearsay, it has been rumoured that in his prime during the early 2000s, artists had to pay upward of $1million for Eminem to feature on their songs. However, nowadays, it is much more likely that his feature price is similar to that of Snoop Dogg’s. Below you can see some of the fees lyricists are charging in 2023.
