Eminem is having his moment. On May 31st he drops “Houdini”. It’s the first single on his 12th studio album. The song carries some controversy because of a bar about Megan Thee Stallion among other things, but Em’s fans should almost expect controversy at this point.
“Houdini” gets a lot of radio play (for those of us that still listen to the radio) and the beat is catchy enough that even my 10-year-old son bobs his head to it when it comes on while we drive to school. And on July 12th, The Death of Slim Shady drops. The album is described as a “concept album” that centers around a battle between Eminem himself and his alter ego Slim Shady. Prior to the albums release we find out that the album tells a story and if the tracks are listened to out of order, the “story” might not make sense and the tracks could be confusing. “Houdini” is the 11th track on album and we got it over a month before the complete album but maybe that doesn’t matter. In addition to the album, Eminem’s daughter Hailie got married and the media shared pictures of a proud father and the bride during a father daughter dance.
Eminem’s first album was released in 1996. It was almost impossible to get as he was building buzz before buying music online was common place. I remember my homie was… wait for this… I remember my homie was writing letters to his friends going to Berkeley asking them to buy Infinite at Amoeba Records or Rasputin’s on Telegraph up in the Bay Area. He never got his hands on that Em album so I didn’t hear this fire until years later. Here’s the track “Infinite” where you hear how special he was even on the early shit. This was Em coming out of Detroit, MI… Sure you had MC Breed, Kid Rock, Esham, and Detroit’s Most Wanted but Em blowing up out of 8 Mile in the mid-late 90’s??? Unheard of.
Most of us didn’t bump him until 1999 when “My Name Is” releases. For those of us that were there, you couldn’t hide from that song. It was his first song on Billboard Hot 100 and it was everywhere. The internet was in its toddler years so we had CDs, the radio, MTV and The Box (if you wanted to pay to watch a music video). “My Name Is” helped Aftermath/Interscope sell over 10.4 Million units of the Slim Shady LP. The album went platinum and the rest is history.
But if you wanted to read about rappers, you need to click on one of Timmy’s articles. Hopefully you’re here for the sneakers…so let’s get into it.
Three months before I graduated high school, All Eyes on Me is released. Everyone bought that album from 2Pac. Opening up that CD case to that double disc set was memorable. So was the photo of Tupac in his Fila Grant Hill 2s. I’m a Nike guy, but I had to have those. I never rocked ‘em with head to toe denim like Pac did, but they were in the rotation because of that album.
Eazy-E had his Nike Cortez.
Jay-Z signed a multi-year endorsement deal with Reebok that gave him signature apparel and shoes that included the Reebok Jay Z x S. Carter. It was a low top sneaker that was inspired by a Gucci 84 tennis shoe.
Dr. Dre and Snoop might have been still rockin’ their khakis with a cuff and a crease, but they both traded in their Chucks for shoes like the Adidas Shell Toes and Dre with his Air Force 1s. Snoop would eventually get to deals with Lugz and of course Sketchers, but that would come much later.
In 2002, I see a poster for the The Eminem Show and Marshall has on a black Jordan tank, Nike beanie, grey sweats and pair of Jordan 3 True Blues that popped right off the paper. The look is a big departure from the white tee, jeans and bleached hair that most fans would connect with him just a few years earlier. This is a year before Marshall would officially collaborate with Nike and three years before he would become the first rapper to ever collaborate with Jordan Brand. Em certainly wasn’t the first rapper to sign with a sneaker company, but his contribution to sneaker collabs is right up there with Travis and Ye.
In 2003 Eminem had his first collab with Nike. It was a grey Air Burst running shoe with a few of Eminem Logos on the outsole and upper. The “Shady Burst” was simple. Over the next two years, he would get multiple Air Force 1 colorways as friend and family pairs and to celebrate his 4th album, Encore. In 2005, Nike produced 50 pairs of the Jordan 4 “Encore”. Most pairs were reserved for friends and family but a few pairs were available through a contest. Most of us will never even see a pair of these in person, but the blue suede upper with hits of red, grey and black and the Eminem branding looks incredible through google.
By 2006, Mathers must have realized what his shoes are worth on the secondary market and he decides to collaborate with Nike on Air Max silhouettes with all proceeds going to his Marshall Mathers Foundation. There were 8 pairs of 8 different Air Max that were auctioned via eBay to support at-risk youth in the Detroit area.
According to Marshall, his first pair of Jordan’s was the Jordan 2. In 2008, The Jordan 2 was used to recognize the release of his autobiography, The Way I Am. The collab was limited to 313 pairs (the Detroit area code). They were sold exclusively through Flight Club. I love the storytelling on this pair, but not many sneakerheads are chasing Jordan 2s. The black and grey offer a clean look, but the branding on this shoe is busy. It’s not really for me. But it doesn’t matter because I’ll never own a pair. Last October, a pair sold for $5,550. I’m not an expert on Jordan 2 sales, but I think Jordan 2 Eminem (The Way I Am) might be the most expensive Jordan 2 on earth.
And the shoe that tops the list, the 2015 Eminem Air Jordan 4 x Carhartt. On his episode of “Sneaker Shopping” Eminem tells Joe LaPuma that his favorite sneaker has always been the Jordan 4. So maybe its not a surprise that Marshall comes back to the 4. Now, if Jordan brand released a black twill upper Jordan 4 with chrome accents today, It would probably brick at JD Sports across the nation. But timing, details, and storytelling helped this collab reach grail status for sneaker collectors. The Jason Vorhees hockey mask on the heel tab is call back to Em’s early days when he would take stage with the mask, the chainsaw and the overalls to perform. Hype is Hype. Limited is Limited and this shoe has both. The were sold for charity through eBay. The last sale for this shoe in 2021 was $13,182
I didn’t forget about the Air Jordan 3 PE that he wore in the Super Bowl half time show. When I watched the performance, I thought they were a pair of fire red 3s. But the icey blue outsole had me (and the entire internet) very curious. It didn’t take long before we knew what they were. The backwards E logo took the place of the Jumpman and the “my name is Slim Shady” badge on the heel took us back to ’99. The performance was easily be best half time show in super bowl history and the Jordan 3 might be the best in Em’s Jordan collab portfolio….but that Encore 4 is tough to top.
So if money is no object, What Eminem collab are you picking up? Are you passing on them? Maybe you have a few in your rotation already. And if you do, make sure you wear them!