By the time Eminem (AKA Marshall Bruce Mathers III) came around to creating his feature film, 8 Mile, he had already propelled himself towards stardom as one of the biggest recording artists in history. Somehow, he managed to take himself even further, with his biggest track, ‘Lose Yourself’, coming straight from the soundtrack of the film.
There are also a lot of incredible freestyle rap battles that show up during the film, each one showing off more lyrical genius and quick thinking than the last. We’ve ranked them all.
The Parking Lot
Towards the start of the film, we see Eminem’s character B. Rabbit caught up in an impromptu battle in a parking lot before a lot of trouble ensues moments later. It isn’t a bad freestyle but the reason it lands our bottom spot is mostly down to its brevity.
We see some bars from successful rappers Obie Trice, Njeri Earth, and Mekhi Phifer, before a stage fright-ridded Eminem (playing B. Rabbit) takes center stage. He delivers a few good lines, but his nerves and lack of preparation mean these are certainly his weakest from the film.
The best bit: “Your style is generic, mine’s authentic made. I roll like a renegade you need clinic aid. My technique’s bizarre and ill I scar and kill. You were a star until I served you like a bar and grill. As I proceed to cook and grill ya, that’s all it took to kill ya”.
Lotto Against Rabbit
The problem with the Lotto vs Rabbit battle is that Lotto is under fire right from the start. Everyone is eager to hear Rabbit, and despite some good lines, he just fumbles a little under the pressure. There are a couple of lines that see him trip over his improvised words, and his actual vocal tone is far from the best in the film.
The best bit: “I’ll spit a racial slur honkey sue me. This s*** is a horror flick, but a black guy doesn’t die in this movie. F***** wit Lotto dog you gotta be kidding. That makes me believe you really don’t have an interest in living.”
Rabbit Defends Paul
Despite gaining some awkward notoriety in the real world for insisting on filling his music with homophobic lyricism, Eminem plays a character with a little more empathy in 8 Mile. When Paul is being tormented for being gay on his lunch break at the car factory, Rabbit steps in to defend his friend.
It remains a little problematic when he defends him while still using homophobic language, but the lyrical genius is undeniable.
The best bit: “You’ve worked here longer than me and I get paid more than you do. Dawg, take a seat. What’s this guy standing in line for? He ain’t got money to eat!”.
Lickety Split Against Rabbit
This is where we move into some big-time freestyle skill. While Lickety may have had the advantage over Rabbit at the time, having seen him mess up pretty bad just a couple of days earlier and spent the previous night beating him up, he still delivers some truly impressive bars. His references are on point, cramming Willie Nelson, Vanilla Ice, and Tina Turner into just a few sentences is quite the gift.
The best bit: “Take some real advice and form a group with Vanilla Ice. And what I tell ya, ya better use it. This guy’s a hillbilly this ain’t Willie Nelson music. Trailer trash I choke ya till ya last breath and have ya looking foolish like Cheddar Bob when he shot his-self. Silly Rabbit, I know why they call you that Cuz you follow Future, like he got carrots up his ***crack”.
Rabbit’s Response to Lickety Split
Jumping straight into Rabbit’s response to Lickety Split, we see the white rapper at his (almost) finest. Everyone in the venue seems pretty excited about what they just heard from Lickety, but Rabbit turns the expectations upside down within just a couple of seconds. He goes straight in on him, assessing and attacking every nuance of his personality and appearance, while even managing to insult the crowd, who can’t help but be on his side. It’s a truly impressive piece of poetry.
The best bit: “Ya they call me Rabbit, this is a turtle race. He can’t get with me spitting this s***. Wickedly Lickety shot, Spicious spickety split Lickety. So I’m a turn around with a great smile, and walk my white a** back across 8 mile”.
Rabbit’s Response To Lotto
While Lotto’s attempt to discourage Rabbit was pretty average, he was about to be completely silenced by the underdog (who, in fairness, wasn’t much of an underdog by this point). The thing that makes Eminem such an impressive rapper is his ability to work reference after reference into his work in a way that others just can’t manage.
Rather than going on a well-structured attack on personality, Eminem (and as such, Rabbit) is able to combine cultural reference with pure lyrical brutality.
The best bit: “I think you were a little hard on the Beaver, so was Eddie Haskal, Wally, and Ms. Cleaver. This guy keeps screaming, he’s paranoid. Quick, someone get his a** another steroid! Blabbedy bloom blah, blum blabbedy bloom blah, I ain’t hear a word you said, hibitit hoopla!”.
Rabbit’s Final Takedown
There isn’t much to be said about the final freestyle in 8 Mile. Everyone in that room knows that Rabbit has won with his twisting and turning delivery, lyricism beyond that of even the greatest poet and a confident delivery that concludes the development of his excellent character. It’s like Eminem gave over some of his most impressive work for a simple scene in the film, when it could easily have appeared in a worldwide hit single.
The best bit: “I am white, I am a f***** bum, I do live in the trailer with my mom. My boy future is an Uncle Tom, I do got a dumb friend named Cheddar Bob who shoots himself in his leg with his own gun. I did get jumped by all 6 of you chumps, and Wink did f*** my girl. I’m still standing here screaming f*** the Free World!”.
