12 Times Eminem Spit Lyrical Fire

Hellbound is one of the finest lesser known Hip-hop tracks of all time. Beginning with a rip from Dreamcast’s Soulcalibur, ‘welcome back to the stage of history,’ this song’s vocals, provided by Eminem, Masta Ace, and J-Black, are layered over the top of battle music from the game as well.

Recorded around 1999, Em’s lyrics are of the time of the rise of his Slim Shady persona, ‘I ain’t trying’ to shoot you, I’m trying’ to chop you into pieces and eat you.’

Eminem’s use of internal rhyme is on point throughout his verse, managing to rhyme the ‘ee’ sound in ‘eat’ twenty-one times.

In this track, Shady raps ‘coke and acid, black magic, cloaks and daggers, f*ck the planet ’til it spins on a broken axis,’ which is so visual and metaphorical, it separates his ability from most.

Much of this verse was originally featured in Doming’s track, Hustlers and Hardcore, from the album, Behind the Doors of the 13th Floor. However, overall, Hellbound is much more polished and featured great emceeing from Masta Ace and a first-class hook from J-Black.

Hellbound is not available on streaming sites and its only official release was on the Hip-hop compilation, Game Over, released in 2000.