Eminem‘s legacy in Hip Hop is indisputable at this point in his career, yet he has only continued to pick up more steam as the years go by.
On Wednesday (April 25), the Detroit MC reached a new milestone as the music video for his 2004 hit “Mockingbird” crossed one billions views on YouTube. The visual, it is worth noting, was uploaded to the platform in 2009, five years after the song’s release.
The single, which was released as part of the Encore compilation record two decades ago, depicts the rapper getting emotional over the struggles of parenting his two little girls as he comes to terms with the mistakes he made in the past.
This aforementioned accolade marks the 51-year-old’s sixth music video to surpass a billion stream on the platform, adding to “Without Me,” “Rap God,” “Lose Yourself,” and “Love The Way You Lie” featuring Rihanna; as well as his guest appearance on Akon‘s “Smack That.”
Just last year, the above song crossed over a billion streams on Spotify. According to Chart Data, “Mockingbird” made the leap in mid-March, marking his seventh entry on the platform’s exclusive club.
Other tracks by the D12 rapper to generate over a billion streams include “Without Me,” “The Real Slim Shady,” “Till I Collapse,” “Godzilla” featuring Juice WRLD and “Love the Way You Lie” featuring the Fenty boss.
Eminem Becomes First Hip Hop Artist To Achieve 1 Billion YouTube Views
Genius previously dubbed “Mockingbird” one of Em’s “least offensive song ever.” The single was co-produced by Slim Shady himself and Luis Resto, and went on to peak at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 — it is currently 5x platinum.
Soon after its release, it was nominated for Best Rap Solo Performance at the Grammy Awards, but ultimately lost to Kanye West‘s “Gold Digger.”
Since then, Baby Keem has sampled the joint on 2019’s “Apologize” while Lil Nas X did the same on 2021’s “Don’t Want It.”
