When Eminem entered the rap world in the 1990’s he quickly took it by storm. He’s now known as one of the world’s best rappers, but it seems that he has some other artistic tricks up his sleeves. That’s why some people are asking if he can draw too.
This may come as a surprise, but Eminem is a pretty talented drawer. The world hasn’t been able to see too much of Eminem’s art, but the few drawings that we have seen have been pretty impressive.
Let’s face it, some people are just more creative than others. And Eminem is definitely one of those people. The world famous artist is generally known for his on-stage and on-radio performances.
But what about his on-paper art?
Eminem’s Talent On Paper
Eminem was named Marshall Bruce Mathers III when he was born. Known to us as Eminem or Slim Shady, the rapper has produced some of the greatest songs known to the modern world.
Eminem has been in the music business for nearly two decades and he has the awards to show for it. He’s won an Academy Award and even a few Grammy Awards, too.
While most of us tend to use our ears to assess Eminem’s talents, suffice it to say that we can use our eyes as well. Eminem isn’t that well known for his drawing abilities, but that certainly doesn’t mean that they aren’t there.
The most well-known evidence of Eminem’s was shared with the world several years ago, but his actual drawing goes way back.
What we know is this: Eminem wrote a letter to the late-rapper Tupac’s mother, Afeni Shakur. In the letter (in surprisingly perfect handwriting), Eminem shares how impactful Afeni’s mother was on the young rapper. He goes on to talk about how Tupac and his music changed his life and supported him when he was down.
Eminem bares his heart for Afeni and her son, and while this has left tears in the eyes of fans around the world, it’s what accompanies the letter that’s really impressive.
Along with the kind full-page of loving words, Eminem sent Afeni a drawing.
Eminem ironically starts his letter apologizing for the drawing, saying “sorry if it looks a little sloppy,” and informing her that he had the wrong pencils so he had to use a pen instead. Eminem also mentions that he had been drawing for most of his life, ever since he was 10 years old.
Eminem may have felt that the drawing was lacking—but fans around the world disagree.
The drawing of Tupac is great by most standards and perfect by some standards. You can see that pen might have not been the best art tool to use, but that hardly takes away from the fact that Tupac is represented, and represented well, in the drawing.
The shading is perfect and the look on Tupac’s face is perfect. It looks like the type of drawing that would have taken days—if not weeks—to produce.
The world is obviously pretty impressed with this piece of art and, if you want to see it for yourself, you can find it on display at the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts.
The letter was featured in the book “Tupac Remembered” in 2008. In 2015, the world became aware of its existence through a Reddit discussion, where someone mentioned seeing it here. No one really knows when the letter was written and the portrait was drawn, but boy are we glad that it was.
An Artistic Background
While it’s not as popular and much more difficult to track down, there’s word that Eminem has also drawn a pretty impressive Marvel sketch. The image is currently nowhere to be found, but the comments praising Eminem’s drawing of Spiderman can still be found.
If you read through some of the fans’ comments you’ll hear a lot of words of encouragement and praise for Eminem’s work.
One commenter even mentioned that Eminem used to be a really impressive artist and spent a lot of his time drawing. Unfortunately, reports have it that he was beaten up in elementary school and some injuries to his head impacted his art skills.
So, not only does Eminem have an ear for detail, but apparently he has an eye for it too. Fingers crossed we’ll get to see another drawing from Eminem soon.