In 1999, Eminem rose from a low-time rapper to a multi-million-selling hip-hop artist with his major-label debut, Slim Shady LP, under the guidance of Dr. Dre. A year later, he followed up his success with another hit record, The Marshall Mathers LP (2000), and then cemented his GOAT (Greatest of All Time) status with The Eminem Show in 2002. After the successful release of Slim Shady LP, the Rap God launched Shady Records, an imprint that serves as "a boutique label but [with] all the outlets of a major" under Jimmy Iovine's Interscope.
Unfortunately though, Em's story as the president of his own label is a little different from his success as a rapper. Shady has just been revolved around Em's sound, and especially after the death of his best friend Proof, the label does not really enjoy the success it once had with roster like 50 Cent, D12, Stat Quo, and more. A lot of its artists have come and gone for various reasons. Here's a look at former Shady Record artists and whatever they've been doing since leaving the label.
8 50 Cent
50 Cent was among the first signees of the label, and most notably the only label member, who isn't Eminem, that launched a massively successful rap career. His debut album Get Rich or Die Tryin' is a classic testament to his life, but as he approached the latter stage of his rap career, 50 seemed to have lost his appeal. He left Shady in 2014 and signed to Caroline/Capitol/UMG instead to pursue better creative freedom, but he still has a strong bond with Shady's honcho.
7 Yelawolf
Yelawolf was another case of wasted talent at Shady. Fresh off becoming one of the XXL Freshmen members of the year, the hungry Alabama rapper quickly caught the attention of Em, and he had four releases under the label until he left in 2019. He'd gone indie since then and released his latest album, Ghetto Cowboy, independently in 2019.
"I don't know what the f*ck they're doing up there," Yelawolf said in a 2012 interview. "Shady's great, I love Shady Records man, I just think there's some s**t going on upstairs, but I don't know what the f*ck's going on, back to Trunk Muzik."
6 Cashis
Cashis, whose real name is Ramone Johnson, joined the Shady family around 2004 when Em was at the peak of his career. He was introduced to the mainstream with "You Don't Know" from Shady Records' The Re-Up compilation album and released his debut Eminem-produced EP, The County Hound, in 2007. He left after his intended debut album, Loose Cannon, was pushed back several times and has become an independent artist under Bogish Brand Entertainment.
5 Obie Trice
Obie Trice was hailed as the next big thing back in the 2000s. So when the Detroit rapper joined Shady in 2000, expectations were skyrocketing. He did deliver a solid debut album with Cheers, accompanied by singles like "Got Some Teeth" and "Sh*t Hits the Fan." However, he left after feeling that the label lacked effort in pushing his second album, Second Round On Me, which only amounted to a total of 74,000 copies within the first week.
4 Slaughterhouse
Slaughterhouse was another story of hip-hop's "what ifs." The supergroup, which consisted of Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz, Crooked I, and Royce da 5'9", managed to bring a fresh breath into hip-hop when they debuted their self-titled debut before signing to Shady. However, after signing to the label, the pressures from executives to keep making commercially viable radio songs got to the point where they disbanded in 2018. Since then, each former member has been doing their own solo projects.
3 Stat Quo
Towards the end of 2003, Eminem and Dr. Dre discovered Stat Quo's tape Underground Atlanta and signed him to their labels under a joint deal. He was introduced to the mass in 2006 with The Re-Up compilation album, but he had never released an album until he left the label. In a 2017 interview with HotNewHipHop, the rapper revealed that the Rap God dropped Quo from his label after an argument over the latter's intended debut album, Statlanta.
2 Bobby Creekwater
Another rapper from Atlanta, Bobby Creekwater signed to Shady Records in mid-2005 and was later included in The Re-Up compilation album. He faced the same fate as his predecessors and left Shady in 2009 without any big projects released with no harsh feelings.
"I felt like it was time to move on so I made a phone call to [Shady co-founder] Paul [Rosenberg]... I said I think it's time for me to go my way. He said he understood," the rapper revealed.
1 D12
Before Eminem mattered, he was a part of Detroit's D12 rap group, which consisted of six of the best emcees in the Motor City. When Em's solo career took off, he officially signed the group under his label and had them release their two albums in 2001 and 2004.
However, the death of DeShaun 'Proof' Holton, the group's de jure leader, and Eminem's longtime best friend, had severely impacted D12's fate, and the hiatus was inevitable. Em announced that D12 had been disbanded with a song titled "Stepping Stone" from his surprise-released album Kamikaze in 2018.
