Let’s be real for a second. If you’re trying to pin down exactly how many songs has Eminem written, you’re basically trying to count grains of sand in a Detroit blizzard. It sounds simple, right? You just look at the albums, add up the tracklist, and call it a day. But with Marshall Mathers, it’s never that straightforward. We’re talking about a guy who reportedly recorded hundreds of songs for Revival alone, only for most of them to end up in a digital vault somewhere in Ferndale.
He’s a workaholic. Plain and simple.
When people ask this question, they’re usually looking for a tidy number. Maybe 300? Maybe 500? Honestly, the answer changes depending on whether you’re counting "released" tracks, guest features, or the mythical "vault" stuff that fans have been obsessing over for decades. If we’re talking strictly about songs where his name is on the official credits—released to the public as of 2026—we are looking at a number comfortably north of 600, and that’s being conservative.
The Breakdown of the Eminem Song Count
To understand the scale, you have to look at the pillars of his career. You’ve got the 12 solo studio albums, which are the backbone. From Infinite (the 1996 debut most people forget existed) to the 2024 blockbuster The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) and its subsequent expanded editions, the solo catalog provides a massive chunk of the data.
But then it gets messy.
You can't talk about Marshall's writing without mentioning D12 and Bad Meets Evil. When you add Devil's Night, D12 World, and the Royce da 5'9" collaborations, the numbers jump significantly. He didn't just rap on those; he was often the primary architect of the hooks and the structure.
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Then there are the features. Eminem is the king of the "guest verse that steals the whole song." Whether it’s his legendary turn on Jay-Z’s "Renegade" or more recent links with JID and Ez Mil, these are all songs he wrote. Even if he only wrote 16 to 32 bars, it counts in the grand tally of his creative output.
Writing for Others: The Ghost in the Booth
This is where the "how many songs has Eminem written" question gets truly interesting. Most fans don't realize how much he writes for people not named Eminem. He’s famously written verses for Dr. Dre for decades. If you’ve ever wondered why Dre sounded particularly "shady" on tracks like "Forgot About Dre" or "The Watcher," now you know.
He’s also got credits for:
- 50 Cent: Extensive work on Get Rich or Die Tryin’.
- Obie Trice: He practically hand-crafted the debut Cheers.
- Yelawolf: Co-writing and executive producing throughout the Shady Records era.
- Cashis and Stat Quo: Plenty of unreleased or underground reference tracks exist from the mid-2000s.
How Many Songs Has Eminem Written in Total?
If we sit down and do the math based on 2026 data, here is the rough "official" tally of released material:
- Solo Albums: Roughly 280–300 tracks (including deluxe editions and bonus cuts).
- Collaborative Albums (D12, BME): About 60–70 tracks.
- Guest Features: Over 150 appearances on other people's records.
- Soundtracks & Compilations: 8 Mile, Shady XV, and the Southpaw soundtrack add another 40+ songs.
That puts us at a visible total of roughly 550 to 600 released songs.
But wait.
The "vault" is the stuff of legend. In various interviews, producers like Mr. Porter and the Bass Brothers have hinted that for every song we hear, there are probably five we don't. During his most prolific (and often most troubled) years between 2002 and 2007, Em was reportedly recording daily. If you factor in the thousands of pages of yellow legal pads he’s filled—the ones he showed off in 60 Minutes—the number of "written" songs likely exceeds 2,000.
He doesn't just write; he obsesses. He’s described the process as a puzzle, where he’s just trying to fit words together based on their internal rhyme schemes. Sometimes those puzzles don't become songs, but they are "written" nonetheless.
Why the Number Keeps Growing
Even as a veteran in the game, the output hasn't slowed down to a crawl. In the last few years, we’ve seen him drop expanded editions of The Marshall Mathers LP 2 and The Eminem Show, which unearths "new" old songs like "Jimmy, Brian and Mike."
Basically, the man is a writing machine.
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He treats rap like a 9-to-5 job. He goes into the studio, stays there all day, and writes. Even if the world never hears the result, the stack of notebooks keeps getting taller. For a guy who once said he "rhymes orange with banana-terridge," the limit doesn't seem to exist.
If you want to stay on top of his ever-growing list of credits, the best way is to keep a close eye on the "songwriter" credits on streaming platforms rather than just the "performer" tags. You'll often find his name (Marshall Mathers) tucked away in the credits of tracks you’d never expect, continuing to push that total number higher every single year.
To get the most accurate picture of his work, start by exploring his production credits alongside his lyrics. Often, a song he produced features his "writing fingerprints" in the arrangement and rhythm, even if he doesn't spit a single word. Check the liner notes of the Shady XV compilation for a masterclass in how he juggles these different roles.
Actionable Insight: If you’re a superfan trying to track every single credit, use a database like Discogs or the BMI/ASCAP repertories. Search for "Mathers Marshall" to see the legal registration of every song he has a stake in—you’ll find hundreds of titles that have never even appeared on a tracklist.