Where, how Eminem died

People feared that the 47-year-old rapper had died, after #RIPEminem began trending on Twitter on Tuesday night – despite Marshall Mathers III being very much alive. The hashtag became a top trend in the US, with some fans of Eminem believing that the Lose Yourself star had passed away on August 18.

However, it seems that the trend stemmed from one Twitter user who declared: ‘I have killed eminem.’ The account, with the handle @levic**sock, also reportedly tweeted the hashtag #RIPEminem numerous times before going private. While the trend initially caused major concern on social media, it later turned into a meme – because, you know, the internet.

So Eminem died yesterday evening on the Internet (particularly on Twitter). And not in real life.

People shared the hashtag with pictures of Ellen DeGeneres and a bleach blonde Justin Bieber, as well as pictures mourning the death of M&Ms. Eminem has been at the top of the rap game for two decades, and achieved his ninth number one album in January this year with the release of Music To Be Murdered By.

But even that colossal achievement couldn’t bag him a place on Snoop Dogg’s list of his favourite rappers.

Speaking on The Breakfast Club, the Gin and Juice star said: ‘[Dr Dre] has probably put Eminem in the position where he would be considered one of the top 10 rappers ever. I don’t think so, but the game feels like that he’s top 10 lyricists and all that that comes with it.

‘That’s just because he’s with Dr. Dre. and Dr. Dre helped him find the best Eminem that he could find.’

But we’re sure Eminem is in the number one spot – or at least the top 10 – for many others.