Discovery: Lost Footage of the ’97 Rap Olympics (Eminem’s 2nd Loss)
In the real life version of 8 Mile, Eminem lost. Twice.
After losing to JUICE at Scribble Jam ’97, Eminem flew to the Rap Olympics — where he lost to LA battle rap champion Otherwize of Project Blowed.
Not long after the Rap Olympics, Eminem was signed by Dr. Dre — depending on who you believe, either because Eminem handed his Slim Shady EP CD to an Interscope intern or because Dre heard Eminem on Sway & Tech.
Although recorded by a professional multi-camera film crew, the full Rap Olympics footage has never been released. There’s about four minutes of Eminem Rap Olympics highlights on YouTube, and that’s it. There is no footage available of anyone else rapping that day.
Why? What happened to the rest of the footage? What did Otherwize say to defeat Eminem that day? And what happened in the 5-on-5 team battle?
The lost footage has been a mystery for so long that a conspiracy theory developed: the footage was intentionally suppressed. Various MCs and DJs have stated they believe the footage was sold to either Eminem or Dr. Dre’s team — who then put it in a vault to hide the evidence of Eminem’s defeat. According to this theory, they just released a highlight reel to make Eminem look good.
What other possible explanation is there for not selling the footage to documentaries or posting it to YouTube for millions of views? Surely that video is worth a lot of money. Why not share it with the world?
I started researching the Rap Olympics while compiling the book Born a Villain by Riddlore of Project Blowed. Riddlore was on the elite 5-man Project Blowed team (along with Aceyalone and P.E.A.C.E. of Freestyle Fellowship, Rifleman Ellay Khule, and Otherwize) which battled Eminem (along with Thirstin Howl III, JUICE, Wordsworth, and Kwest tha Madd Lad) in the 5-on-5 part of the Rap Olympics. I wanted to tell Riddlore and the Project Blowed team’s story of the battle, but I had no idea what a can of worms I was opening.
While working on the book, I got really fuckin’ curious about the missing footage. Wendy Day, who created the Rap Olympics as a showcase for Eminem, was kind enough to answer all my nerdy questions about the event.
She told me that the footage was stolen by the videographer who originally recorded it — he just never handed it over. (But that’s exactly what she would say if she sold it to Dre… right?)
Wendy’s no snitch, so she has never given up the name of the camera guy. However, after digging even deeper, I found the name of the guy who stole the footage. Although he has not answered my messages, he admitted to an intermediary that he does have the footage.
Now, for the first time, we know what happened to the footage and who has it. Attempts are ongoing to obtain the release of the footage.
When will we finally get to see Otherwize defeat Eminem? When will we finally get to see Riddlore, Rifleman, Aceyalone, P.E.A.C.E., and Otherwize battle Eminem, Kwest the Madd Lad, Thirstin Howl III, JUICE, and Wordsworth? Time will tell.
Riddlore’s book Born a Villain tells the full story of the Rap Olympics in a 35-page deep dive investigation — featuring interviews with a dozen people, including Riddlore, Otherwize, Rifleman Ellay Khule, Wendy Day, Wordsworth, Imperator (who almost defeated Eminem), Dream Nefra (the only woman Eminem has battled), and many more. The Rap Olympics chapter also debunks Eminem’s excuses for losing the battle and analyzes his mixture of freestyle and prewritten recycled rhymes.
There are many questions swirling around this historic event. Were winners decided by judges or crowd reaction? Was the 5-man battle ended early due to forfeit or overbooking? Was Eminem fairly beaten, or was he robbed by a biased crowd? The chapter can’t answer all these questions, but it does shine some light into the darkness.
To the dude who has the footage: Do the right thing, bruh. The MCs deserve the glory.
Parker Pubs has published Born a Villain by Riddlore, My Kaleidoscope by Myka 9 (Freestyle Fellowship), and Word Murder by 2Mex (The Visionaries). Dope verses and underground hip hop history for the heads.
