The votes are in, and hip hop fans made their voices loud and clear — Eminem is officially The People’s Champ.
At the 2025 XXL Awards, Eminem may not have swept the board-voted categories, but when it came to the one award decided by the fans, he proved once again why his loyal following is unmatched.
Marshall was nominated for five major awards, including Album of the Year, Male Rapper of the Year, Lyricist of the Year, and Video of the Year for his hit single “Houdini”. But with Kendrick Lamar dominating the headlines and taking home every award where they went head-to-head, the biggest showdown came down to one category — The People’s Champ.
With heavyweights like Drake, J. Cole, Nicki Minaj, and Travis Scott in the mix, it was a tough competition. But hip hop fans showed up in full force, securing him the win in the only category where the industry had no say.
Eminem has long shown respect for Kendrick, and knowing that he was one of those over 300 top industry players on the voting board, we can even guess that he voted for Kendrick himself. But when it came down to the fans, they had just one message: Slim Shady is still people’s choice.
