Eminem: He is no longer culturally relevant. That obviously isn't the same thing as being popular. Back at the beginning of his career, he was American parents' worst nightmare. If he told his fans to kill the President, they probably would have tried. I remember in elementary school, tons of kids had their hair bleached blond. He set trends. Also, I fear he has run out of topics for songs. He can obviously still make great songs, but they won't have the impact of "Damn! He just put his wife in the trunk!" He has basically 0 shock value nowadays. I'm also no longer excited every time I hear a new Em verse. Stuff like 2.0 Boys is kinda nice lyrically, but it just doesn't leave an impression. I honestly don't see him making an album that can top anything but Encore. Don't get me wrong, I'm still the first guy to look for a new Em leak, but I feel his meaningful career is essentially over. Hopefully I'm wrong.
D12: I only look forward to their album to hear some Em verses, and if they announced today it was never coming out, I wouldn't be too upset. Swifty and Kuniva are nice, but there are dozens of rappers I'd rather listen to. Plus no one cares about them any more.
50 Cent: GRODT is a personal favorite, Massacre was good, every album he has done since has been mediocre. Once he stopped relying on Dre production, I stopped really caring. His recent freestyles are nice, but nothing special. I don't listen to 50 for his lyrics (usually), I listen for his great voice on great, usually Dre beats.
Cashis: Never cared to care...I'm sure he'll have some decent songs on his debut, but I doubt he'll receive much replay on my iPod.
Slaughterhouse: I like SH, but they have absolutely 0 cultural relevance. And yes, they spit very dope verses, but I just don't listen to them regularly. They do have some good meaningful songs, but they just don't have the persona or style to make them a regular listen.
Yelawolf: I love Yelawolf, but I'm predicting he will flop. He has some great bangers, but I couldn't care less about his lyrics. "You must have white bread, let's make a sandwich." Really? Unless he can pump out car stereo bangers at a constant rate, I doubt we'll be talking about him in 5 years. Plus he's already in his 30s...
Dr Dre: I know he isn't on Shady, but still. I'm sure detox will be decent, but I really doubt any of our expectations will be met. Him faking the release date pissed me off. It's really whatever now a days, he gave up the chance to be relevant years ago.