Emin's shrike was first formally described in 1882 by the German physician and ornithologist Gustav Hartlaub with its type locality given as “Central Africa”, later determined to be Langomeri in the Nile Province of Uganda by Shelley in 1912.

[3] The genus Lanius, of which Emin's shrike is a member, is classified within the family Laniidae which sits within the superfamily Corvoidea, part of the clade Corvides in the suborder Passeri of the order Passeriformes.

This is not a highly sexually dimorphic species , the females are duller versions of the males with a browner back and the grey head having a brownish tinge.

It can be found in Mali in the Niger inland delta and on the Séno Plain and the Ivory Coast, mostly in Comoé National Park east to South Sudan and northern Uganda.

The confirmed breeding records involve fledgelings being fed by adults, juveniles with barred plumage have been seen in the Democratic Republic of Congo in July, suggesting that reeding starts with the onset of the reains in March and April.