The Shady Records roster was showcased on their 2006 compilation album, Eminem Presents: The Re-Up, which peaked at number 2 on the Billboard 200.

Shady Records has signed and released projects for acts including Eminem himself, his group D12, Obie Trice, 50 Cent, Cashis, Bad Meets Evil, Slaughterhouse, Yelawolf, Griselda, Westside Gunn and Conway the Machine; its roster as of 2024 includes Westside Boogie, Grip and Ez Mil.

Eminem looked for an avenue to release D12, and Rosenberg was keen to start a label, which led to the two teaming up to form Shady.

[6][7] Obie Trice first got public attention via a freestyle skit on the Devil's Night album and The Eminem Show track, "Drips".

[7] In 2003, Shady was involved in several controversies with the likes of the inherited Murder Inc. feud that 50 Cent and G-Unit were involved in,[21] on-going problems with the previous co-owners of The Source magazine, namely Benzino,[22] as well as escalating issues with rapper Royce da 5'9", who was previously a friend of Eminem and D12, until they reunited in 2010.

[31] The feud between Jadakiss and 50 Cent indirectly led to DJ Green Lantern leaving Shady Records.

In August 2005, Eminem and the XXL magazine teamed up to release a special issue titled XXL Presents Shade 45, and was designed to give maximum exposure to Shade 45 as a radio station, and at the same time give maximum exposure to the Shady Records label as a whole, as well as the radio DJ's and G-Unit Records' artists.

[34] In early 2006, Chicago-born Orange County, California-based rapper named Cashis joined Shady Records, after he managed to get his demo heard by Eminem.

[7][38] In early 2006, there had been talk of Eminem having the label's roster on a mixtape with new material to be presented by DJ Whoo Kid and The Alchemist.

[40] In May 2007, Cashis released the eight-track The County Hound EP in an attempt to have people "fiend" for his music, or garner interest in it.

In a statement, Paul Rosenberg stated "Shady Records has agreed to allow Obie Trice to pursue his craft in a different forum free from the constraints of the current major label model [...] Eminem will continue to support and work with Obie on many levels of his career [...] He remains a close friend and member of the Shady family.

"[43] In a 2012 interview, Obie opened up on the topic, admitting having issues with Interscope Records chairman Jimmy Iovine, which was Trice's fault, clarifying "I was kind of reckless, not on time, certain things and [Iovine] didn't want to further the project with me so we tried to work it out but it just didn’t come to a head so I had to do what I had to do," before going on to note that his relationship with the label is great, and he continues to work with Eminem, notably on Bottoms Up, which was to be released originally on Shady Records.

Stat felt the root cause appeared to him to be a straining relationship with Eminem stemming from differences relating to the promotion of the album.

On January 12, 2011, Slaughterhouse and Yelawolf appeared on the cover of the XXL magazine with Eminem, then was confirmed that both acts were signed to Shady Records.

And that's better for hip-hop.On April 25, 2011, Eminem and Royce da 5'9" announced plans to team up for a joint EP, slated for release on June 14.

The project served as a long-awaited follow-up to their 1999 collaboration "Nuttin' to Do", and featured production from Mr. Porter, Havoc of Mobb Deep, Bangladesh and more.

Becoming referred to as the "Shady 2.0 BET Cypher", it was considered to be a fan favorite segment of the cipher sessions presented throughout the awards show, with talk spreading across many online social media outlets, and Twitter having popularised trends relating with the terms "#Cypher" and "#Shady 2.0" as it was airing.

He also went on to discuss the other acts saying 50 Cent's Street King Immortal would be released in the first half of 2013, with Yelawolf's second album, Love Story, currently being recorded.

[57] However, Royce and Joell Ortiz of Slaughterhouse would confirm in May 2013 that they had put their solo projects on hold, and had begun working on their third studio album.

[62] Following the 2017 BET Hip-Hop Awards on October 11, 2017, Shady Records announced that they had signed Compton rapper Boogie.

[63] The signings of these artists has led to Shady's profitability again, with the releases of Yelawolf's Trial by Fire and Eminem's Revival.

[64] During the transition, Royce da 5'9" announced that Slaughterhouse had officially disbanded, so did Eminem with D12, and Yelawolf left the label after releasing Trunk Muzik 3.

On July 2, 2021, it was announced that Atlanta rapper Grip had signed to the label, and later released his debut Shady album, I Died for This!?.