"if em was black, he'd be the next muhammad ali of the game" - rakim
- Thread starter I love Latina women
- Start date
Be clear, I think Ra was way off base with the Ali comparison or even trying to ride with "If Eminem was black" scenario because again...that changes who HE is by default. Same as I couldn't imagine a white Jay Z with how integral his upbringing is to his story arc as an artist...you couldn't copy and paste those experience onto a white man even if he actually lived them out and get the same output.
But if the question is about influence:
- Love or hate it it, Em's history as a battle MC along with 8 Mile put a huge spotlight on the battle rap culture.
You got cats getting paid in a genre/subset of the art form on a level that was unheard of. It's battle rappers that make more money than nikkas with deals.
- From the mainstream to the underground you can see his influence throughout his run. You got Tyler and Earl who came up off his antics and style respectively. Then you got two of the highest selling and most critically acclaimed artists right now that CLEARLY have Em in their DNA. (Cole, Kendrick) And you can't chalk it up to politics because it's evident.
Last generation cats like Lupe, Game, Fab have all cited him as an influence. Vets like Jay and Masta Ace as well have drawn from what he put out. He's had plenty of influence on how people rap and what they rap about, not so much fashion or the extra shyt.
MooseMouthMthafuga
Veteran
This the only Em song I fukk with.Dude really EXPRESSED himself on this track.
No clown shyt.Just hitting it head on, straight to the point.
I love when rappers treat the studio like a therapy session and just hash it out.That's a high quality track right there.
Larry Lambo
Superstar
Ra been giving Em props for what he has does. I think he just loves dude as an artist and his wordplay as well. I'm not a big fan of Eminem but I will give credit to him for his creativity and his way with words, which is what Rakim is seeing.
What Em has always missed is the ability to resonate with the true hip hop culture. Sure he got his fanbase, but outside of maybe "Stan" he really didn't make songs that had a lasting effect on the culture. He was gifted lyrically but couldn't make songs that had an impact.
Em is in my top 20, but he's more Ken Norton than Ali.
What Em has always missed is the ability to resonate with the true hip hop culture. Sure he got his fanbase, but outside of maybe "Stan" he really didn't make songs that had a lasting effect on the culture. He was gifted lyrically but couldn't make songs that had an impact.
Em is in my top 20, but he's more Ken Norton than Ali.
The same way you can objectively say Lil b isn't one of the best lyricist... you can objectively say none of those people you named are better lyricists than em. I think Nas even said as much. Objectively you should be able to recognize Nas is better with the technical aspect of rhyming words than Jay or big. Nas is close enough to em in that aspect that it can be debated but his grasp of flow is levels below em who is easily top of the top tier in that aspect, he has a ridiculous amount of flows and he doesn't have to sacrifice the complexity in rhymes when he does it...which is why Jay got blown away on renegade when that was one if the best verses he ever laid. If you don't recognize Nas is lyrically beyond at least Jay then you being willfully blind and nothing going to come from debating this topic.
If Em lacks anything that rappers a tier above him do have it's musicality IMO. And while he benefited from the Dre co-sign if you really take a look at his projects he didn't have as much input as he SHOULD have had on the music side of things.
Relapse is probably my favorite Eminem album and it's no coincidence that it's really the first album where Dre did the lions share of the production. He needs someone guiding his musical direction, once Dre went on his hiatus his lack of musical direction became evident. The raps are still there, he just needs someone with an ear that he trusts steering the ship to kinda help dictate the tone of where he takes that skill set.
Politics will always be an issue, even with somebody like Pac where he's damn near obligatory to the point where if you don't bring him up people look at you funny.
But Em is a rappers rapper. You gotta be straight up bias against Em to think that somebody like Kool G Rap or BDK citing Em as top 10 rapper is because they lack integrity or are looking for some kinda stimulus rather than actually fukking with him because of their similarities.
I don't even fukk with Gates like that, but did he make that song to get a look or because he was legit influenced?
....you know how many introspective songs Eminem has like this...
It's like you all only listened to some of the corny encore tracks and just assume that's who he is.
These lyrics are fukking INSANE
renegade 
I love Latina women
Veteran
i don't care how much nikkas try shyt on eminem now but you can not take away from his talent as an mc and the fact that he really bought somethin' new to hip hop
he was a talented white guy who came from the other side of the fence in the hood; the trailer park and he gave hip hop the perspective of a white guy who was from the hood but still "white" just poor
sure, there'd been guys like the beastie boys and cactus 3rd bass who were authentic rappers but eminem was different because he was like the 1st white guy who straight out of trailer park and really represented the poor white trash side of america.
i think by way of interscope/jimmy iovine, he got pigeoned hole makin' some of that goofy shyt that most of the coli now complains about
jimmy saw money in repeatin' the "hi my name is", "i'm slim shady", "without me" and "just lose it" single formula. jimmy 1 of them muthafukkas like most ceos, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. so they just milked that shyt for what it was worth
however, that was part of his angle as an artist and it was the label's way of tryin' to help him reach the casual consumer and white america side of the world. goin' for the "catchy simple" single that would make them love him even more than they already did just for the simple fact they could identify with him because they shared the same skin color as him
but at his core, eminem is a mcs' mc. i think that many (not all, because not everyone always likes an artist, no matter how popular they are) of the people who shyt on him now, won't around back when eminem was at the top of his game and just on his shyt. but albums like the marshall mathers lp the eminem show, the slim shady lp and the 8 mile soundtrack have him cemented as a top 15 mc. he's easily in the top 15 range as an mc
he was a talented white guy who came from the other side of the fence in the hood; the trailer park and he gave hip hop the perspective of a white guy who was from the hood but still "white" just poor
sure, there'd been guys like the beastie boys and cactus 3rd bass who were authentic rappers but eminem was different because he was like the 1st white guy who straight out of trailer park and really represented the poor white trash side of america.
i think by way of interscope/jimmy iovine, he got pigeoned hole makin' some of that goofy shyt that most of the coli now complains about
jimmy saw money in repeatin' the "hi my name is", "i'm slim shady", "without me" and "just lose it" single formula. jimmy 1 of them muthafukkas like most ceos, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. so they just milked that shyt for what it was worth
however, that was part of his angle as an artist and it was the label's way of tryin' to help him reach the casual consumer and white america side of the world. goin' for the "catchy simple" single that would make them love him even more than they already did just for the simple fact they could identify with him because they shared the same skin color as him
but at his core, eminem is a mcs' mc. i think that many (not all, because not everyone always likes an artist, no matter how popular they are) of the people who shyt on him now, won't around back when eminem was at the top of his game and just on his shyt. but albums like the marshall mathers lp the eminem show, the slim shady lp and the 8 mile soundtrack have him cemented as a top 15 mc. he's easily in the top 15 range as an mc
J
Jay got "blown away"? Ok. I don't agree with you so I'm "willfully blind". If you think Em being better than Jay, Nas, or BIG is as obvious as Lil B not being an elite MC then I don't even know why I'm bothering talking to you.
Em wouldn't be believable as the "playa" type for the obligatory song for the bytches or any of the other jiggy type shyt so they found him another angle. And if you payed attention by his second album he was already talking shyt about the label not letting him put out what he wanted...you see him arguing with execs in "The way I am" video because that's what he wanted to put it out as his first single and Jimmy wouldn't press it up without another "my name is".
I love Latina women
Veteran
bingo, exactly
i mean, i'm sure he didn't always wanna be the "hello, my name is" guy and be constantly pokin' fun at pop culture but because of pressure from the label and because there's money on the table and he's got a contract and kids to feed and he doesn't want to go back to livin' check to check, he comprised, worked with the label and did what he had to do and i think he found a medium with what he could do to keep the label happy and what he wanted to do as an artist
but yeah, you hit it right on the nail
and as for his second album, i still say that's his best album
This. Most of the reason why Em sparked popularity is because he is white. Nothing more nothing less. Not saying he was a bad rapper, but I just don't get the fascination. It's because he is white.
I've never bought an album or listened to a whole one. Not my type of rapper by any means. He raps about dumb shyt.