Hip-hop icon Treach from legendary hip-hop trio Naughty By Nature has recently sat down with another hip-hop icon, Willie D, from Geto Boys rap group has recently sat down on Willie D Live podcast where the two talked about many topics, including Eminem.
Willie D: I think that everybody know that you don’t play man, including Eminem. Eminem gave you big shout out man. He studied you man. That’s a huge accomplishment considering how so many million of millions people believe that Eminem is a top dog. They believe that he’s that dude. And for his to say ‘nah, Treach that dude!’ That’s crazy!
Treach: I always call him my lightskinned twin. A lot of artists will go and say ‘yeah I created the style, mad that bla bla bla bla, it’s me, me, me, me’ when somebody like that…And it’s not just me, he has a list of his favorite artists, I might be at the top of the list, for somebody give accolades like…That’s our era. We be like I feel like Run-DMC, LL, Slick Rick, the whole list, KRS-1, we’ll name a million artists because our ego won’t let us not name them because we actually came up. Where my style came from? Everybody I listened to. But I had to make my own style out of it. Now when Em comes saying I was his major influence in him getting better and seeing and studying me and everything else, everybody don’t do that.
Willie D: I first met Em at Beats Music Launch in Los Angeles. We were backstage and his manager brought me to the bus. Em had bus back there. And Em was like ‘I just got through listening though your album ‘Controversy.’ He’s really a student of the game and he’s a teacher. A good student eventually becomes the teacher, the professor. And Em knows his history. Like, he really knows his history and you are right, it’s not just you, he has a list of artists that he listened to that inspired him. And he put all that s–t together and he evolved into his own thing. Evolved into Eminem. But he’s one of the few dudes out there, especially as far as one of the top dogs, who would give credit. A lot of these dudes, they just hold their nuts. They will tell you in private they like you but they’ll never say it publicly.
Treach: Yeah! And then they play race card, like, he’s a white guy and he should never be accepted as one of the greatest or greatest or anything else, like, white people were never part of hip-hop. Actually, the first female that I heard rapping was blondie, saying the rhyme, talking about Grandmaster Flash. The Beastie Boys already knew that they were white and race card could get pulled. So, you’ve seen the first album cover, like the plane is crushing? We all listened to Beastie Boys and loved them and by the time they put out the video out we ain’t give a f–k if they were white. White people were in breakdancing. They were doing graffiti. Yes, us, we created it but the part of the culture of hip-hop, it was Hispanic white, black first but of course it was all part of it. So when you look at Em and say you don’t deserve a part of hip-hop or rap or a culture, it’s disrespectful to the art. You know what I mean? MC Serch! Can’t nobody that really know the lyrics say Eminem is whack or he just got where he at cause he’s white. Go and try that s–t and let him hear it and watch he tear your a– up on the record.
Willie D: Well, here is a thing about Em and most of other rappers that came up 20 years ago. They had to be stamped by black people. When it comes to black culture, most white people will sit back and see if black people like it first. And if black people like it then they start saying ‘okay what’s this about’ and then they become a fan. Em first fans were black. His firs fans were black. There is no doubt about it. Before he started getting played on those Top 40 stations, he was only being played on the hip-hop stations.
Treach: And before he even came out with records on 8 Mile, he was doing battles and everything else. He was in the black hood. Facts!
You can watch the entire thing below:
