Hit-Boy Shares Favorite Hip-Hop Fan Moment & Compares Kendrick Lamar to Eminem

Grammy-winning producer Hit-Boy recently stopped by Kid Cudi’s Big Bro podcast for an intimate look back at his journey through hip-hop. As the two industry titans swapped classic studio stories about collaborating with heavyweights like Jay-Z, Beyoncé, and Kanye West, the conversation turned toward moments of pure, unadulterated passion for the music. Cudi posed a simple question about keeping that inner spark alive: “When was last time you felt like a big kid?”

Without hesitation, Hit-Boy replied: “The first thing that came to mind was seeing Hov and Eminem do ‘Renegade‘ on stage at the Yankee Stadium ..I was rapping that s–t word for word. That s–t felt great.”

For a hitmaker who has crafted some of the most recognizable tracks of the past decade, the moment served as a grounded reminder of why he fell in love with the culture in the first place. Even after reaching the highest levels of success, stepping back into the shoes of a fan rapping along word-for-word remains unmatched.

Hit-Boy also drew a compelling parallel between different generations of rap royalty during the discussion, noting how hearing Kendrick Lamar’s landmark album good kid, m.A.A.d city for the first time gave him the exact same feeling as listening to Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers LP. He explained that Kendrick possessed an Eminem-like energy on that project—a rare, raw intensity and top-tier storytelling that immediately captured the culture’s attention in the same way Slim Shady did back in 2000.