During his recent interview on The Shop, Nelly reflected on how the Grammy Awards show needed to do right by artists and how tough it was to get recognized around the time he emerged in 2000. Nelly came onto the scene like a bat out of hell with his debut album titled Country Grammar, which spawned three top 20 Billboard Hot 100 singles, and he had a strong argument for best new artist.
However, as Nelly explained on The Shop, he wasn’t even nominated in that category at the Grammys, which Alicia Keys won. Pair that with Nelly competing with rap titans such as JAY-Z, Eminem, DMX, and more in the hip-hop space, and you have the context behind his statement.
“You gotta understand, my era of music was the toughest era in hip-hop ever. Ever! When I put out songs, I had to go against DMX, JAY-Z, Eminem, Lil Wayne, 50 Cent, Ludacris – all of us are fighting for one spot. So from 99 to like 2008, 10? It’s the hardest era ever.” said Nelly.
One of the hosts of the show, Cedric The Entertainer instantly recalled JAY-Z’s lines from “Excuse Me Miss,” rapping: “Only dudes movin’ units – Em, Pimp Juice and us.” Jay says that Eminem, Nelly and his crew are the only ones selling major amounts of albums. Nelly has a song called “Pimp Juice” which Hov refers to Nelly as.
At the time Eminem’s album The Eminem Show was the No. 1 album in the world until Nelly’s album Nellyville took over. Jigga’s album The Blueprint² The Gift & The Curse was later released in November of that year. Ja Rule responded to Jay’s line in Black Child’s song “Bang Bang Bang” where he tells Hov to check the SoundScan again because Ja Rule was actually selling more albums than him at the time: “For those who check SoundScan / Check again, it’s Rule, Pimp Juice and Eminem / As it’s been since the last three albums I turned in.” raps Ja.
Check out Nelly’s new interview below. Swipe right for the video.
MC Shan has recently chopped it up with PANDA CHOP! News where the legendary Queensbridge-born rapper trashed Dr. Umar Jonson again and defended Eminem against culture-vulture narrative.
“And now, what I would ask these people, that motherf–kers say ‘Uh, I’m black and I support you.’ How many of you black motherf–kers pulled up the same? That n-gga Eminem had three of my s–t. Eminem has three of my motherf–kin’ cassette. He ain’t just have one. How many people from my own mother–kin’ culture came back and said ‘I’ve got this to match Eminem’s’ F–k y’all n-ggas talking about? Now I can start questioning all the folks to say they f–k with me. How come y’all dogging Eminem as a white boy but he could show me three of my cassettes and not I can’t put three of you mother–kers together that could show me you got one. So, f–k y’all n-ggas. And that’s that Dr. Umar matherf–kin message that you don’t deal with reality. You just look at the color.” said MC Shan.
Then he continued talking about people who spread culture-vulture narrative on Eminem: “That’s Vlad, Vlad is a culture-vulture. Eminem was in trenches. F–k that! Ain’t nothing else to say about this question. That motherf–ker was in the trenches. Now, I wanna ask Black people this s–t, when Charlotte’s Zeal was going on, did you bring your solo black a-s into Charlottesville when they were doing all that mothef–kin’ white people s–t? No, you didn’t! But let me tell you where Eminem was very different, it was not even Charlottesville motherf–ka. Detroit was full of black motherf–kers. And when he went to them f–kin’ hip-hop shows, you know who was it full of? Black motherf–kers. So, he felt like the only white boy as a black man going to Charlottesville mothef–ker, by goddamn self. In the heat of danger! So, let’s just talk about how Eminem was THAT motherf–ker. In the heat of danger, Eminem in the streets of Detroit! People don’t understand that. You have to look at Eminem as that one white individual that went amongst the f–king wolves. I ain’t seen none of you gang busters with AKs in Charlottesville, I ain’t seen none of you bustin’ your guns. You would have been against the same odds that this white boy from Detroit that didn’t grow up as Mark Zuckerberg with a college f–king education. So, how you gonna f–king talk about this man when he did things that you don’t even have a heart to do on the simplest levels. Yeah, he may have some black friends but those few black friends might not have been able to save him from those many black people who wanted to bust his motherf–kin’ a-s. So, don’t tell me Eminem was not in the trenches.”
Eminem continues to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his major label debut album “The Slim Shady LP” (1999). Last week, Em dropped new vinyl featuring psychedelic zoetrope art, alongside some collectibles and clothing merch.
Few hours ago, Eminem dropped the animation of himself and legendary Jeff Bass of Bass Brothers recording “Public Service Announcement” in the studio with the caption: “This is a public service announcement / Brought to you, in part, by Slim Shady” #PSA #SSLP25.” The post brought huge nostalgia to the fans instantly, including Ludacris, Merkules and Lazarus.
“Public Service Announcement” is an intro to Eminem’s iconic SSLP album where Em and Jeff give some advice for children: “This is a public service announcement / Brought to you, in part, by Slim Shady (Tell them that the–) / The views and events expressed here are totally f–ked (Yeah) / And are not necessarily the views of anyone / However, the events and suggestions that appear on this album / Are not to be taken lightly (Tell them that–) / Children should not partake in the listening of this album / With laces in their shoes (Tell them that–) / Slim Shady is not responsible for your actions (Let them know–) / Upon purchasing this album / You have agreed not to try this at home (Right) / A-anything else? / Yeah, don’t do drugs.“
“14 year old me is freaking out right now.” – said Merkules in the comment section. “Jeff Bass is legendary.” – replied Lazarus with fire emojis and Ludacris added “Saluting Face” emoji. Jeff Bass’ son, Jake Bass commented: “That’s my pops!!! #JeffBass #BassBrothers” with laughing emojis. Check out the screenshot of the comments below:
In another instance of revisiting the past, Slim Shady is currently working on a project about delusional fandom that takes its name from one of his career-defining tracks from over two decades ago. In mid-February, Variety reported that the legendary Detroit MC is set to co-produce a documentary titled Stans, which is a reference to his song about a (fictional) devotee of his music who ends up killing himself and his girlfriend after he doesn’t respond to his letters.
Eminem to Co-Produce ‘Stans,’ a Documentary on the World of Superfans (EXCLUSIVE) https://t.co/NXN2PxmHQD
Twista has recently stopped by HipHopDX for an interview to talk about his fastest bars, his legendary career, the anniversary of his critically acclaimed, multi-platinum and Billboard No.1 album Kamikaze (2004) and much more. At one point of the interview, the interviewer jokingly asked something about Eminem.
Interviewer: I was also gonna ask, Has Em sent over a free feature verse for stealing SEO clout on your album title yet? [meaning Kamikaze] Twista: Nah, he need to. He owes me a verse on the song now. For that to happen [Laughs].
Interviewer: When you saw that, were you like ‘ah, c’mon, not again’ cause it happened with Common too. There was at least some back and forth about the album title. Twista: Yeah, but it happens man. It happens. That’s something that I had to learn in hip-hop. You know, early on you would swear a person is concentrating on you, your little a-s when you doing it. But that thing happens man. So, like I said, I’m still a fan.
Even though hip-hop fans have been asking for it forever, Twista and Eminem have never worked together before. But better late than never, right?… Watch the new interview below:
Huston-born hip-hop artist, Lil’ Troy, whose debut album Sittin’ Fat Down South came out in 1987, has recently sat down with Willie D on his podcast where he talked about discovering Scarface, J. Prince, son’s robbery case and much more. At one point of the interview, he recalled the story about his encounter with Eminem in one of the clubs in Miami.
“I’mma tell you story about Eminem. I like Eminem. He was in Miami. We all had Limos [Limousines] to take us to the club. Everybody had their own Limo. I got big section. I’m hot in Miami at that time. So people came in, Eminem came in. They had him over the little section over there but nobody was paying attention. He was not hot yet. He came back, went outside, they came and asked me about my Limo cause I had my Limo stayed there just in case I need to leave, don’t take my Limo, they were taking everybody else’s Limos, going back and forth and brining people to the club. I said leave mine right there, I might need to leave all of the sudden. I got enough clout, they gotta do what I asked them to do. Eminem came out with his man like ‘Eminem want to go back to hotel room but they ain’t got the Limo, can we use your Limo?’ I was like ‘Nah! you can’t use my Limo, I want my Limo stay right there. And 3-4 months later, Eminem is biggest in life.” said Lil’ Troy.
Then he continued: “I wish I came out and shook his hand and talk to him and let him have my Limo to go back to hotel room. He’d remember me or something [Laughs]. I’ve been so blessed that he never dissed me. He diss you on one line on a hit song, he don’t make song about you, he just diss you on his song on one line… When I heard him come out, I said ‘Man, I should have got cool with that white boy’ I’m truppin’ cause he blew right after that.”
The undisputed boxing champion Terence Crawford sat down with Lil Wayne on Episode 3 of Season 2 of Weezy’s Young Money radio show on Apple Music where the two talked about Eminem walking out with Crawford against Errol Spence fight last summer.
Lil Wayne: I hope you realize how much of a legend you are cause you got Eminem to walk out with you. He don’t do that for nobody. Man, Em don’t even come out for shows, nothing.
Terence Crawford: “Man, I was thrown by that. When he comment on my status, my post on my Instagram, I was just like ‘WOW!’. Then I commented on it and he replied and hit me in the inbox, I was like ‘oh, it’s really going down.’ I was kinda skeptical until he got there and we got there, I was like ‘oh, this is real!’. Everything worked out like the way it was supposed to.
Lil Wayne: Shout out to Em man. I saw him at Tyson fight too. Tyson Fury fight. He was up there and I was like ‘damn, they got Em come way out here?!’ And he had like million people around him and it looks so aggravating.
Crawford defeated Spence via ninth-round technical knockout to become the first male to win the undisputed championship in two weight classes in the four belt era.
Eminem is not the only one Benzino is beefing with. Him and The Game’s manager Wack 100 are feuding again. Wack recently shared an audio of Benzino snitching on someone on his Instagram. Under the post, Royce da 5’9” commented: “Man, ain’t nothing to be throwing lead at… He’ll make sure his nephew gets thrown in the pokey and then sleep like a baby so he can wake up tomorrow and go to the only place that believes he would crack an egg… The white boy comment section…”
Someone replied to Royce: “Just an Eminem coat tail rider, what’s your comment on him disrespecting black women on those tapes? Silent.” Royce replied back: “You want me to address something from over 20 years ago? Why you wanna hear my thoughts on that if I’m a coattail rider? What’s your thoughts on Post Malone leaked audio? Justin Bieber? Never mind… You don’t care about any of them because none of these tapes affected you… It sucks to hear the s–t but we got bigger problems in our community than name calling… And your man ain’t took one step to elevate Black women since the Source’s inception… He hasn’t even elevated his child to a higher regard… And she a whole superstar… He a drug addict with serious mental health issues, who’s not fit to lead anyone anywhere… Now go sit your a-s down somewhere and stop addressing men you don’t know on social media… And if you know him personally, get him the help he needs before you end up at his funeral…”
On that, same person responded: “I’m not a fan of Post Malone or Justin Bieber so since I post about Eminem, I have to mention the other culture vultures? What has Eminem ever done to elevate the Black community, in anyway? I’ll wait. As a matter of fact, I know personally, Benzino has done a lot for Black community in Boston, has done a lot to stop gang violence, etc. Plus, his relationship with his daughter, is noon of social media business. We have no idea, what goes on behind closed doors. But, again, what has Em done for the Black community? Detroit community? Least are Proof’s children and family taken care of? Plus, I don’t care if it was 1000 years ago, do we forget about slavery? HELL NO.”
Again, Royce replied: “Well, I’m a Chief executive to the Marshall Mathers Foundation so I can answer that… My job is to make sure funds are disseminated to the right places and in the right amounts… Ever since the Pandemic there’s a fund in place that is set aside specifically for Black and Brown issues in underserved communities… Starting in Detroit… I’ve already spearheaded a Mental Health initiative… Dollar amounts are millions and higher… And yes, you do have to mention Post Malone and others… Fun Fact: Every single lyrical rapper got a record deal in Detroit after Em blew up… Everybody… Name another White rapper with multiple bros around him who are all touching 7 or more figures? And when you realize there are none, maybe you’ll address them… And tell Zino to stop saying Interscope “put black people around him.” That’s ridiculous… And I don’t know Proof’s widow personally so I couldn’t tell you her financial situation… That’s their business.”
Actually, those so-called racist tapes of Eminem were recorded 35 years ago, not twenty. When Eminem was 15 years old and heartbroken from his relationship with Black girl. Eminem even apologized for it on a song “Yellow Brick Road” from Encore album. In the song, Em raps: “Back in ’89, me And Kim broke up for the first time; she was tryin’ to two-time me And there was this black girl at our school, who thought I was cool ‘Cause I rapped, so she was kinda eyein’ me And oh the irony, guess what her name was? Ain’t even gonna say it, plus The same color hair as hers was and blue contacts And a pair of jugs, the bombest goddamn girl in our whole school If I could pull her, not only would I become more popular But I would be able to piss Kim off at the same time But it backfired I was supposed to dump her but she dumped me for this black guy And that’s the last I ever seen or heard Or spoke to the “Ole Foolish Pride” girl, but I’ve heard People say they heard the tape and it ain’t that bad But it was: I singled out a whole race And for that I apologize, I was wrong ‘Cause no matter what color a girl is, she’s still a…”
T.I. has recently sat down with Jamal Crawford and Shaquille O’Neal on The Big Podcast where he talked about some untold rap industry stories, beefs, reactions to the arrest at the Grammys and much more. At one point of the interview, T.I. was asked if he was in the studio with somebody that made him redo his verse, on which TIP replied:
“Young Dro! All the damn time. Bun B too. When I did song with Andre 3000, I was already expecting that. When you work with Andre, I already had my verses and I gave it to him. The three people who have taken the longest to complete the verse in history in my career are: Andree 3000, Eminem and Nipsey Hussle. Nipsey was really meticulous. Man, we fell asleep, waiting on, we woke up and we were like ‘I’ll catch up with you later man, we will finish this later’.”
T.I. is probably talking about Eminem’s verses on “That’s All She Wrote,” a song that appears on T.I.’s 2010 album “No Mercy,” produced by Max Martin and Dr. Luke. In the song T.I. raps about the law Eminem talks about s-x. The instrumental is a mellow affair, a series of guitar strums, both over staccato 808’s, allowing both rappers to take center stage. The song debuted at No. 18 on US Billboard Hot 100 charts.
Eminem and TIP also teamed up on a track “Touchdown” in 2007, from “T.I. vs T.I.P.” album, produced by Jeff Bass and Eminem himself. The song mainly deals with the success of the two artists and their alter egos T.I.P. and Slim Shady. Em raps imitating a Southern American accent, typical of T.I.’s hometown Atlanta. Also, in the third verse TIP explains his gratitude toward hip-hop and criticizes those who disagree with the lyrical content of the music genre. Em was going through hard times at that time and stated that his verse on this song was absolutely horrible.
50 Cent’s personal disc jockey, DJ Kayotik has recently sat down on RealLyfe Productions where he talked about 50 Cent brining out Eminem in Detroit at his Final Lap Tour, Benzino releasing Eminem’s tape where he raps about black girls when he was 15 years old and 50’s plans to release 8 Mile TV show about Eminem’s life story.
When Kayotik was asked to name his favorite show from 50 Cent’s Final Lap Tour, here is what he replied: “Detroit was incredible because we brought out Eminem and the energy of the city itself, just brining out one of his best friends in the industry that helped him to get where he is today. And to see the energy and his chemistry and commodity amongst them two was incredible. Aside from that, all oversea stuff was incredible.”
At one point of the interview, DJ Kayotik also shared his opinion on Benzino releasing alleged racist tape of Eminem when he was 15 years old: “It’s a reach. Em is part of the culture. Let’s be honest. How many Caucasian people do we know say ‘n-gga’. If anybody get a pass, it’s gonna be Em. It’s one of the things where I would not expect 50 Cent to say nothing because, one, he is his best friend and two, he’ll mind his business real quick. I’m not going to get entangled in that. It’s a reach. I feel like people reach and they want clickbait to figure out how to get energy. It’s like certain things that you don’t respond to. I probably didn’t even respond to this at this point. Eminem is Eminem. He is part of the culture. He has embraced the culture. He paved the way and shaped the culture of hip-hop. Aside from what he did for 50, he’s a hell of an artist. Hell of a hip-hop artist and you can’t take that away from him. He ain’t diamond for no reason.”
Then DJ Kayotik briefly spoke about 50 Cent’s plans to release “8 Mile” TV show that describes the life of Eminem: “The new one that he’s getting ready to do and that’s not a secret, he’s getting ready to do Eminem story. Him and Em have the ties that they have that whole intricate part of it and his rising from the Detroit scene. I’m interested how he puts that together. You seen the content he puts out. It’s going to be top notch. So to see it coming to fruition, I’m looking forward to that. And I think he’s most excited about that as well. You got to get green light from Em to say ‘Do my story!’ so best friends or not, Em could be like ‘No!'”
During a recent episode of the Connect The Dots podcast, the sports television personality, sports radio host, and sports journalist, Stephen A. Smith was tasked to choose the the better rapper between Eminem and Nas. According to Smith, Slim Shady has the edge over Esco because how he can relate to him more and how much more consistent his greatness is.
“I think Eminem is one of the greatest ever. I also think Nas is one of the greatest ever. Nas’ lyrics are off the chain, but it requires more street knowledge and just more of a comprehension of the verbiage to really dissect, whereas with Eminem…he gives it to you simple and plain. I’m going to have to say as much as I love Nas, and I do love Nas, I have to give the edge to Eminem.”
Smith added that Nas’s “best of” catalog is better than Eminem’s, saying: “Now the best of Nas is better than the best of Eminem, but Eminem’s there’s more consistency to his greatness as opposed to Nas is what I’m trying to say which is why I have to give the edge.”
This debate is more than just a comparison between two iconic artists; it’s a reflection on what criteria define greatness in hip-hop. Eminem’s appeal to a wide demographic, combined with his consistent output, challenges the traditional metrics of lyrical complexity and street credibility that artists like Nas embody. Smith’s perspective opens up a broader discussion about how we evaluate an artist’s contribution to their genre and what it means to be “the greatest.” Ultimately, both rappers have left an indelible mark on hip-hop, but the question of who reigns supreme is subjective and depends on the criteria one values most.
During one of his recent livestreams, DJ Akademiks addressed Benzino crying over Eminem on Drink Champs interview and gave some friendly advices. Akademiks also implied that Hailie Jade can be proud of her father, but he can’t say the same about Coi Leray.
“Okay, lets actually put some logic to it. Yo, Benzino, the beef between you and Eminem is one-sided. Eminem don’t give two f–ks about you, whether you’re living, breathing, talking, nothing, okay? Let’s get that out of the mix. What we do and I think we all could appreciate about you and also discuss about you is that you have a daughter that’s actually thriving and we are gonna say she’s a relevant hip-hop star.” said DJ Akademiks.
Then he continued: “Here is a thing. I think you are going though issues that you probably created over time. Your relationship with your daughter that she has spoken about, your demeanor in hip-hop, how you probably even treated women themselves and also how people view you in terms of your peers, you’re seeing it all manifest because your daughter is in this game. And you’ve said it yourself that your daughter feels like she gotta be cool with Eminem because you hated Eminem and it prevented a lot of opportunities for you.”
“I have to say to Benzino…I think the problems that you have are not hip-hop problems. he problems are family problems. Eminem is not talking about you now. Eminem does not have beef with you now. Most of these things are the reflection of your daughter being a star. Most of these things are your daughter reacting to you different type of way. So you need to fix your family problems first and foremost. Eminem don’t got beef with you my guy. The bigger issue now is you and your family. Fix your family issues. I don’ think Eminem is someone who is a threat to Benzino at this point. I could be wrong but I don’t see it. He has a daughter [Hailie] who is successful and everybody want to be a superman for their kids. His daughter probably looks at him, well, you’re the guy that’s not liked in hip-hop and I wanna be liked. So, I wanna look up to my father but people don’t like you, people look at you in certain ways so now I gotta move a little different. I pray for you Benzino.” – DJ Akademiks added.
Comedian, actor, and radio host Donnell Rawlings, best known as a cast member on the Comedy Central sketch comedy TV show Chappelle’s Show and the HBO drama tv-series “The Wire,” has recently sat down with DJ VLAD where he talked about Dr. Umar Johnson saying Eminem can’t be considered one of the greatest rappers of all time because he’s white.
“Here is the thing. This is the opinion of Dr. Umar. Me personally, I can’t focus on someone’s opinion. I like to talk about things that are fact based. That’s his opinion. There’s some people who think he could be and most of those are white people and there’s a lot of black people that say ‘Aright, enough is enough. Let’s admit that Eminem is a nice motherf–king rapper.” said Donnell Rawlings.
Then he continued: “And I will put like this with Eminem. It’s even tougher for him to get to the point where people even would even mildly respect him and it to be straight because he’s white. I understand, we at certain fields and things, we broke color barrier but for him to break the black rap color barrier, for people to even consider, it took a long time. ‘F–k that white boy’ it want from there to ‘Wait a minute, he’s nice and nice.’ But in some people’s minds he would never be able to be the all time greatest rapper and to be quite honest, I don’t give a f–k. I don’t even really f–king listen to music at all. But there is some people that are stuck in the fact that, they can’t get on the fact that he’s white and he’s nice.”
“Everybody’s top five is is all subjective on what you like. And at the end of the day, if you like JAY-Z, you like JAY-Z. If you like Eminem, you like Eminem. But me being mtherf–ker over 50, I don’t even really have time to even argue about. It just makes no sense. And certain topics there never gonna be no resolve. Anyone’s never gonna get the answer. I guarantee for the history of sports and everything, there’s never gonna be an agreement on who is the greatest basketball player of all time. It always gonna be LeBron versus Mike, there’s always gonna be Kobe. You will always have that conversation, you can put the stats up, who did what, what amount, how many, it’s all stuff to keep a the conversation going and me personally I don’t give a f–k about.” Donnell Rawlings added.
