Eminem shows his respect for Kendrick Lamar in latest Billboard article
Kendrick Lamar has received praises from nearly every hip hop legend still in the public eye, but to add Aftermath label mate Eminem to the list must be a true honor. As Eminem sat down with Billboard to promote his upcoming album, the Marshall Mathers LP2, the original Slim Shady shared his feelings about Kendrick Lamar’s success.
Could these two be just what the Detox ordered?
On Kendrick’s success:
What he’s doing right now, it’s pretty fucking incredible. He seems like this kid that’s just full of life and happy to be here. The impact he’s had over just the last couple of years. it’s been really fun for me to watch.
On fears of being upstaged by Kendrick Lamar on MMLP2?
I completely respect what Kendrick does and the fact that he’s in the same camp, that he’s on Aftermath, only made sense to me. He came to Detroit, we kicked it for a few minutes, you know, and I felt the vibe of what he’s like and everything, and you know, he’s a super cool and super humble dude. When we did that record, I think that was actually a week or two before he did the verse to “Control.”
On giving Kendrick Lamar advice:
I don’t know if he needs advice. He seems like he’s got a really good head on his shoulders, man. He’s very smart and you can tell by the way he put his album together for one.
On ‘Control’ Haters:
He’s like a hip-hop head, man, he just loves hip-hop. And obviously the way that he did the “Control” verse, it was almost like if you get mad at him, then you might look foolish. He set it up so that you can’t really get mad at a lot of that shit he said because it was what every other MC is already thinking. Or you should be thinking.
Eminem on being a ‘Rap God’ and hip-hop competition?
I think everything switches back and forth from hour to hour, day by day with me. That whole “Rap God” record pretty much from top to bottom is tongue in cheek. So I mean, do I want to feel like that? Maybe sometimes. Again, it goes back to everybody who competitive raps and does this for just purely the sport of it wants to be the best. Again, that’s why Kendrick’s verse worked so well because he only said what every rapper’s already thinking, If you don’t want to be the best, then why are you rapping?
Check out Billboard for Eminem’s full interview, where he goes in depth about the conception of Marshall Mathers LP2.
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