Eminem might be widely known as Best Selling Hip-Hop artist but fans will also recall his love for the culture and the Rap pioneers who came before him and paved the way for lyricists like him.
In his latest piece for New York Times, Eminem recalls listening to Rap music in his early days and being inspired by the Rapper’s talents. The Rap icon credits Treach of East Coast-based Hip Hop Group Naughty By Nature and Nas for complex rhymes scheme and syllables.
“And then Treach from Naughty by Nature came along and he was doing all that, too. He was cool, too — his image and everything. I wanted to be him. When the first Naughty by Nature album dropped, that whole summer, I couldn’t write a rap. “I’ll never be that good; I should just quit.” I was so depressed, but that’s all I played for that summer. Proof thought Treach was the best rapper, too. Every time he would drop an album I would just be, like, Son of a b—“
On being inspired by Nas’ Illmatic , Eminem tells “I remember The Source gave “Illmatic” five mics. I already knew I liked Nas from “Live at the Barbeque” with Main Source, because his verse on that is one of the most classic verses in hip-hop of all time. But I was, like, “Five mics, though? Let me see what this is.”And when I put it on, “And be prosperous/though we live dangerous/Cops could just arrest me/Blamin’ us/We’re held like hostages.” He was going in and outside of the rhyme scheme, internal rhymes. That album had me in a slump, too. I know the album front to back.”
Eminem also shares with us listening to his first ever Rap at the age of 12 “My first rap, I was 12-ish, when LL Cool J, “Bad,” came out. I would be, like, just walking around my Aunt Edna’s house, thinking of rhymes and writing thoughts down. It was a complete LL bite, but it was something that I dabbled in. I would be sitting in school sometimes and a line would hit me”
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