Eminem has always had a love for the underappreciated rappers of hip-hop. As a fan of the culture, he has always made sure to use his platform to draw attention to those who never managed to reach the heights he did in the 2000s. From Black Sheep to Paris, many lesser-known MCs have benefited from Em’s shoutouts.
The Encore rhymer has drawn attention to many rappers with clothing, and they are not always well-known. For example, he wore a tee depicting Black Sheep’s 1991 debut album, A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing, to a launch party. Furthermore, for his 2018 appearance at the Bonnaroo festival in Tennessee, Em wore a t-shirt promoting Paris and his 1990 debut album, The Devil Made Me Do It.
That said, during a 2013 appearance on Sway In The Morning, Eminem discussed some of his favourite MCs and focused on some of his favourite obscure lyricists. During the discussion, he admitted that every rapper wants to be the best, but also insisted that it will always be subjective.
Speaking to Sway Calloway about being included on people’s lists for the best emcee ever, Eminem stated, “I mean, it depends on whose conversation and whoever’s conversation, like if I’m in it, then I’m honoured. If I’m not, then it just is what it is. The thing about music is everyone has a different opinion. Nobody’s gonna have the same opinion. So, your top five, your top 10 may be completely different from mine.”
He continued, “I think that everybody who competitively raps, which is probably most rappers, wants to be that. So, if you don’t, then why are you rapping? If you don’t at least try to be the best that you can be. And everybody’s got that dream, man, to be the best. Whether you are or not, it’s impossible because it’s just a matter of opinion.”
While speaking about the best lyricists of all time, Em gave props to New York rapper Pharoahe Monch and highlighted his verse on the Organised Konfusion track, “Bring It On.” In fact, he asserted that Monch’s lyrics could beat 99.9% of MCs.
Giving a shoutout to Pharoahe Monch, the ‘Crack A Bottle’ rhymer exclaimed, “Yo, that rhyme right now would kill most rappers 99.99 percent. I must be that one little, tiny—nah. Nah, no seriously, Pharoahe Monch is incredible, man. And he has been ahead of his time since he came out.”
In an interview with DJ Vlad for Vlad TV, Pharoahe Monch responded to the praise he received from Eminem, admitting, “When I saw that, and I was thinking of things to say, I was almost at a loss for words because it’s obvious that Em has pushed the envelope on rap to its limits and still does put the focal point on rapping even on the popular songs the execution and the things are there.”
He continued, “More than it just being the mainstream and people who may not know who I am hearing my name, it’s even iller because I look up to [Em] as an emcee, so to have a peer like that shout you out is big as he is is just dope.”
