Eminem has opened up about the criticisms he received for being a white rapper during the early parts of his career.
In a rare and exclusive cover story with XXL, the Detroit rap legend reflected on his iconic career, which he explained started out a bit rocky due to the color of his skin. According to Slim Shady, it’s something he knew he’d have to deal with being a guest in a genre dominated by Black people.
“When things started happening for me, I was getting a lot of heat, being a white rapper, and XXL wrote something about that,” Eminem said. “I remember going to one of those newsstands in New York when the magazine had just started out, and I bought that and a couple of other rap magazines. I flipped to the last page first and XXL was dissing me. What the fuck?”
In the aforementioned issue, XXL had written a piece about Eminem being a white rapper, holding no punches in their criticisms of him. The 8 Mile movie star didn’t take too kindly to the insults.
“I don’t even know if I read the whole article — I was used to reading things like that about me — but it hurt because I felt they didn’t know me to make that kind of judgment,” he added. “Coming up, I had to deal with that a lot. I wanted to be respectful because what I do is Black music. I knew I was coming into it as a guest in the house. And XXL, The Source, Rap Pages and Vibe were Hip Hop bibles at the time.
“I understood, at the same time, everybody’s perception of a white guy coming into Hip Hop and all of a sudden things start happening for him. So, if XXL would’ve even had a conversation with me, maybe they would’ve understood me more.”
Eminem ended up targeting the famed outlet in his song “Marshall Mathers” off his third studio album, The Marshall Mathers LP, which dropped in May 2000. The diss in question had Em speaking on helping XXL sell more magazines at the time.
“And then to top it off, I walked to the newsstand/ To buy this cheap-ass little magazine with a food stamp/ Skipped to the last page, flipped right fast/ And what do I see? A picture of my big White ass/ OK, let me give you muthafuckas some help/ Uh, here, XXL, XXL/ Now your magazine shouldn’t have so much trouble to sell/ Aw, fuck it, I’ll even buy a couple myself,” Eminem raps on the song.
The beef wouldn’t last, as Eminem said he doesn’t quite remember how he patched things up with the magazine but knows he eventually did the iconic 2003 XXL cover shoot with Dr. Dre and 50 Cent. The cover was to officially introduce the G-Unit boss as their latest signee to Shady Records and Aftermath Entertainment.
“Obviously, I was upset,” the 47-year-old added. “And it wasn’t just magazines. I had rappers left and right taking shots at me. I was used to that, too. Coming up through the battle scene, that didn’t mean shit to me, you know? I would go head-to-head with whoever.”
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Eminem isn’t the only white rapper who’s faced criticism over the color of his skin as Jack Harlow has been dealing with the same issue recently. The Louisville native spoke to British GQ last year and addressed his status as a white rapper, revealing he actively avoids rapping about his skin color to avoid being seen as a “novelty” rapper like so many caucasian MCs before him.
“I think what has worked for me is that my music has never been about the fact that I am white,” he said. “I don’t try to lean into the, ‘Hey, I’m the white boy.’ I try not to make it a novelty. I rap from the heart, rather than trying to do a white version of the art form.”
Harlow’s fellow Generation Now labelmate, Lil Uzi Vert, spoke to TMZ about his white privilege and how it’s not really an issue for him since the “Churchill Downs” rapper is aware of what he’s doing.
“No, he’s really good,” Uzi said. “Yeah, he’s really good. He doesn’t have white privilege. He’s signed to Black people.”
Oh boo hoo get over yourself plenty of white rappers in that same position but do they whine and complain about it? No they move on as should u
Well he did.Literally says “early in his career in the headline.Too stupid to read too stupid to comment anything of substance.
None of them came even close to his level of hate.Name one besides MGK that has had constant hate over his skin color that did not bring it on themselves. Em gets hate from keyboard warriors like yourself. Nobody who understands hip hop hates on him. You clowns are something else more comical than anything else. Hate him for what because he stays humble and shouts out the greats or is it because he keeps adapting to hip hop as it changes. Is it really that hard to accept that he is who he is because of talent or does his skin color bother you that much
They want equality right ? Well then they gotta live with the fact that the greatest rapper of all time is white and the greatest golfer of all time is black. Fuck that reverse racism shit.
There is no „reverse racism“. Racism is racism. And Eminem is subject to plenty of it. I guess black people just can‘t stand the fact that the biggest rapper ever is white.
This is complete nonsense. He sold the most albums and he is top 5 in my eyes, but the greatest?!?!? Man come on. If that’s the case, then Thriller is the best album ever.
many observers believe Thriller is the best pop album recorded to date which is why it was such a phenomenon when it was released
I agree with what you said but Thriller is a bad example, many do in fact believe Thriller to be the best album of all time
Wtf? What a complete dumbass you are. Hiphop is black culture. Golf is just a sport. Theres a huge difference.
Hip hop is for everyone and anyone, no matter creed or colour, anyone who follows it knows it’s roots were from black people but it’s evolved now so that it’s accessible to all
Yeah hip-hop is for everyone for now till years later when white people take over like they did with rock and roll and never give credit to the pioneers who came before them
if you like rap music how is eminem the best of all time? he’s not even the best act Dre produced. there’s no way eminem ever made better records than efil4zaggin and 100 Miles and Running much less the original Eazy E solo album. And that’s just Dre. Stans need to give it a rest on the “greatest ever” talk and be happy em is still around making new songs.
agreed, he is the most grossly overrated rapper in the history of rap. Due largely to his awards and album sales, but there are so many rappers that are far better than him at rapping. Its all subjective but there’s nothing he does that isn’t done better by a slew of others. since rap god all he does now is rap in the tech n9ne/twista style but they do it better.
Catchy sounding hits do not make you the best rapper…
Despite a lot of criticism back then when he first started his career as a rapper, one must admit that this white dude out of Detroit would detonate the race barrier by showing the masses that hip hop/rap is not just a black thing… And look at him now to all you critics that doubted his rap skills, well guess what? back at ya proving his critics wrong, and still rapping his butt off to this day AMAZING guys just freaking AMAZING!!!
One of the illest rappers! He fucked shit up period
Point well appreciated, you know hip hop yo!!
Sorry bro, but hiphop/rap IS a black thing. Its not a genre of music, its their culture. No matter how good a white rapper is, he’ll always be a guest. You have to grow up and realize that.
I fully acknowledge that bruh, jus sayin tho…
Basketball is a sport, not a culture.
nobody bla ck thats not afraid of what his stans will do have him in their top 50, they know not to bite that hand that will have his fans stop supporting them as its already hard enough to sell music no one bumps this dude but teenage w i gg ers
Truth.
In a world were we’re trying to end racism, why they picking on Em? He’s showed nothing but love and support to the culture and even admitted himself that him being white helped. He’s helped countless black rappers and influenced many more, Why make it a point that he’s just a guest?
Why Em? Because he is white, and pretty much every black person is racist. That’s why.
That name suits you. You’re fit to stay on the Internet via anonymity. You’re too deluded and weak-minded for hateful thoughts instead of for reality.
Shows how ignorant and dumb u really are so u just assume every black person in America and pretty much the whole world is racist? It’s people like u that steal from other people cultures and never give credit where credit is due now who’s the racist?????
Uh he is a guest, just like Elvis is a guest in rock and roll
Nah bro, Look up Buddy Holly, thats us.
He likes dissing women and whack rappers but when a true MC disses him he does not step up, I bet if a pop artist disses him he will respond within 24,he only good at staged battles and spitting a whole bunch of words nothing here really
Please enlighten me on what true emcee Ever dissed Eminem and he didn’t respond?? I think you’re just talking out of your ass but if you can give me ONE example I’d be very interested
The ‘guest’ thing is a really meaningless term. I don’t know who buys into stuff like that, given that Em is one of the most popular and influential rappers of all time. If you look at the history of Hip Hop, white people were there in some capacity since the start. Its not as simple as making a whole worldwide music culture about race, although you can truthfully say it originated in black communities.
actually it is about race. people want to take from blacks and not give back. use our styles and culture to spread messages that deny our humanity and ultimately destroy our communities and families. these discussions are about these issues and those who don’t want to understand the stakes show their true intentions as cultural thieves looking to make a buck on whatever’s pop today. if polka had the same love as hip hop no one would give a damn about who started what in the 70s.
boohooo they done hurt Marshall feelings.. what a fuckin cry baby. During his later career he became a self-hating, white cuckold though. This 60 year old washed up has been is one goofy ass cornball alright. Also a cuckold, like i said earlier.
got all these anti-rap anti-black bots on here spouting nonsense and garbage maybe it’s for the best at some point people will just ignore the usual talking points and insults once they lose all meaning
The poor guy, who is the most successful rapper in history. Thy poor guy’s feeling. Let me get that world’s smallest violin.