Eminem’s place among the all-time greats in a predominantly Black culture continues to be challenged, this time by controversial activist and motivational speaker Dr. Umar.
Clips from an upcoming episode of The Joe Budden Podcast featuring the internet personality have been making the rounds online, among which is his race-centered critique of the Detroit rapper’s status in Hip Hop.
“This is going to my African fundamentalism,” he prefaced his tirade. “No non-African can ever be the best of anything African. It is an insult to the ancestors, it is an insult to the race and it is an insult to every Black person.
“We gotta stop naming non-African people as being the best of any aspect of our cultural power because it is an insult … I can acknowledge Eminem’s talent. But for you to put him at the top, that’s white supremacy.”
The 49-year-old also made sure to namedrop some examples of “non-Africans” who have made a name for themselves in the culture he insists must remain within the control of one ethnicity.
“I don’t see Eminem building no schools and hospitals,” Umar said. “I don’t see DJ Khaled building no schools and hospitals. I don’t see DJ Vlad building no damn [inaudible] and supermarkets.”
A number of rappers, from Lord Jamar to Melle Mel, have cited Em’s skin color as being the main reason he got as big as he did. In a rare cover story with XXL last year, Slim Shady opened up about his iconic career and how it started out a bit rocky due to how he was and still is perceived.
“When things started happening for me, I was getting a lot of heat, being a white rapper, and XXL wrote something about that,” he 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 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.”
Black people can’t be racist so it’s not racist. Simple as that. Duh.
Dumb as a box of rocks. Get an education retard. We absolutely can be racist. Only ignorant racist fucks try to argue otherwise.
“We” stop it please. Black ppl can be racist, white people can’t face racism but they can face discrimination like in this case.
HOW CAN SO CALLED BLACKS BE RACIST I SEE PREJUDICE NOT RACIST BASED OF THE DEFINITION…
By no means is Eminem the G.O.A.T. But by this logic no black man can be named the greatest basketball player of all time, football player of all time, baseball player of all time, because white folks invented those…. See what I’m saying here?
One is a sport the other is culture. I mean I agree with you too that this argument is nonsense and discriminatory. But there’s a clear difference between hip hop and basketball too lol.
Hip hop was invented 50 years ago. Dr. Umar is fucking bonkers crazy for suggesting this is something his ancestors did.
Hip hop was invented 50 years ago. Dr. Umar is fucking bonkers crazy for suggesting this is something his ancestors did.
actually kinda stupid. a white person may have invented the rules of the game of basketball but to say he invented the way Oscar Robertson or Magic Johnson or Michael Jordan PLAYED basketball shows a deep lack of intellect and basic cultural understanding.
Yep blacks created hiphop but to act like blacks wrote Eminem lyrics and songs shoes your intellectual and lack of understanding
Who tf is Dr. Umar ? And why would anyone care about his opinion on music 😂
Dr umar is a pan africanisst, and he right about all that he said. They keep elevating white artist over black ones, who have been doing the work, before he came along. Can he rap? Sure. But sp can many other’s. And yes, I’ve known several rapper’s, with the same Cadence, and lyricism. But when whites appear in black spaces, ots always perceived, that they do it better. As if saying more clever. In a way, white people will probably dominated, like they did most popular music done by African americans. Because it’s the same crap that they’re pulling right now. But black people will just get creative again. I actually want them to bring in a new form of Rock. space Rock.
I agree wholeheartedly
so i guess they only say larry bird was great because he was white??? gtfo with that bs. this should NOT even be a discussion. its just people like dr umar ONLY SEE THINGS IN COLOR. all this nonsense about race is gonna keep happening making the divide between whites and blacks bigger when idiots like dr umar keep talking about it. black folk should celebrate that white people enjoy hip hop and that one of them is great at it, not trashing it. THAT is what will bring us together, but as long as race baiters like dr umar and yourself keep trashing it is what keeps it alive. it amazes me that people like the great dr martin luther king jr and malcom x fought so hard and died to gain equal rights and get rid of the division between whites and blacks and yet today we have black people fighting for racial division like keeping whites out of black culture and fighting for black only spaces like black tv, movies, dormatories, study halls, etc. all that is, is modern day segregation. people like you are arguing FOR segregation. MLK and X are turning over in their graves with the likes of ignorant fools like dr umar arguing FOR segregation. stop looking at EVERYTHING in color and start CELEBRATING that black culture, black history, and black everything else doesn’t need to be divided and classified as black and definitely NOT african american, because its not just black and it definitely isn’t african, its AMERICAN. stop with all the victimization and oppression talk and start being proud to be american, the country where a black person can be THE BEST, the best comedian, talk show host, actor, singer, politician, rapper, basketball player, baseball player, etc. if whites were considered the best and america truly waa a white supremacist nation, how in the heck do you explain dave chappelle, oprah whinfrey, denzel washington, beyonce, barrack obama, tupac shakur, michael jordan, barry bonds, etc. ITS TIME TO STAND TOGETHER, WHITES AND BLACKS AND EVERY OTHER RACE AND STOP LOOKING AT EVERYTHING IN SKIN COLOR. UNITED WE STAND, DEVIDED WE FALL.
@ericgooch Damn bro, you really wrote an essay on here , during the Hollidays too? Poor guy I’m legit sad for you
How is 2 days after Christmas “the holidays”? Maybe you don’t work at all, but normal people go back to daily a life by the 27th. And yeah, writing an “essay” takes like 25 seconds. I know writing more than a sentence or two is very hardcore for people with IQs comparable to a retard.
Tf are you talking about. Theres literally a handful or less white rappers people talk about in regards to hip hop and only eminem sometimes gets regarded as the goat.
Yeah, fuck this guy. Black people can be racist. Proof right here. Won’t even read this fucking article. Fuck this guy.
I’m black. Eminem been the goat. Choke on it.
Oh, and I’ve been listening to rap since Kris Kross Jump. I ain’t a young’n
We don’t need your entire history weirdo, Eminem isn’t the goat. Rappity, slappity, wackity…dude doesn’t say shit anymore, rhymes to rhyme.
WHAT MAKES EM THE G.O.A.T?
I remember when HIP-HOP was about reporting what was going on, had a meaning Now its a bunch of cute talking saying nothing….Has no substance behind it.IF THEY WANNA PUT EM AS A GREAT RAPPER GO AHEAD BUT NOT THE HIP-HOP G.O.A.T If u can’t understand the difference there’s no need to respond or talk to u because your a waste of time…..BOTH CAN BE PREJUDICE NOT RACIST…..
Kriss kross you amature kriss kross is on hit wonder and you claim to know so much about hiphop rap you a casual eninem is child play compared to real hiphop rap with his nursery ryhmes
and Eminem is hip pop and not hip hop and we all know pop always outsells rap and hip hop
This nicca a doctor? Doctor of what? Logic eludes him. A person can be great at their craft no matter what their background is. He obviously enveloped and dedicated his life to the culture and wanted to be one of the best so he gave it that level of respect. Eminem will always be one of the best to do it no matter what new hit piece comes out time to time
The real GOAT is always gonna be Pac, this is disrespectful everytime I hear people say eminem. He doesn’t have substance to his music. What’s the message in his music? Nothing. MGK even had more substance than eminem does in his music. So many white kids just wanna say it’s eminem and so many from this new generation and not enough people stand up for Pac anymore. This guy is clearly a black racist though because he didn’t have any substance to go with his claims. I’m mixed with no black, but it’s just ridiculous how people just disrespectful pac.
First of all nobody is disrespecting pac, get that straight pac is one of the greatest but so is em, and to prove that there are so many artists out there that backs that statement, hell even snoop said that and he has been in the business for at least 20 yrs now. But he’s not the only black rapper to make this statement em is in his studio perfecting his stuff over and over hell look how many of his albums have sold. But there other greats also. And as for the person that made this article he is just wack, crazy.
no one considers Eminem the greatest anything of all time other than he sold more concert tickets than any other rapper period. But that’s not Dr Umar’s point. I’m sure he would acknowledge that, although he would also point out the obvious fact that none of that would have happened without the direct co-sign of Dr. Dre, the sonic architect of NWA- a huge suburban white kid band.
Another racist piece of shit with his so-called opinion.
Rap isn’t exclusive reserved for Black people
Hating on the white boy But meanwhile the black man they gave the crown to is a DEVIL WORSHIPER (J HOVA). HA! WHOLE CULTURE OF FOOLS!
That’s some crabs in a barrel bs, and just as ridiculous as Dr Umar. Smh…
The hypocrisy is ridiculous. If a white person said a black person CAN’T be the greatest at whatever simply because he is black, that person would be vilified to no end. This woke bullshit does way more harm than good. It keeps minorities from prospering by giving them a built in excuse for the individual’s failures instead of forcing the individual to look at themselves and identify what they can do better. It removes all responsibility of the minority and plants this dumbass thinking that removing the evil white man will solve their problems.
Mental illness.
Apply that logic to black people in other genres and see how quickly everyone yells “racism”. And you know what? It would be correct. What’s his credentials to speak on hip hop?
This dude thinks he’s African when actual Africans don’t give af about us. Hoteps should know Africa sold us out from the start and doesn’t with us to this day, so I can never take him or any of them seriously. I’m not an an Eminem fan but if there’s an Emcee Mt. Rushmore, dude is on it. No question about it. Em’s a GOAT, whether folk like it or not. Deal with it.
As a white person I’ll tell you we can careless what you bums actually think lol we’re not sensitive well keep doing our thing regardless loll be mad
Dude is a bozo. For one, who cares about his opinion on anything. Two, Eminem can be the GOAT and aint too far off. Gotta stop letting preference affect your judgement when it comes to calling someone great. I like Kobe over Lebron, but Lebron is the better player…
typical idiot american
Umar is very ignorant! Eminem will forever be the greatest of all time. Instead of fucking being thankful you live in a period to see him master this craft in a way no one has, you find some skin color argument to be a dickhead!
Wow I didn’t know rap/hip-hop started in Africa…
Eminem said he’s like Tiger Woods in Golf in a thrown out track GOAT. Eminem is the crazy white boy that’s good enough to out lyricallvy rap almost any rapper but crossing that into classic LPs thats where hes not The Best. Because by rappers catalogues Em falls short to dudes like Tupac, Biggie who only made 2, Nas, Jay Z…. Lyrically Em could match these dudes but his concepts are questionable….like Encore is awful, D12 album as a whole isnt great outside Purple Pills, Marshall Mathers LP2 is nothing great, Revival was a let down. I say Infinite up to Eminem Show is his best work and Recovery is a hell of a come back but Great Lyrics and Rhymes over questionable concepts isn’t for everybody
y’all really mad. only black ppl that call em the best are oreos or types that wear anime shirts with big headphones or own jackass and south park box set. em is one of the best but if you think he’s the best and you’re black, you fit one of those descriptions . keep a spade a spade
It always the same with. Any race,ethnicity or culture. It’s a culture not a race thing. Those talking S… about him is jealous nothing else. It’s an option and perception that’s all. It’s no different than people who claim braids is a race thing. Irish, Scots and the Scandinavians were wearing braids 4000 years ago. No race developed music and holds no monopoly on it.
It always the same with. Any race,ethnicity or culture. It’s a culture not a race thing. Those talking S… about him is jealous nothing else. It’s an option and perception that’s all. It’s no different than people who claim braids is a race thing. Irish, Scots and the Scandinavians were wearing braids 4000 years ago. No race developed music and holds no monopoly on it.
It always the same with. Any race,ethnicity or culture. It’s a culture not a race thing. Those talking S… about him is jealous nothing else. It’s an option and perception that’s all. It’s no different than people who claim braids is a race thing. Irish, Scots and the Scandinavians were wearing braids 4000 years ago. No race developed music and holds no monopoly on it.
KNOW THE REAL CELTS
while Eminem is a great MC who mostly respects traditions he can’t claim to be a true original when it’s clear numerous MCs with his direct rhyme scheme were hot on the scene directly before his arrival – including Ras Kass and Canibus. This does not mean Eminem didn’t have his own charms or that he was talentless and irrelevant. also he does have productions skills
Rap belongs to anyone that can Rap and enhance their Skills ….I like Eminem like I like any other Rapper ….I can Rap I am ….
….sing the Blues…….I heard Biggie say …change from a Negative to a Positive……..And how do you know what Humans– — do with their $$$ they don’t have to tell you …..no disrespect you got it bad ….worrying about other people money and businesses
Who the fuck is this clown anyway no one asked for his opinion
Cool story, but there are literally zero real hip hop fans who say em is the goat.
This is jealousy masquerading as ‘consciousness’. This guy thinks he’s gonna be the next Farrakhan but he’s not even close. Farrakhan, whether one agrees with his ideas or not, is a brilliant man who is educated in matters pertaining to history, religion, culture, music, and countless other spiritual and secular things, and he LIVED it. This guy talks about how to be healthy and he himself is overweight. Talks about how to be humble and he interrupts people every time they talk. This dude is a charlatan. Stop worrying about who the best rapper is. It’s subjective. ALL art is subjective. If you don’t even understand that, you’re not ready to have a serious conversation because you’re too emotional to be honest and open minded. I feel like the black culture is flailing desperately for leaders and role models and they’re clinging to the wrong people. This dude, Nicki Minaj, Camron and Mase. blu face, Ja Morant, Adrien Broner, Nick Cannon, all these skank hiphop and basketball wives…it’s toxic. Why are black people afraid to put positive things on a pedestal? To shine a light on good people instead of clowns? There are socio-economic conditions that stem from white supremacy abs colonialism, yes, we know that. But, now what? Are we just gonna blame that on everything forever? That’s like a 40 year old man still blaming his bad decisions on his parents.
Absolutely ridiculous, stop the insanity. There is only 1 race THE HUMAN RACE. For this world to find peace we all have to do our part and just love each other. It’s not black against white. It’s rich against poor. Periode! STOP TAKING PEOPLES ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND POOPING ON THEM. JEEZE GROW UP!
The blacks invented rock and roll and yet they aren’t complaining about the g.o.a.t rock bands and singers. Talk about reverse racism!
The blacks invented rock and roll and yet they aren’t complaining about the g.o.a.t rock bands and singers. Talk about reverse racism!
This just bleeds of a man with less “talent” crying foul because a non African, as he puts it, is better than him at, what I can only assume is, his own game.
Wow this guy really is a piece of work.
Wow this guy really is a piece of work.
Man honestly…I’m black and I’d slap Dr. Umar for this foolishness lmao. dude wildn out with no nick cannon
So by his logic tiger woods shouldn’t be talked about as one of the best. Since golf was invented by a white guy. Umar is a clown. His he even a real doctor?
So by this line of reasoning then black need to stop with country music rock etc. Fucking nuts
black people invented country music. you have no idea what you’re talking about just talking out your ass like a moron
My thoughts exactly. Even blues rock, white just had to take credit there as well. The list goes on and on
This post is nothing but a(n) (as much as humanly possible) non-bias look at things.
After reading many posts offering their arguments for each side of the general discussion, there appears to be a difference of understanding between race and culture, which are two entirely different aspects of a person’s life.
Race is described as “a social construct used to group people. A human-grouping system generated to distinguish and marginalize certain groups across nations, regions, and the world.”
Culture is defined as “the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation or people.”
Race is how you were BORN. Culture is how you LIVE (and for anyone out there who believes they have a legitimate argument refuting this, I am NOT referencing a CHOICE that people DECIDE to make).
Race belongs to everyone. Culture belongs to a GROUP of EVERYONES (yes, with a grammatically incorrect “s” added). Here is a very simple example. In many African cultures it is a normal way of life for tribal women to walk around in their daily lives completely without tops, blouses, or coverings of any kind on their upper bodies. You do not see the males walking around all day with bated breath over their nudity because it is a normal part of their CULTURE. But, how many males from a DIFFERENT culture do you believe could be surrounded with this daily nudity without either being appalled or (politely stated) invigorated by it? As well, if females born here were to walk around all day with no clothing on the tops of their bodies they would be reported and arrested. Another (and possibly VERY) important aspect of culture is this example: if females (especially non-black women), from this culture went there and started walking around amongst them without clothing on their tops, it would be considered an insult to the African tribes because those women cannot possibly understand their culture because they’ve never LIVED in their culture. With all of the very well documented history Black individuals have been FORCED to endure, there is NO way ANY white individual (no matter HOW non-racist they are or consider themselves to be) could EVER be a part of that culture because they could NEVER TRULY understand it because they never truly had to LIVE it.
Go back to the ‘20’s-‘50’s+ and think about this.: When Black individuals “owned” their own clubs (such as the Cotton Club), not only could white people come and go as they pleased through the FRONT door but, in many (or most) cases they were forced to pay law enforcement or other white club owners a portion of their income to be allowed to remain open. Yet on the other hand, all Blacks, including any PERFORMERS were still required to enter through the BACK door of white clubs and remain “out of sight” until “needed”.
Fast forward to today’s timeline. Has anyone taken notice of all of the while females doing all that they can to make their hips as wide as possible, buttocks as thick from front to back as possible, and spending tons of time trying to “perfect their twerking skills”. It may or may not be attractive to many Black men but, even with all of this extra “work”, these women can STILL never truly understand Black culture and many of the changes Blacks have been forced to make to “fit in” to this society. Finally a MAJOR example of trying to force yourself into someone else’s culture:
How many times have you been driving down the highway or stopped at a gas station and hear music thumping by white individuals with every other word being “n-gga” this and “n-ggas be living’ like that”, and you happen to be BLACK? How can a white person POSSIBLY know how offensive that is to a Black man (or woman)??
There could be so much more that could be written regarding this subject but, in short, there is a definite distinction between race and culture, and until everyone recognizes this, there will always be those out there who find themselves not truly understanding a persons claims to their CULTURE vs. regularly stating that same person is, in their own opinions, trying to use the discrimination or racism card as a defense of the way they are grouped.
I appreciate any who took the time to read this WITHOUT offering profane, vulgar, or personal attacks on my person.
Lol 😂😂 I agree Eminem can rap but his music isn’t my cup of tea. He’s the white goat of rap I’d prefer R.A. if it came to my favorite devil rapper.
By dr. Umars logic, we can’t say that MJ or Kobe or whatever black man can be the goat of basketball since basketball was invented by white people.
Dr.Umar is a racist piece of shit but unfortunately a lot of black people think that because they’ve been oppressed they can’t be racist lol. God i hate people, of all colors.
There’s a whole genre of music that you have never heard because these clowns want to protect their Beatles investment. You have never heard so many records released by black labels and “soul” groups from 1959-1965. Why is that? Those are the records the Beatles stole and clowns today still credit them with being geniuses for records they ripped off the Isley Brothers and Bobby Womack.