50 Cent: "Eminem Is More Important To Hip Hop Than People Actually Credit Him For"

50 Cent says that former label boss Eminem is the most important Rap figure of the last decade or so.

“I think Eminem is more important to Hip Hop than people actually credit him for,” 50 Cent says during an interview with VIBE. “Just Black music in general… when it loses its color, artists and people that have been so invested in it, come into it, put their passion in it, and they actually become that good at it? That opens up doors, windows, everything.”

One artist 50 Cent says Emimem’s success benefited is Macklemore.

“It opens the door for a [Macklemore],” 50 says. “Those artists are really important to the growth of our actual culture. And if you see what Hip Hop has done for me, it’s allowed me to travel the world and to meet people from different walks and ethnicities, and allow[s] me to broaden my perspective on life, period. There’s nothing as beautiful as what can happen with Hip Hop music and culture.”

50 Cent announced today (February 20) that he and G-Unit Records have signed an exclusive worldwide distribution and services agreement with Caroline/Capitol/UMG.

Eminem released a statement regarding 50 Cent’s departure from Shady Records, Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. In his statement, Eminem addressed his friendship with 50 Cent and his role in the Queens, New York rapper’s career.

“Both myself and Shady Records are grateful to have had the chance to play a part in 50’s career,” Eminem says in a statement, according to Associated Press. “Shady simply would not be what it is without 50 Cent.”