Genius released a super-cut of shout-outs to Eminem from “Verified” videos. It seems like when artists talk about their own songs they often refer to Eminem – as an influence, as a source of inspiration, as a role model and even as a god.
The most eloquent in this video is Joyner Lucas, who really went deep into this topic when discussing his track “I’m Not Racist”:
Huge Eminem fan. You could tell by the visuals. I considered this dude like god. Like literally, just because of how much his music resonated with me growing up. I identified with it. It was like he was speaking to me. Somebody his colour to stand up behind us. Like I said in the record, is dope. Somebody of his stature, you know the respect that we have Em is, you know, I thought that was dope. – He doesn’t give a fuck no more. He’s Eminem, bro, he’s the biggest thing walking the fucking earth. He doesn’t care about sales. This dude’s fucking super-fucking rich. It’s like, what’s really gonna happen if you stop fucking with his music? He’s good, you know what I mean? So he’s looking at it like, “Look, this is what I stand for”.
Big Sean also paid his respect. He was recording a video about “Bounce Back” but went back in time to remind us how he worked with Em on “Detroit Vs. Everybody” and “No Favors”:
Being on the song with him was crazy anyway. Especially from the D. The song was “Detroit Vs. Everybody”. Eminem hit me back and he was telling me how much he loved the song, you know, how crazy he thought it was. How he couldn’t wait to hear the new album. I didn’t know if he was going to be able to get to it in time, you know? Couple of weeks went by, he sent a verse back. Crazy, it’s just popped out of nowhere.
There is also a range of young artists who grew up in the world transformed by Eminem and who refer to him as a quality standard, like Meechy Darco:
“Hi, My Name Is” is actually my least favourite Eminem song. That’s why I use that line, ’cause it’s like so annoying in a good way. It’s like genius. Eminem is one of the best. He helped push our pen to another level. And every now and then I go back and listen to Em, like from “Infinite” on…
Watch the video below to learn what they and Domo Wilson, Youngblud, Flatbush Zombie, Da Baby and others said about Eminem and his impact on their creativity:
