Kurupt is verifiably one of the rappers Eminem has openly revered for decades. When the veteran needed help, Em stepped up quietly. Not entirely without words, though. He sent one message: “Tell Kurupt I love him”.
With a little help from his friends
Kurupt, one of hip hop’s most important voices, gearing up for his collab album with Rakim and Musta Killa, recently told Big Boy that Eminem secretly played an important role in his struggle with alcohol addiction. “Believe it or not, it was Dr. Dre and Eminem who came to the table and got me a place where I could be and get away from things. Dr. Dre and Eminem did it for me. Eminem, he came to the table, put his folks on me, and his folks got me some place where I could get away and be away from everything”.
Later, Sway had Kurupt on his morning show and asked for more details. Apparently, this much-needed help came at the time when Kurupt’s body had almost given up. Alcohol poisoning caused seizures and put him into a medically induced coma for three weeks.
“It was Dr. Dre that called and was just giving his support and just let me know that, you know, we all go through these things”, Kurupt recalls. “He was just giving me that game. And it was Em who came to the table like, ‘I’m gonna put Kurupt with my folks and I’m going to put some money into getting him into like, a rehab situation to where he can sit down and enjoy himself and be out the way. Nobody will know he’s there’”.
In situations like this, good intentions alone might not be enough. Often, there are expenses behind life-changing actions, and Eminem covered them. “You know, these things cost bread”, Kurupt notes. “So Em put the cheese up for it and said, ‘Tell Kurupt I love him’. Dr. Dre relayed the message and then he put me with Em’s folks. So, you know, that was real special to me. Appreciate both of them so much. And it’s like, damn. You know, he just came out of the blue from nowhere. Like, ‘Okay, Kurupt going through that. Bam. Boom. I’m a do that for him, man. Tell Kurupt get well, we love him’. That’s deep”.
“Jada, Kurupt, Nas, and then me”
Eminem never makes a secret of how much he admires classic hip hop and the lyrical giants who helped make it a revolutionary art form. But the “Till I Collapse” line about his favourite rappers is probably his most famous statement of admiration – and one of the most quoted lists in hip hop.
I got a list, here’s the order of my list that it’s in
It goes: Reggie, JAY-Z, 2Pac and Biggie
André from OutKast, Jada, Kurupt, Nas, and then me.
There is an old belief that meeting your idols often leads to disappointment. For Eminem, who has met every rapper on his list who was alive by the time he had the chance, that does not seem to have been the case. Perhaps because he does not treat them as untouchable idols. Evidently, they are rappers whom he respects immensely without denying their humanity, flaws and all.
Years earlier, Eminem was in a situation similar to what Kurupt was going through. Marshall came close to the edge and was pulled back by medical attention, the support of his friends, and sheer willpower. So, when he saw Kurupt at a similar turning point, Eminem did what felt natural to him: he helped, without judgement or expectations.