Young Zee is a battle rapper who formed Outsidaz together with Pacewon back in 1991, and he has first-hand knowledge about working with Eminem and had his own share of tension with Em.
He, however, is absolutely bewildered with the recent stream of hate that came from a former band member Az Izz.
Outsidaz have a rich history of working with D12 and Em, they released several songs together, and Young Zee even lists Em as an ex-member of the group. Marshall gave them shout outs on three songs from his major-label debut “The Slim Shady LP” (“Just Don’t Give a Fuck”, at the beginning of “Cum On Everybody”, and in the song “As the World Turns”). Young Zee and Pacewon were not happy when their verses were cut from from “Amityville” track on Eminem’s second album “The Marshall Mathers LP”. Allegedly, it happened because Dr. Dre wanted to reduce the number of features on the record. Pacewon was quite vocal about his dissatisfaction, but it seems like over time the issue was resolved and on “Fine Line” recorded for “Shady XV” Eminem again put his appreciation for fellow New Jersey rappers on wax:
Put a thousand lighters in the sky for the Outsidaz
Wow, I must have had Alzheimer’s
Long time since I shouted them out, ’bout time
‘Cause it’s been on my mind lately how
Zee, you always supported me
You vouched, I will never forget that and
How you guys accepted me for me and Pace
I love you too, you slept on my couch
And I’ve been thinkin’ ’bout the time
When I slept on the floor at The Outhouse
And now Young Zee has something to say because Az Izz is dragging Outsidaz name through the mud with his online rage fits.
Zee came to the same podcast that gave Az Izz and his claims the platform earlier this year. He came because as a founding member of Outsidaz, he could not stand seeing Az Izz attempting to rewrite history and putting claims on behalf of the crew:
Somebody sent me the link to the interview that you have with Az Izz, and I just heard a bunch of bullshit. ‘Cause I’ve been paying on this little wreck he’s going on no attention, but once I saw him talking about the origin of Outsidaz like he did this, and he did all of this, I was like, “Bro, you’re lying! Don’t talk about the Outsidaz because you are a minute part of the Outsidaz. So I reached out to you because he said a lot of stuff that’s totally not true. And this is all about the legacy of my group that I helped build from scratch.
And then Zee went on debunking lies and explaining the real Outsidaz story. Surely, he exposed Az Izz’s lies about Eminem as well:
He said lots of stuff about Em that’s totally not true. How he used to hang out with Em in my house? What’s he talking about? He met Eminem through Eminem coming in to chill and work on music, and in the process hi met him. He was not the reason we met him or anyone else. He must think Eminem own him something, Em own him nothing! Az Izz was just along for a ride, he wasn’t a main rapper in the group. When I met Az Izz, he didn’t even rap. Members of Outsidaz were me, Pace [Won], [Rah] Digga, Slang [Ton], Yah [Yah], Axe, Nawshis, Az Izz. And Eminem. And sometimes my bro Sas. Bizarre was a member too.
Az Izz exaggerated his role in the group. And he has no right to jump on Em. For whatever reason. He thinks Eminem stole his style? That’s a total lie. It’s total random bullshit.
The host kept pressing on, seemingly sympathetic to Az Izz’a claims that Eminem “stole his style” and then did not reach out to his old friends and left them behinds when he got to prominence. Young Zee did not share that sentiment at all:
I don’t feel that way. Because [Eminem] put me on mad shit. Az Izz never did a tour with Eminem. I did eight tours. He put me on 8 Mile soundtracks, D12, I made millions of dollars with Eminem. Literally millions of dollars. He don’t owe me nothing else. I don’t own him nothing. We are just two people who rhymed. We know each other, we respect good rapping. That’s it. He don’t owe me nothing, I don’t own him nothing. We did whatever we did for each other for the love of hip-hop and for the love of each other.
Zee, whose roots are in the battle rap scene, is absolutely appalled with what Az Izz is doing. Even without discussing the motives and intent, the product he put out there is below every standard and slanders Outsidaz name:
When [Az Izz] says stuff like him and Slang [Ton] were going around battling everybody and me and Pace were taking the credit, that’s not true. I’ve never even seen Az Izz battling anybody, period. We, Outsidaz used to battle, we used to jump up on cyphers off the streets. We would jump on a train to New York, and we had no money. Like, at a Puff party or Wu-Tang party – we’d try to battle every celebrity that comes in a door. Az Izz never was a battle rapper. Today, right now, he’s still not a battle rapper. That song he put out, that’s not… I don’t even know what the hell that is!
When the host tried to steer Zee to a more positive topic and asked whether we could expect a reunion Outsidaz album, the veteran MC, still fuming, sent the last punch:
With no Az Izz on it!
Here is the full Young Zee conversation with Doggie Diamonds:
