Fierce battle rapper from Detroit Calicoe was asked what he thinks about Lord Jamar saying that Eminem is a guest in hip-hop, and niggas in the hood don’t listen to him:
I’ve gotta be politically sound here. I’m gonna say this. Em is great. Especially when we talk about some battle rap, going platinum, diamond, he’s great. Especially in Detroit. It’s not an easy thing to do, to be a white boy rapping in Detroit. I think he doesn’t care about niggas in the hood listening to him though. Niggas in Detroit are listening to Shoebox Money more than any album Eminem got out. People listen to Calicoe more than him in Detroit, and you can quote me on that. You can ask anyone in Detroit: you walk in the club, you hear my shit, you don’t hear no Eminem. But what the fuck it’s gonna got to do with Em’s greatness? He’s gotta played in London right now, he’s gotta played in Africa, he’s gotta played everywhere. Why should he care about niggas in the hood listening to his music, he don’t give a fuck, he’s global, he might be got played on Mars.
When the host tried to clarify the statement saying that Lord Jamar meant that Eminem cannot claim his greatness if it is not sanctioned by the hood, Calicoe winced uncomfortably:
But he has albums better than any album niggas have put out though. He’s been in the game 20 years plus. What album is better than “The Marshal Mathers LP”? You cannot say that another album is better than that, you can only say that you like another album just as much.
But I feel like he’s scared to embrace Detroit, he’s scared to embrace our sound. He feels like he’s dead in, but nobody’s never put money behind it. They play “First Day Out” all over the world. This is something we’ve never thought will be happening. Because nobody’s never put money behind it. He did it without no money, he got out of prison, made a song and this happened. So imagine if nigga like Eminem put money behind our sound. He doesn’t even gotta put his name on it, just invest in it. Because you know, I think we are the most talented rappers in the world. Our style is so much different from everybody.
Listen more on how Detroit’s natives see Eminem and what Calicoe thinks about Em’s place in hip-hop.
