At a time when Eminem faced boos and rejection on the Warped Tour stage, Ice-T stood up for him, reminding the crowd what hip hop was truly about.
A rare clip from the 1999 Warped Tour has resurfaced, showing Ice-T standing up for a then-unknown Eminem in front of a sceptical Chicago crowd. In the video, Ice-T brings Em centre stage, telling the audience “what hip hop is really about, which is bringing everyone together for a fucking party”, before reminding them of the culture’s core values: peace, unity, and being ready to fight for it.
At the time, Eminem was just breaking through and far from the superstar he would become. The Warped Tour crowd, more used to rock acts than a young rapper from Detroit, was not welcoming.
Ice-T later reflected on those nights, saying:
“I met Em when he was on Warped Tour and the white kids were booing him. The white kids were throwing shit at him. That’s when they used to use the term “wigger”. They didn’t like him because it was a punk rock tour. Now I was out there rapping; they didn’t have a problem with me or with Black Eyed Peas. But when [Eminem] got up there, they felt it was okay to be disrespectful. And I watched him weather that storm”.
Now, decades later, Ice-T revisited that memory with his followers, reposting the clip and writing:
“Back when EM was first starting out.. I bigged him up to the crowd.. They had no idea who he’d later become.. That’s REAL HipHop. Show love to the new upcoming artists.. @Eminem 👑👑👑”
Back when EM was first starting out.. I bigged him up to the crowd.. They had no idea who he’d later become.. That’s REAL HipHop. Show love to the new upcoming artists.. @Eminem 👑👑👑 https://t.co/xNsVwUJ3G8
— ICE T (@FINALLEVEL) August 18, 2025
It was a moment of respect that Eminem never forgot, and a reminder from Ice-T that hip hop has always been about lifting each other up.
