In a recent interview with Belgian streamer Anthony Ray Tech N9ne, he talked in depth about how his life is intertwined with hip hop and, essentially, the lives of other hip hop stars. Queue in an Eminem conversation.
First, Tech’s got some playful jabs at fans who bring him the wrong memorabilia. There is a whole horrorcore family in hip hop, and the fans better learn the order:
I’ve watched all the Friday 13th, I love it all, but Eminem is Jason. So they are trying to give me Jason stuff, they’re supposed to give it to Eminem. They give me Michael Myers stuff, Krayzie Bone is Leatherface, Bushwick Bill was Chucky. Even in his new song with BabyTron and Big Sean, he had a fucking mask on with a chainsaw. He made it popular.
At the time of this interview, Tech N9ne hasn’t heard “Tobey” yet; he is too busy with his studio work and wedding preparations.
Then Tech reminisces about meeting Em way back in ’98 on the legendary posse cut “Anthem”. Seems like it was all respect from the jump. Even though it took a decade for them to collab again on “Speedom”, the foundation was laid:
When I did “Anthem”, it was my first time meeting a lot of people that I listened to when I was coming up. I met KRS-1 that day. I met Kool G Rap that day. I met Eminem face-to-face that day. When I was walking in to do my part, he and his crew, they all had big-ass leather jackets, and they were coming out like, “What’s up, brother, how you doing?” He’s like, “I just got through shooting my part”. I’m like, “Yeah, I’m about to shoot my shit. We are going to do it real soon, bro”. He said, “Yes, we are”. We shot it in ’98. We had just signed our deals in ’97. He signed with Interscope; I signed with Quincy Jones and Warner.
The next time I talked to him was on the phone. He was doing The Bottleneck in Lawrence, Kansas. It’s a bar. I was busy doing something, and Grant Rice called me and put Eminem on the phone, and he said to me, “You fucking killed it on the ‘Anthem’”. I said, “Look who’s the fucking talking, bro”. It took ten years for Speedom to happen after that.
And to finish, Tech shuts down any talk of a battle. He acknowledges Em’s lyrical genius but sees himself as more of a flow maestro, someone who cares deeply about the craft:
We are allies. People say Tech is better than Eminem, but I say Tech is different than Eminem. Eminem is fucking meticulous with the words. Not saying that I’m not, and he recognises that. But he’s super witty as well. When I look at lyricists from Rakim all the way up to now, from Kool G Rap to Crooked I to Royce to Chino XL, Freestyle Fellowship, Pharoahe Monch, Busta Rhymes, — people who take it that extra mile when it comes to rhyming words. Eminem is at the top of that game. When it comes to how I’ve been seeing motherfuckers work words and shit like that, and that’s not taking away from none of all the people, the names I named are right there with it. I’m saying that I care enough to play with the flow, to play with the words. I care for the craft.
Tech N9ne cannot stress enough the importance of unity over beef. He recognises the potential danger of a rivalry, especially considering their backgrounds. And he is happy they are on the same side, representing hip hop at its finest:
I’m different than Eminem. We are allies. I don’t want to get on a gang shit, but we are all gang-related; we are all connected to gangs. Me and Eminem (I can’t believe I’m about to say this), me and Eminem at odds, could start some racial shit; it can start some gang bang shit. I’m so glad that we are allies.
So there you have it: respect, recognition, and a healthy dose of reality from Tech N9ne. Hip hop is bigger than beef. Tech is not even happy about the epic Kendrick vs. Drake beef because he has seen how deadly ripples from a thrown stone can be.
Watch the video below:
