The Brooklyn veteran went down the memory lane to relive the experience of competing in Rap Olympics in 1997 together with Eminem: “That man was exactly the way he was when I met him. He was a super MC”.
Thirstin Howl the 3rd is very much active now with his own label Skillionaire and new releases. He sat down with Off the Cuff Radio recently to talk about his career in battle rap and his involvement in Rap Olympics:
That was a beautiful experience, man. Gotta learned a lot. All my team members, and you know, being surrounded by a whole team of hungry battle freestyle rappers that will attack you at all times, that, of course, would sharpen you up even more. Everybody on my team was top-notch off the head, was super skilled with it.
A host was especially interested in what Eminem was like back then before he ascended to fame, asked if the making of greatness were evident to his teammates?
Yeah, I believe that I noticed it. But I think we both felt the same way about each other. The feeling was mutual. We both expected big things out of each other’s career from that point on. Eminem was really the truth. I believe he felt the same about me. And we always promise that whoever makes it first will be on each other’s albums, things like that. Em used to even come and hang out in Brownsville with me, man. He was really skilled. He’s really the truth, man, I can’t take anything away from that man. I’ll be hearing all these other people try to say — he got this from so and so, and all that. That man was exactly the way he was when I met him. He was a super MC, you know. Very humble, very cool, very down to earth. We got along well. We used to go hard. A lot of times we wouldn’t even talk, man, our whole conversation would be in rap form and freestyle. How hungry we were for it, you know.
Listen to the segment below:
This is not the first time Thirstin Howl III shares his fond memories of that time. Two years ago he posted this rare throwback photo on his Twitter:
Flashback wirh #eminem #paulrosenberg..dt and al
Wetlands
History was being made.. pic.twitter.com/Yi5lmWtD2b— THIRSTIN HOWL THE 3RD (@ThirstinHowl3rd) February 22, 2019
Listen to “Watch Deez” by Thirstin Howl III feat. Eminem (1999)
Eminem in his turn gave Thirstin Howl a shout out on “King’s Never Die” recorded for “Southpaw”. There are lines there where Em cites the names of rappers he used to work with when he was a young MC hungry to success:
It’s that sound-bombing, Thirstin Howl
Common, underground, Diamond D, Outsidaz
Stomach growl, throbbin’ hunger, out-rhymin’ everyone
God, just give me one shot, I swear that I won’t let you down
