This Atlanta rapper does not gloat over being compared to Eminem favourably and stays away from this controversy.
Earlier this month, Billboard published a big piece about the new Elton John album and his current success. There was a paragraph that caught media attention and was immediately twisted in what it was not:
John also recalls the rapper freestyling in the studio for “Always Love You”, and being “just blown away. I mean, I’ve seen Marshall [Mathers] do it in Detroit, but I’ve never seen someone like Thug come in and do that. In the end, I had to leave because I think he felt a bit intimidated that I was there and I just wanted him to relax. But it’s just an amazing moment in my musical life… I have no understanding of how rap records are put together and it’s fascinating to watch.”
For some reason, the majority of hip hop outlets preferred to interpret it as if Elton John said that Young Thug freestyles better than Eminem. Not as a testimony that Elton saw for the first time how a young black artist puts together a hip hop record.
And this was exactly the phrasing that Charlemagne Tha God, who uses every opportunity to throw shade on Em, used talking to Young Thug on the Breakfast Club. The rapper, however, did not take the bait and did not say anything but non-committal:
Right. Look. Of course. It’s fucking Eminem
And then Young Thug proceeded to talk about Elton, his connections to Atlanta and his singing talent. If Charlemagne wanted to spin the story and add to the controversy, The “Punk” artist did not give him any ammunition.
Young Thug has never declared Eminem as his major influence. However, he references Em, or rather his Slim Shady persona, in his songs.
In April, Thug dropped his compilation album “Slime Language 2”. On the track titled “Diamonds Dancing”, he rapped: “I told ’em, “I’m so slimy, I’m so shady, I admit it, yeah”. The most recent example you can find on Thug’s new album “Punk” that is currently battling with Drake’s CLB for the Billboard 200 No.1 spot. The song “Faces” includes another reference: “Watch me falsetto out in Vegas with your lady. Tryna rob, your chances are Slimmer than Shady”.
You can tell that Young Thug feels how deeply Eminem’s contribution is engraved in the hip hop landscape. There is no point to pit artists against each other to spark controversy. There is enough space for all of them to co-exist.
Watch the video below:
