Eminem is an iconic, albeit polarizing presence within hip hop. While nearly anybody can recognise the impact that Eminem has had on the genre, there are plenty of other people who find him to be overrated or cringe.
No matter where you stand on your personal convictions with Eminem—from the casual listener to longtime follower—it’s always interesting to see which up and coming rappers are inspired by his music. Even if it isn’t a matter of direct inspiration, it’s often a matter of respect between peers, or simple entertainment.
Just like any other listener or consumer of culture, musicians have so much appreciation for one another, and it’s interesting to see the forms that can take, much like Chance the Rapper’s opinions on Slim Shady himself. When asked about his thoughts on Eminem, some of his sentiments included, “That was one of the few revolutions in hip-hop, there was a point when I heard that and I was like ‘shit is different now.’ I gotta listen to this over and over. He is like a boxer about this shit-you know when ni**as talk about the sweet science? He’s got that shit, he knows. He’s like a technical rapper. Eminem is the rawest shit of all time.”
He definitely has some high praise to dish out about Eminem. Chance the Rapper has been rapping since high school when he recorded his first mixtape while he was suspended from school and released it in 2012. He grew up in an era when Eminem was dominating the charts, and it was easy to see why.
When asked about his favourite songs by Eminem, Chance had two that have stuck with him, perhaps for their own reasons. Those songs are ‘Just The Two of Us’ or ‘Kill You’.
He says of the songs, “Man that’s a crucial ass question. It’s probably either ‘Just The Two of Us’ or ‘Kill You.’ It was just subject matter and content, they both are very different ways of approaching a story. One is literally him telling you what he is going to do to you, and the other he is standing there like an actor—it’s hard to even describe.”
As for his favourite album from the rapper, he had another comment about one of Eminem’s most popular among his fans, “The Marshall Mathers LP. That was just where he was like the darkest and the hottest. I guess like albums are so crucial and I want to say Infinite was crucial, but specifically, The Marshall Mathers LP is when I was like ‘Aww, yeah.’ That’s a lot of people’s point where they were like, ‘This is my favourite rapper, Eminem is my favourite rapper.'”
Even if Eminem isn’t his favourite rapper of all time, it’s clear that Chance has immense respect for him and enjoys his music.
