Speaking in a new video for The Art of Dialogue, Kurupt discussed Melle Mel’s recent comments about white and Black hip-hop artists. The segment began with the host reminding Kurupt of his claim that Eminem was a battle rapper first and foremost, and that it was Dr. Dre who helped solidify his talent.
“Eminem was serving MCs,” Kurupt replied.”That’s an MC to me! He paid his dues, serving people in the cold, freezing, just chopping people’s heads off. Bodies can’t be found cause the snow’s too high off the ground. He got so many bodies throughout Detroit that’s never been seen. There ain’t no way to judge this man because his team decided to send him on a different journey when he came out professionally. Through that journey, he showed us his skills on the mic. And it’s all in the name of hip-hop. That’s all that matters. It shows the diversity of hip-hop. We are one culture, but we are all nationalities, we are all races, we are everywhere.”
Kurupt went on to argue that the likes of Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel “set the tone” for hip-hop, allowing it to grow “like a tree” and branch out. “It’s people like Eminem that kept hip-hop alive,” he added. “That’s just real because of the diversity of it. He took it to a whole different plane and made a whole different race and generation feel that they can do it too. And we got good ones from all races, great ones.”
Concluding, Kurupt said: “I appreciate what Melle Mel has done. Without Melle Mel and all greats, there would be no us. So, I respect his opinion, but our generation, we don’t agree.” Macklemore recently described White rappers like Eminem as “guests” in hip-hop. Read more about that here.
