This is what Slim Shady thinks of the current state of hip-hop!
On the verge of his executive produced soundtrack for Southpaw releasing this Friday, to correlate with its theatrical rollout, Eminem spoke with New York Times about the motion picture. While the 42-year-old rapper has nothing left to prove in the music industry, he still feels a sense of competitive nature among the emcees in the game today and still is motivated to create or curate new material. Throughout the conversation with the times, the Detroit rapper opened up on his relationship with 50 Cent, Dr. Dre and shared his opinion on the current state of hip-hop. Take a look at excerpts from the NYT interview below.
Are you plugged in with current rap music?
I try to stay up on everything that’s out. I love [Lil] Wayne, Drake, Big Sean, Schoolboy Q. I love Kendrick [Lamar]. I just try to pay attention to what’s out. Wayne puts out a new song, and my ears perk up. There are certain artists that make me do that just because of the caliber that they rhyme at — it’s like candy to me. Kendrick, the way he puts albums together — front to back, they’re like pieces of art. But hip-hop needs Drake, too. Hip-hop needs Big Sean. I feel like hip-hop is in a good place right now. There’s this balance of things going on, and it feels like some of the best rappers are the most successful. Sometimes that’s not the case.
Do you feel competitive with the Kanyes and Drakes and Kendricks of the world? You seem a little removed from that.
Kanye, as well — I forgot to mention Kanye. I’ll always be lyrically competitive.
Are you working on a solo album?
Not as of yet. But I’m just trying to figure out what to do next musically. There’ll be a certain page that I get on, and I’m like, “O.K., I’ve done it this way.” Sometimes I think that if I get comfortable or set in my ways of doing something, maybe I should step back for a minute and figure out how to mix it up a little bit.
OS REWIND: Eminem – Kings Never Die (feat. Gwen Stefani)
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OS REWIND: Dr. Dre Taps Kendrick Lamar & Eminem for “Straight Outta Compton” Soundtrack
[Source]