With rumors that he will co-headline Coachella with Beyoncé and The Weeknd, Eminem is now on the “cover” of Complex’s December 2017 digital issue.
Returning to the magazine for the first time since 2013, Em opens up on why he feels he will never be able to top the success of 2000’s The Marshall Mathers LP, how Jay Z‘s 4:44 was a watershed moment for him, and more.
One of the more poignant moments, however, was his response to Vince Staples‘ criticism of his BET cypher “The Storm.”
“The reason I don’t trip off that is because I feel like regardless of whether you rap or you don’t, or you’re in the game or you’re not, I feel like everybody’s entitled to their opinion,” he says. “I don’t really trip off people critiquing what I do. In some cases, I feel like there are peers that don’t really listen to my music anyways and they’re not fans, so I’m not making my music for them. I’m making my music for me first, obviously, so I can be happy with something.”
Keep scrolling for more choice quotes.
On his rap career thus far…
“The way I’ve seen some fans act towards me. Even to this day, I’ve been in this game a long time and it’s still weird to me, because I just rap and I certainly haven’t had a perfect career. I’ve put out some not-so-great albums and I realize that. Part of me feels like, I’ve felt this way since I did it, but part of me feels like I’m forever chasing The Marshall Mathers LP, because I do feel like probably the majority of people who listen to my music probably feel like that’s my best album.”
Drawing inspiration from his “Renegade” partner…
“I look to Jay-Z for a lot of sh*t. I look to Jay for where he’s at in life and I look for 4:44, the punchlines. I’m listening to music in a way that most people probably aren’t. I’m looking, just like they might be looking for a different thing. They might be looking for a feel, or whatever it is, I’m looking for the sharpness and I’m looking for the punchlines. He’s got a lot of funny punchlines on that sh*t. To me it’s like, Jay is a good guy because he’s a guide for… It’s almost like he can see what’s going on in hip hop. He’s very in tune with the times and then he does something his own way, and then other people follow it. That’s amazing to me, so I’ve always looked up to Jay for that.”
The article can be read in its entirety here.
