Eminem has already given Kendrick Lamar, who appears on his new track "Love Game," quite a bit of praise. In a new interview with Rolling Stone, he continues his kind words for K.Dot, this time weighing on Lamar's infamous "Control" verse, which he revealed was recorded only a few weeks after he and Kendrick got in the studio together.
"I completely respect what Kendrick does and the fact that he's in the same camp, that he's on Aftermath, only made sense to [get him on the album]," said Em. "He came to Detroit, we kicked it for a few minutes, you know, and I felt the vibe of what he's like and everything, and you know, he's a super cool and super humble dude. When we did that record, I think that was actually a week or two before he did the verse to 'Control.'"
The MMLPII rapper commented on the strength of the concept behind Lamar's monstrous verse, indicating that he made it hard for other rappers to really take offense, at least not publicly.
"He seems like he's got a really good head on his shoulders, man. He's very smart and you can tell by the way he put his album together for one. He's like a Hip Hop head, man. He just loves Hip Hop. And obviously the way that he did the 'Control' verse, it was almost like if you get mad at him, then you might look foolish. He set it up so that you can't really get mad at a lot of that shit he said because it was what every other emcee is already thinking. Or you should be thinking."
Em also spoke of his own claim of being a "Rap God," revealing that while the song has a decidedly sarcastic tone, everyone wants to feel like their the best out sometimes.
"I think everything switches back and forth from hour to hour, day by day with me," Eminem said. "That whole 'Rap God' record pretty much from top to bottom is tongue in cheek. So I mean, do I want to feel like that? Maybe sometimes. Again, it goes back to everybody who competitive raps and does this for just purely the sport of it wants to be the best. Again, that's why Kendrick's verse worked so well because he only said what every rapper's already thinking. If you don't want to be the best, then why are you rapping?"