"I bet ya'll thought I wasn't going to reply to Mr. Royce Da 5'9," says a grinning Lord Jamar, days after being called out by Royce Da 5'9" over his controversial Eminem take. "Wrong! Let's unpack this shall we?" Prefacing that he has a few talking points prepared, he dives into it like one side of a particularly blunted debate team. "What up Royce? Apparently you were a little upset again," he begins. "I thought the video was old actually...Nope, it's a new one! Although, when I do videos, nobody really ask me about you Royce. They ask me about Eminem. But for some reason, you like to respond. Okay, I get it. You're a loyal guy. Been opening up for this guy for years in the hip-hop shop, I hear you."
"It's almost passive-aggressive in a way," continues Jamar. "It's almost like he wants to get aggressive sometimes, he needs to calm down. But he calls me a legend in the beginning of the video. Now, let's unpack that real quick." He explains that Brand Nubian's debut was one of the only albums to receive five mics in The Source, back when the magazine was revered as a "hip-hop bible." Not only that, but their music was ubiquitous, from the hood to the burbs. "Our run was legendary. Our impact was legendary," he declares, before thanking Royce for paying homage at the onset of his rant.
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"I've done mad interviews where they ask me about Eminem," says Jamar. "I don't really give a fuck about Eminem. He's not somebody I'm really thinking about. Only reason I bring him up, is because you have white people who will say Eminem is the GOAT of hip-hop based upon his record sales. That's the only problem I have. Do I think he's a top tier lyricist, rhyme speaking? Yes. I've said that multiple times. How many fucking times do I have to fucking say it? The guy puts words together well."
But I think what really prompted this newest video, was the fact that my man DJ Vlad, who so many people love to hate, asked the brother Conway, whose shit I listen to...he asked him all the shit I said about Eminem being a guest in the house of hip-hop," continues Jamar. "Does the hood listen to Eminem. Now, he disagreed with me, as far as the whole Eminem being a guest in the house of hip-hop, but he did agree with me that n***as in the hood don't really listen to Eminem...In general, black people don't fucking listen to Eminem. It's not a fucking diss, it's a fucking fact. Did you come at Conway with all this energy you came for me? Did you come at Gucci Mane who also stated the same thing?"
"You say nobody cares about my opinion, but my opinion seems to bother you very much," he says. "Why? Is it because it's gaining traction. It's gaining ground? When you hear people you feel should be falling in line, actually keeping it one hundred? It's just real shit!" He also makes sure to addresses Royce's claims that he's unqualified to be the "yardstick of cool." "What makes me the yardstick of what's cool? Motherfucker being a black man! That's why fuckin white people wanna be like us. My fucking vibration makes me cool, motherfucker! I'm using [motherfucker] as a term of endearment! I'm not trying to beef with you bro!"
His response continues on from there, and he maintains that Eminem can never be a true GOAT on the sole basis that the genre's originators don't "fuck with him like that." He also suggests that Royce's frequent defense of Eminem doesn't look great from a racial standpoint, comparing their relationship to Django Unchained. "It's not a good look for you bro," he says, before claiming Royce isn't exactly the hood's favorite rapper either. At this point, the debate only seems to be gaining steam, with neither side looking to concede any ground. Perhaps they ought to simply agree to disagree. What do you think? Is Jamar being a hater, or is he simply keeping it real in a world of fakeness?