Kevin Gates Defends Eminem After Melle Mel's Criticism: "He In My Top 5"

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2023 Rolling Loud Los Angeles
INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 04: Kevin Gates performs during 2023 Rolling Loud Los Angeles at Hollywood Park Grounds on March 04, 2023 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Timothy Norris/WireImage)
Kevin Gates says that he considers Eminem a top 5 rapper in the wake of Melle Mel's recent comments.

Kevin Gates came to Eminem's defense during an interview with TMZ, earlier this week, revealing that the legendary rapper is one of his favorites of all time. The comments come after Melle Mel argued that Eminem is only considered an all-time great because he's white. Mel made the remarks during a controversial interview with The Art of Dialogue in which he also criticized Kendrick Lamar and Lil Wayne.

“He in my top 5,” Kevin Gates told the outlet. “He the truth. Who can make a song like ’Stan’?” When asked further about Mel's comments, he added: “Listen, I don’t get in all of that. It’s only two types of people. It’s real people, and it’s fake people. Real people do real things, and fake people do fake things.” Gates isn't the only one to come to Eminem's defense. 50 Cent, Fat Joe, Papoose, and more have all spoken out in disagreement with Mel's comments.

Eminem's Hall Of Fame Induction

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 05: Inductee Eminem performs on stage during the 37th Annual Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony at Microsoft Theater on November 05, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

As for Mel's original argument, he had been discussing Billboard and Vibe‘s recent Top 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time list. Regarding Eminem's placement, he said: “Obviously, he’s a capable rapper. If we was talkin’ about sales, he sold more than everybody, if you talkin’ about rhyme style, okay, he got a rhyme style. But he’s white! He’s white! So now, if Eminem was just another n***a like all the rest of us, would he be Top 5 on that list? When a n***a that can rhyme just as good as him is [No.] 35? That had records and all that. He’s 35. He’s white.”

“So, you know, anybody can be as mad as they want. They can feel how they wanna feel,” Mel continued. “If you don’t think that race plays a part in the equation in how great he is—I heard one of the dudes that’s down with him, [Royce Da 5’9”], I heard he’s just as good as Eminem. Why ain’t he as big as Eminem? Because he’s Black! None of that sh*t [is] hard to figure out!”

Kevin Gates With "TMZ"

[Via]

About The Author
Cole Blake is a current staff writer at HotNewHipHop based out of New York City. He began writing for the site as an intern back in 2018 while finishing his B.A. in Journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s covered a number of breaking stories for HNHH. These include the ongoing YSL RICO trial, the allegations surrounding Diddy, and much more. His work also extends outside of hip-hop, having written extensively about a myriad of topics including politics, sports, and pop culture. He’s attended several music festivals to provide coverage for the site as well, such as Rolling Loud and Governors Ball.
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