Eminem Reflects On Experiences As A Battle Rapper

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MTV EMAs 2017 - Show
LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 12: Eminem performs on stage during the MTV EMAs 2017 held at The SSE Arena, Wembley on November 12, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage)
Eminem says that his experience as a battle rapper was the "greatest thing."

Eminem recently sat down with The New York Times for their “50 Rappers, 50 Stories” piece, during which he discussed the origins of his career as a battle rapper. He says that the experience was the "greatest thing" to happen to him.

“Tuesday night I would go to the Ebony Showcase on Seven Mile. Wednesday night would be Alvin’s. Friday night would be Saint Andrew’s. And then Saturday would be the Hip Hop Shop,” he told the publication. “Proof was hosting open mics at the Hip Hop Shop, and they started having battles."

Eminem Performs At The MTV Movie Awards

LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 13: Recording artists Eminem performs onstage at the 2014 MTV Movie Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on April 13, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images for MTV)

“The first one that I got in — it was actually the first battle there — I won," he continued. "And then the second battle, I won it again. I realized maybe I should try to go out of state. So I would hop in the car with friends and drive down to Cincinnati for the Scribble Jam.”

Eminem added: “Coming up in the battle scene was the greatest thing to happen to me because I knew what lines were going to get a reaction from the crowd. That’s what I would focus on. So when I got signed with Dre, I was trying to translate that to record, to get that reaction. I would picture the listener sitting there and what lines they might react to. I just used that as a formula. Like, ‘How you gonna breastfeed, Mom?/ You ain’t got no tits.’”

Elsewhere in the interview, Eminem discussed Nas‘ classic album, Illmatic. While explaining that he knows the project "front to back," he revealed that it had a major impact on his own craft. The interview comes after the release of Nas' latest album, Magic 2, which dropped last Friday. Check out Eminem's full comments on Nas' Illmatic below.

[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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