Eminem's Revival is officially one week old, and the project continues to raise discussion among fans. And while some are displeased with Marshall Mather's latest musical direction, it would appear that Eminem isn't here for the criticism. In fact, he seems intent on continuing to make the music he enjoys making, regardless of the naysayers. In a recent Complex cover story, Em addresses some of the public criticism he's received, including some unflattering words from Vince Staples. Clearly, people are forgetting that this is the man who once brought us "I Just Don't Give A Fuck." Clearly, that mantra holds true to some extent.
When asked about the critics, including Staples, Em responded with a lengthy breakdown:
"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. 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. At the same time, try to give the people that do appreciate my music, give them something to listen to basically and try to meet whatever expectations are placed. I figured it out a long time ago. It doesn't matter what I do, what I say, what album I come with, it just doesn't matter because…"
He also cited fellow "Renegade" Jay-Z as one of his biggest influences:
"I look to Jay for a lot of shit. 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 shit. 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."
For more wisdom from Eminem, be sure to check out the interview in full right here. What did you think about Revival?