In an interview with “The Art of Dialogue” Kurupt was asked about Melle Mel’s criticism of Billboard putting Eminem at number five on the 50 greatest rappers of all-time list.
“Obviously he’s a capable rapper. If you was talking about sales, he’s sold more than everybody. If you were talking about rhyme style, okay he got a rhyme style. But he’s white,” Mel said. “If Eminem was another n—- like all the rest of us, would he be top five on that list when a n—- that could rhyme just as good as him is 35? That had records and all that?”
At first, Kurupt seemed to disagree with Mel’s statements.
“That’s his opinion,” Kurupt said. “That’s not our opinion. The way Dr. Dre took Eminem subject matter-wise is one thing. He’s a battle rapper, so he is hip-hop no matter what color he is. Dr. Dre took him in this way, so you know that has no bearing on his skill. His skills are renowned.”
As far as dissing rappers, Kurupt says that Eminem may have gotten away with
“He does have a point, Eminem being white,” Kurupt said. “He might have got away with a lot of things, like him talking about all these different artists and s—, and not having no backlash to where he’s blackballed. But not from his skill. [Being] white had nothing to do with his skills.”
