Posted by To celebrate the 20th anniversary of The Marshall Mathers EP, Eminem participated in a live chat with his fans via Spotify on Wednesday (May 27). As he fielded the hundreds, maybe thousands, of questions that scrolled by, he made it a point to answer at least one.
When asked who he thought the most underrated rapper was, Em replied, “most underrated rapper? kxng crook.”
Of course, Shady is referring to the one and only KXNG Crooked (or Crooked I). The two longtime collaborators have been friends for years and Crooked is one of the few rappers Em will sit down with for an interview.
Before the coronavirus pandemic paralyzed the world, Em and Crooked chopped it up for an episode of Crook’s Corner shortly after the January release of Music To Be Murdered By.
During the conversation, Crooked asked if he was a “guest in the house of Hip Hop.”
“That’s the funny thing,” he replied. “I don’t know if I got a chance to say this yet. The funny shit is, with the whole beef a certain person [Lord Jamar], I never said I wasn’t a guest. I’m absolutely a guest. I never said I wasn’t. I never said I was king of anything, right? I had a song called ‘Kings Never Die’ … that was the concept of the song. I’m like, “I can’t say I’m the king of Hip Hop, so I threw Run-DMC in there, Jam Master Jay.
Eminem Tells KXNG Crooked He’s ‘Absolutely’ A Guest In The House Of Hip Hop
“I don’t want to be the king of Hip Hop. Who the fuck is the king of Hip Hop? Is there a king of Hip Hop? People say, ‘Just because you sell the most records doesn’t mean you’re the best. Even though you can rap 40 million syllables doesn’t mean you’re the best.’ I care more rhyming the syllables. I care more about the craft than any of the other stuff.”
The Marshall Mathers LP turned 20 on May 23.