Grandmaster Melle Mel has spoken out about Eminem’s success and talent as a rapper, claiming he wouldn’t be considered as one of the greats if he was black.
It comes after the rapper made Billboard‘s '50 Greatest Rappers of All Time' list.
Melle Mel, the lead vocalist of Grandmaster Flash And The Furious Five spoke out about the list, claiming Eminem wouldn’t have even made it on there if he was a black man.
It was during an new interview with Art Of Dialogue in which Melle Mel gave his opinion, not holding back.
He said: “Obviously, he’s a capable rapper. If you was talking about sales, he sold more than everybody. If you talking about rhyme style – OK, he got a rhyme style."
"But he’s white! He’s white! If Eminem was just another n**** like all the rest of us, would he be Top 5 on that list when a n**** that can rhyme just as good as him is 35?
“If he was a Black rapper, he wouldn’t even make the list probably.”
He continued about his personal preference, citing Busta Rhymes as the greatest of all time.
Melle Mel continued: “Busta [Rhymes] … see this is the difference between who writes what list. Busta, I would say, is the No. 1 rapper overall. Nobody’s gonna take Busta. Busta could rap just as good as Eminem.
"He’s got a nice little tricky, gimmicky style … But to say that he would be [able to] sell as many records if he was just another brother, that’s not true. It’s just not.”
The Billboard list placed Eminem fifth, behind Tupac (4th), Nas (3rd), Kendrick Lamar (2nd), and Jay-Z as number one.
Art Of Dialogue posted a clip of the interview to twitter, which sparked a debate about Eminem’s prowess.
One account commented: “The truth is every rapper black or white is scared to verbally go after Em. That alone says Mel is wrong. To say he would be 35 if he was black is just being a hater.”
A second wrote: “Mad respect to Melle Mel, but he’s wrong. Look at Em’s lyrics and what he’s done. He’s got bars that go above so many peoples heads it’s crazy. Em is still top 10 no matter what color he is”, with another replying: “Yea but it’s only more impressive because he’s a white boy tho. That’s his point. And of course you’re going to say that, because he represents you.”
A third commented: “I say Eminem is top 5 because he overcame things in hip Hop that most white rappers did not. We haven't really seen another white Rapper come close. Yes there is some white privilege, but that privilege didn't work for them all. And no I don't count Vanilla Ice.”
A fourth chimed: “People don’t even take into account you can listen front to back all of Ems albums and they all go together. Being white played a major role during the era, but people forget Em mostly hang around people not his color, and he also came from a city predominantly black.”
