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Eminem's competitive nature and love of Hip-hop may have fueled his rap career in the beginning. Nowadays he pays careful attention to other major names in the game in his mission to remain one of the best rappers alive.
On Wednesday, September 14, XXL released a rare op-ed penned by the Shady Records founder in honor of the rap outlet's 25th anniversary issue. In the detailed piece, Em touches on several subjects including his grueling addiction to painkillers and how it affected the creative process of his fifth studio album Encore. Later on, he lists the artists he pays the most attention to during his mission to be the best rapper.
"My role in today's hip-hop is to always try to be the best rapper," Em wrote. "That's it. That's how I want to feel inside. That's what I want to feel. And I can't do that until I listen to what the f**k J. Cole just put out. What the f**k did Kendrick just put out? And I'm thinking, Oh, these dudes ain't playing. I don't want to get swept away in that shuffle. I still want to let everybody know who the f**k I am. Like I said, "They rap to be the best rappers." I’ll hear some s**t by them, and I’ll be like, Yo, I ain’t the best rapper right now. I need to f**kin’ get up, get back on my s**t.
"What I hyper-focus on is people like Kendrick Lamar, Joyner Lucas, J. Cole and Big Sean, and watching them and how the f**k they're doing their s**t," he added. "Because they're also focused on being the best rappers."
Eminem has been opening up about his past a lot lately. He recently appeared on Paul Rosenberg's Paul Pod and discussed personal moments about recovering from his 2007 overdose. Prior to that, Em delivered new music on his second greatest hits album Curtain Call 2 including his first-ever collaboration with Snoop Dogg. The prodigies of Dr. Dre recently hit the stage at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards to perform their collaboration live for the first time.