Fans have been eagerly awaiting new music from Kendrick Lamar. The Compton star remained lowkey for the better part of the past few years with the exception of a few guest verses and his performance at the Day N Nite Festival. However, this Sunday, he’ll be joining Dr. Dre for the Super Bowl halftime show.
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The performance will be a celebration of Dre’s legacy, along with many of his most notable protegé’s like Snoop Dogg and Eminem. The latter recently joined Sway Calloway on Shade45 for a brief interview where he offered praise for Kendrick Lamar as one of the greatest lyricists of all time. “Kendrick Lamar is the most electrifying vocalist of this generation. Would you agree with that?” Sway asked Em.
“I absolutely would agree,” Em said. “Kendrick is at the very top-tier of lyricists. Not just of this generation but of all time.”
It’s a bold co-sign but not one that comes as a surprise. The two previously collaborated on “Love Game” and Em has expressed his appreciation for Kendrick’s pen on numerous occasions. During an appearance on the Zach Sang Show, Ed Sheeran previously recalled a story Rick Rubin told him about Em testing Kendrick’s lyrical aptitude during the studio session for “Love Game.”
“He arrived and Kendrick came with all his mates and Eminem said, ‘I just want you in the studio, just you on your own and then my engineer is gonna come in and then record you doing it, but your mates aren’t allowed in.’ And then, Kendrick did it and wrote a sick verse. And then everyone came in to listen to it and Eminem said that he did it to test Kendrick because he thought he had a ghostwriter. And, he then realized that he didn’t, and then claimed he was the best, which is kinda cool I think.”
Check out Eminem’s comments on Kendrick below.