Fat Joe and Papoose have come to Eminem’s defense after the legendary Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five rapper Melle Mel criticized him during an interview with The Art of Dialogue, last week. Mel argued that Eminem is only considered one of the greatest rappers of all time because he is white. Fat Joe and Papoose disagreed during an Instagram Live post on Monday.
“I disagree with that because even though Eminem is Caucasian, you cannot front on his skillset, man. You can’t deny that skillset!” Papoose said, to which Joe replied: “No way. As much as I love and worship Melle Mel, I think he’s wrong with this one.”
Eminem At The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame
The two both clarified that they are huge fans of Melle Mel, despite adamantly disagreeing with him on Eminem’s talents. “Listen, I love Melle Mel. He’s the originator of his style. He’s amazing, lyrically. I still listen to ‘The Message.’ And I know Melle Mel!” Papoose said. “I look up to him, man. He’s a legend. I could go on and on about the respect that I have for him.” He added: “Lyrically, dudes are still not touching [Melle Mel]. But honestly, that skillset that that boy Slim Shady got, you can’t — nah, man.” Fat Joe also labeled Mel his “icon.” “He’s one of my Top 10,” he said.
As for Melle Mel’s exact comments, he explained that he can recognize that Eminem is talented, but said being white has a lot to do with his popularity. “Obviously, he’s a capable rapper. If you was talking about sales, he’s sold more than everybody. If you talking about rhyme style, okay, he got a rhyme style,” Melle Mel said. “But he’s white! If Eminem was just another n***a like all the rest of us, would he be top five on that list, when a n***a that can rhyme just as good as him is [number] 35? … If he was a Black rapper, he wouldn’t even make the list probably.”
Fat Joe & Papoose’s Response
[Via]