Nick Cannon Dubs Eminem ‘Elvis On Crack’ And Explains Why Men Don’t ‘Fanboy’ Over Rappers
Nick Cannon recently sat down with VladTV, where the topic of Detroit legend Eminem’s impact on hip-hop came up. Nick and Em feuded in the past, even going so far as trading diss tracks, stemming from the Slim Shady emcee’s infamous personal beef with Mariah Carey tracing back to the early aughts.
While things have quieted down on that front, Nick recently sided with one of Em’s loudest critics that the Detroit emcee is, essentially, the Elvis Presley of hip-hop.
New York rapper Lord Jamar first started the conversation after he proclaimed that people really in tune with hip-hop don’t vibe with Em’s music. Recently, the Brand Nubian rapper, who has had openly talked about his issues with Em, unloaded some scathing comments in an interview with RapMatic, where he stated that Black people don’t listen to Shady’s music in the streets or at the club.
“White people will crown Eminem king because he sold the most records out of all rappers,” Jamar contended. “But when we go into everyday life of Black people, people who are the originators of [hip-hop], we don’t listen to Eminem. We don’t go to the gym and turn on Eminem. We don’t listen to him on the way to the club.”
Before Nick gave his opinion, Vlad played a clip for him of Conway’s sentiments where the Griselda rapper agreed, albeit with a milder take, that “there’s nobody in the hood that’s riding around to an Eminem album.”
“That’s just facts. I’m sure Eminem know that and he OK with that,” Conway said matter-of-factly, although he laughed at Jamar’s suggestion that Em is a “guest” in hip-hop. Nick agreed with Jamar and Conway’s sentiments, although he made it clear that Eminem is one of his top five rappers.
“It’s capitalism at the end of the day,” he stated. “Hip-hop music, the people that buy hip-hop music are white people, specifically white girls. Like, if you look at the actual demographics and how it all breaks down, well, music in general. Even when you look at the streaming numbers, women, number one, are the biggest connoisseurs when it comes to consumption. Then when you break down demographically how it all works — from the fanbases to the girls who buy tickets and are screaming in the front rows. They create the stars.”
He continued: “Us as guys, we sit back and we respect cats — we respect Nas, we respect Hov, we respect [E-40] and [Ice] Cube and we can sit there and talk about them, but we ain’t gonna go out and fanboy for the m*th*f*cka. Fanning for somebody is where the money is. That is what creates a superstar.”
Nick expounded on Em’s success as a white man in hip-hop, drawing comparisons between Elvis and The Beatles, who faced similar criticism, to further illustrate his point.
“When you get a blonde-haired white boy that is actually dope, that’s like the second coming of Christ to the music industry,” he elaborated. “Because you gonna get all of the credibility, like dude, you can’t deny that he’s dope. He’ll get in front of anybody, battle anybody. Then, the fact it’s like, ‘Oh s**t! I can sell and market this m*thaf*cka like Pepsi? And he’s crazy and entertaining too? Oh, he’s a superstar. Oh he’s Elvis on crack.’”
Watch the eight-minute clip in full below:
