Here’s Why Mike Tyson Says Eminem Knows What It's Like to Be The N-Word
With the release of Music to Be Murdered By, Eminem has been back in the spotlight for the first time in a while doing his promotional rounds.
Most recently, the reclusive Slim Shady Records honcho sat down with boxing legend Mike Tyson for the latest episode of his Hotboxin’ podcast. Mike and Em candidly chopped it up about their mutual love for hip-hop with other personal stories from different parts of their lives mixed in.
However, one particular moment from their conversation is up for further discourse from fans. Near the end of the 47-minute interview, Mike praised Em for how he overcame his personal hardships to become a rap legend.
“Everything you got was, f**kin' — not even given to you,” Tyson voiced. “You f**kin' slaved for it, you know what I mean? You're the only white guy that knows what it's like to be a n***a.”
“Not sure how to answer that,” Em responded with a nervous laugh.
“You’re one of the few white guys to know that pressure [of] like ‘F**k, I ain’t s**t, They ain’t doing me right,’” Mike continued
“I mean, you know, we all got our story,” Em offered.
Elsewhere in the interview, they also touched on Em’s surprise stage at the 2020 Oscars ceremony where he performed his 2002 classic “Lose Yourself” from his leading role film, 8 Mile. Em revealed that the moment didn’t go quite as smoothly as he anticipated.
“When I went there, everything was cool, right? I go through the first verse, and they had the mic pack that you wear on your belt... I’m rapping and all of sudden I see between my legs, the m*therf**kin’ pack swinging. So I’m rapping the lyrics while I'm doing this, and then I'm like, 'Man, I'll just put it in my front pocket. F**k it,” he recalled. “By that time, the song's over, and I'm, like, 'Man, what the f**k?' We rehearsed for that s**t — I know the words to 'Lose Yourself,' right — but we rehearsed that s**t extra, extra, extra just so we didn't f**k that up. And then that was the one thing we didn't plan for, and of course it went wrong...I haven't watched it.”
Listen to Eminem’s with Mike Tyson for Hotboxin’ in full below:
