Lord Jamar Denies Hating On Eminem: "It's Self-Preservation Of My Culture"

Lord Jamar gets technical about his criticism of Eminem.

BYAron A.
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The war of words between Lord Jamar and Eminem continues. Jamar has been heavily criticized for his thoughts on Eminem being dubbed one of the greatest rappers of all time. In Jamar's defense, he has articulated his thoughts fairly well in the past but it's the sentiment of his comments that have resonated.

Last week, Eminem came through with his latest album, Music To Be Murdered By which, like his last few releases in the past few years, included responses to all of his critics. Lord Jamar found himself targetted once again due to his Vlad TV interviews. "If it was anyone's house G Rap and Rakim would be havin' you mop floors / Run-DMC would be havin' you cleanin' sinks / Yeah, your group was off the chain, but you were the weakest link, he raps on "I Will."

Lord Jamar has since responded in a recent interview where he continued to explain his thoughts. At this point, Lord Jamar expressed that he's tired of speaking on Eminem. Although he states Eminem is a good rapper, it's just not his cup of tea. "To the people who'd like to control and dominate the narrative of hip-hop -- it's considered hate to them. To me, it's self-preservation of my culture," he said.

"He's a good rapper but he's not my cup of tea," he explained. "I'm just saying if black people, [who] are the creators of hip-hop, don't crown you the GOAT, you not the GOAT. That's it. If it sounds hateful to you, that's your fuckin' interpretation. But I'm tellin' you, that's my only thing."

After being asked if it is a race-based argument, he responded, "They only callin' him the GOAT because he's white... He brought pride to white people in hip-hop because before that, white people were looked at as super corny."

As he continued to break down the argument, he said that sales don't necessarily mean he's the greatest because of who the main demographic is. 


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About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.