Sometimes, rappers pull inspiration from the most unlikely places, especially long before their careers establish. For example, Slim Jxmmi recently revealed on The Bootleg Kev Podcast, on which he spoke alongside his brother and Rae Sremmurd partner Swae Lee, that he used to try to rap like Eminem. Not only that, but they both expressed being fans of the Detroit legend, despite hailing from Mississippi. During their conversation, they spoke on their recently released album Sremm 4 Life, Internet virality, and many other topics. "That was definitely my favorite rapper [growing up],” Jxmmi remarked. “Man what, I used to do all that ‘Hi, my name is’ [stuff]. I used to like the way he rapped. I [even] used to try and rap like him at one point in time in my life."
Furthermore, his use of the phrase "used to like" is quite interesting. Is he one of many Stans who think that his music fell off deeper into his career? Regardless, the Marshall Mathers connections to Rae Sremmurd run surprisingly deep. Slim Jxmmi's rap name is quite similar to that of Em's alter ego Slim Shady. Also, on Sremm 4 Life, they include an homage to the classic track "Stan" and the Dido song that it samples on the cut "Not So Bad (Leans Gone Cold)." While that track caused a dispute between the rap duo and fellow MC Millyz, it still made for a wild crossover moment.
Slim Jxmmi Wanted To Emulate Slim Shady, Admired Eminem's Rap Style
However, it's not the only hip-hop legends that the rap duo is connected to. Moreover, they addressed comparisons to Outkast, specifically a viral 2022 tweet that claimed that Rae Sremmurd was better than the Atlanta icons. "Y'all gotta chill," they posted on Twitter, and each member actually elaborated on the comparison previously in a 2018 interview with NME. "Shout-out to OutKast man, they’re some originals in the game, so you can never compare us,” Slim Jxmmi stated. “But I think that Rae Sremmurd are doing our own thing, in our own way, in our era of time and music. But OutKast is a great group, and we really like them, you know what I’m saying?"
"I think the game is trying to turn us to some OutKast [comparisons]," Swae Lee added. "And there’s a lot of hate and hating on us going on because we’re doing our own thing and we’re in our own lane. They tried to turn Rae Sremmurd into OutKast and count us out, so we had to come out and remind them that, ‘Look, we’re here to stay.’" Regardless of your take on that, return to HNHH for more on Eminem, and the latest on Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi of Rae Sremmurd.
