Eminem

“ Marshall is the type that never really stops recording, so when you get in the studio he’s in the back room where the booth is and the door is locked. Nobody’s allowed back there, nobody ever knows what he’s doing. All I know is that he’s constantly working, so if he told me that he had an album ready right now, I would believe him because he’s like a work horse. He works every day. ”

“ (on listening to Eminem’s delivery for the first time) It was like you were listening to a scientist. ”

“ We went on a Desire [on Pink Friday] and put it in the air like, ‘It’d be great if he would collaborate with us.’ I remember I kept talking about it, and I thought, ‘It can’t hurt.’ I sent him one record, and he didn’t love it. He didn’t say, ‘I don’t love it,’ he just said, ‘Can you send me something that’s a little more me?’ I sent him an e-mail and thanked him for that, just having enough respect. Sometimes people don’t respond. He had the respect, at least, to treat me like a peer. ”

“ Eminem is tough, man. I don’t care what color he is. I don’t care about none of that. Real artists respect real artists, man… I tell people to this day. If Em was black, he’d be the next Muhammad Ali, man. ”

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” I came up listening to Eminem. Just how inventive Eminem was, his rhyme style. ”

“ He assign so much lyrically and musically. He’s amazing. ”

“ [on meeting Eminem for the first time] To be real, that was, like, the only time I’ve ever been low-key. I was really smiley. I was like, ‘Whoa, that’s Eminem,’ you know? ”

“ (on possibly collaborating with Eminem) Em, I promise you I been watching you for so long. I been a fan, so I wouldn’t even ask you to get on a record unless I felt like it was that record. I just want to get the record into your hands, then if you want to turn me down after that, then you can turn me down. ”

” Em has a faith following and they ain’t gonna turn their backs on him. He’s gonna shine on the darkest day…I feel like his music is getting more and more powerful. The messages are bigger. ”

“ That nigga’s damn-near like the best rapper out here when it comes to technique, technical rhyming, wordplay, and shit like that. ”