Getty Image / Kevin Mazur
Dr. Dre and Eminem‘s partnership since 1997 has been one of the most successful the Rap industry has ever seen. Dr. Dre has an estimated net worth somewhere in the realm of $500 million and Eminem’s is estimated around $250 million.
While Dre had a head start on the industry long before working with Eminem on ‘Slim Shady’, the success they saw together over the past 25+ years has been insane. And in a recent interview on Sirius XM, Dr. Dre told James Corden how he believes Eminem is the single greatest MC of all-time but that the claim of Shady being the G.O.A.T. gets debated because he’s a white guy.
Also in the interview, Dr. Dre revealed major health struggles. Dre told James Corden that he suffered three strokes in 2021 following a brain aneurysm. There’s more on that below but first, here is the clip of Dr. Dre claiming Eminem is the greatest of all-time:
Speaking about Eminem, Dr. Dre says “his imagination is off the charts, and I don’t think anyone would disagree with that. I think he’s the best MC ever. Point blank, period. Of course, there are going to be arguments about that because he’s a white guy. I don’t think anyone that’s rapping can touch Eminem on that microphone.”
It’s an interesting take from Dr. Dre, a man who is on the Mt. Rushmore of the Rap Industry. He is, of course, vulnerable to bias here as he’s made a fortune working with Eminem and knows Marshall’s work more intimately than most. But the flip side of that is Dre knows the entire industry as well as anybody.
The part about Eminem’s claim to being the best ever being up for debate because he’s “a white guy” is also fascinating because as a white guy myself who has written about Eminem in the past, his whiteness is ever present. Whenever there’s an up-and-coming white rapper it’s always ‘is he the next Eminem?’ and never ‘is he the next star?’ It’s as if Eminem has lived in this category by himself, as the best white rapper ever for most of his career. When as Dr. Dre sees it, Eminem is the best there is regardless of race.
What do you guys think, is Eminem the best ever? If not him then who? Get loud about it in the Facebook or Instagram comments.
In the interview, Dr. Dre also spoke about suffering three strokes following a brain aneurysm in 2021:
2021 wasn’t far removed from 2020 at all. A LOT of people were still very intimidated about being in hospitals. Receiving routine healthcare was difficult. That must have been a complete and utter nightmare for Dr. Dre to go through at that time in his life but it’s reassuring to see him doing great these days.