Eminem is one of the most respected rappers in the game, but Tony Yayo says when he first started to blow up, G-Unit caught backlash for working with the Detroit rapper.
“We even got called house n-ggas for f-cking with Eminem. The Source, they would take it to a whole ‘nother level. That’s when the disrespect for me was like, well damn, what does color have to do with anything with music? What does color have to do with anything with people? I don’t care what color or religion you are. That’s just me. We from New York. It’s a melting pot of people,” he said.
He continued: “We grew up around all kinds of people, so I don’t give a f-ck what color you are. I don’t look at you as a culture vulture ’cause you white. That could be somebody else’s opinion. It’s not mine. Melle Mel said something about Eminem.”
Yayo says he’s grateful for Eminem’s support.
“He did more for me, him and 50, than anybody has ever done in my career. Til the day it’s all said and done, I’ma shout-out Eminem. But everybody always blow shots at Eminem. He wouldn’t be on [Billboard‘s Top 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time] list if he wasn’t a fucking lyrical tyrant. If he wasn’t f-cking nice with it, they wouldn’t be mad at him.”