Eminem Pays Tribute To Hip-Hop Legends At His Rock Hall Induction
Last night in Los Angeles, Eminem was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His mentor Dr. Dre was on hand to present him. In his speech, per The Detroit News, he recalled Interscope Records exec Jimmy Iovine (who was also honored at the ceremony) sending him Eminem’s demo. Dre noted that he loved it. “A few days later, Jimmy called me and said, ‘You know he’s a white guy, right?” F—ed me up! The last thing I was thinking about when I was listening was that he was white!”
In his speech, Eminem thanked Dre and Iovine. Em noted that he’s lucky to be alive, as he nearly died when he overdosed on drugs in 2007. He spent a big part of his speech honoring his hip-hop influences. “Whatever my impact has been on hip-hop music, I never would have or could have done this s— without some of the groundbreaking artists that I’m about to mention right now. I put this list together yesterday. And I kept adding to the s—, and if I forget anybody, I apologize.”
Per The Detroit News, the list included, in part, 2 Live Crew, 2Pac, 3rd Bass, Apache, the Beastie Boys, Big Daddy Kane, Big Pun, Big L, Biz Markie, the Notorious B.I.G., Brand Nubian, Chubb Rock, Chuck D and Public Enemy, Cypress Hill, D-Nice, Dana Dane, De La Soul, Def Jef, Del the Funky Homosapien, DJ Quik, Dr. Dre, Dres from Black Sheep, Ed O.G., EPMD, Fat Boys, Fat Joe, Fu-Schnickens, Gang Starr, Geto Boys, Heavy D, House of Pain, Ice Cube, Ice-T, JJ Fad, Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Kid & Play, Kool G Rap, Kool Moe Dee, KRS-One, Large Professor, Leaders of the New School, “the one and only LL Cool J,” MC Lyte, MC Shan, Melle Mel, Mobb Deep, Monie Love, Nas, Newcleus, Onyx, Organized Konfusion, Outkast, Pharcyde, Queen Latifah, Rakim, Redhead Kingpin, Pete Rock and CL Smooth, Redman, Roxanne Shante, Run-D.M.C., Salt-N-Pepa, Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh, Snoop Dogg, Souls of Mischief, Special Ed, Stetsasonic, the D.O.C., the Roots, Too $hort, Treach from Naughty By Nature, A Tribe Called Quest, U.T.F.O., Whodini and the Wu-Tang Clan.
“Those were my rock stars man,” he said. “Those are just a few of the names that I hope will be considered in the future for induction. Because without them, a lot of us wouldn’t be here. I know I wouldn’t. I know this induction is supposed to be me talking about myself and s— man, but f— that. I would not be here without them. I’m a high school dropout man, with a hip-hop education, and these were my teachers. And it’s their night just as much as it is mine.” Read a transcript of Em and Dre’s speeches at The Detroit News.
Eminem then performed a few songs. Per Future Rock Legends, he played a medley of “My Name Is” and “Rap God.” Steven Tyler of Aerosmith then came out to sing the hook on “Sing for the Moment” (which samples Aerosmith’s “Dream On”). Ed Sheeran joined Eminem for “Stan,” singing the hook, which Dido originally sang on the track. He closed with a verse from “Forever” and “Not Afraid.”
Eminem is the tenth hip-hop act inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The others are Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Run-D.M.C., the Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, N.W.A., Tupac Shakur, the Notorious B.I.G., LL Cool J and Jay-Z.
You can watch an edited version of last night’s induction ceremony on HBO and HBO Max on Saturday, November 19th at 8 pm ET.
