We all know that Eminem loves giving people their flowers — he's done it for decades since he first entered the game. So it makes sense that during his induction speech for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he listed all of the rappers who've inspired him, from A-Z. Literally.
"My musical influences are many, and they say it takes a village to raise a child," he said. "Well, it took a whole genre and culture to raise me. They say success has many fathers, and that’s definitely true for me. So whatever my impact has been on hip-hop music, I never would have or could have done this s--t without some of the groundbreaking artists that I'm about to mention right now. And this is a list man, I put this list together yesterday. And I kept adding to the s--t, adding to the s--t, and if I forget anybody, I apologize. But these were my teachers right here:
"I'm gonna start with the 2 Live Crew, 2Pac, 3rd Bass, Alliance, Apache, Audio Two — Milk Dee, what up! — Awesome Dre, the Beastie Boys, Big Daddy Kane, Big Pun, Big L, Biz Markie, the Notorious B.I.G. of course, Black Moon, the Boogie Monsters, Brand Nubian, Brother J from X Clan, Buckshot, Casual from Heiroglyphics, Chill Rob G, Chubb Rock, Chuck D and Public Enemy, Cypress Hill, D-Nice, Dana Dane, De La Soul — now I’m about a third of the way done.
"De La Soul, did I say De La Soul? Def Jef, Del the Funky Homosapien, DJ Quik, Dr. Dre of course, 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, the Intelligent Hoodlum, JJ Fad, Jaz-O, Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Just Ice, K-Solo, Kid & Play: I'm a tenth of the way done.
"King Sun, King Tee, Kool G Rap, Kool Moe Dee, KRS-One, Kwame, Lakim Shabazz, Large Professor, Leaders of the New School, the one and only LL Cool J — love you bro. Lord Finesse, Lords of the Underground, Mantronix, Masta Ace, MC Breed, MC Lyte, MC Shan, Melle Mel, Merciless Ameer, Mobb Deep, Monie Love, Nas, Newcleus, Onyx, Organized Konfusion, Outkast, Andre 3000, Paris, Pharcyde, Queen Latifah, Rakim, Redhead Kingpin, Pete Rock and CL Smooth, I’m almost done.
"Redman, Roxanne Shanté, Run-D.M.C., Salt-N-Pepa, Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh, Snoop Dogg, Souls of Mischief, Special Ed, Stetsasonic, now I’m all down to the S’s. Super Lover Cee and Casanova Rud, the D.O.C., the Roots, Black Thought, the Skinny Boys, Tony D, Too $hort, Treach from Naughty By Nature, A Tribe Called Quest, U.T.F.O., Whodini, Wise Intelligent and the Poor Righteous Teachers, Wu-Tang Clan and YZ.
"Those were my rock stars man, and I just want to say, like, 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. So that’s all I had to say, man. I know this induction is supposed to be me talking about myself and s--t 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. So thank you."
The superstar rapper from Detroit joined fellow legends in the Hall's prestigious 2022 class; which included country icon Dolly Parton, chart-topper Lionel Richie, 80s pop quintet Duran Duran, rock queen Pat Benatar, metal gods Judas Priest, singer-songwriter Carly Simon, synth pop innovators Eurythmics, hitmaking production duo Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, and the late founder of Sugar Hill Records, Sylvia Robinson.
