Kurupt was recently a guest on the Art of Dialogue and talked about a number of things, including Melle Mel's recent comments about Eminem. Eminem has long shown Kurupt love, shouting him out on 2002's "Till I Collapse" as one of his favorite emcees.

For his part, Kurupt, said Melle Mel, as one of the people who helped shape Hip-Hop as we know it today, is certainly entitled to his opinion, even if he disagrees, respectfully.

“That’s his opinion. That’s not our opinion,” he said. “The way Dr. Dre took Eminem subject matter-wise is one thing; the way Eminem rocked — he’s a battle rapper, so he’s Hip Hop, no matter what color he is. Dr. Dre took him in this way, so that has no bearing on his skill. His skills are renowned. But that’s Melle Mel’s feel on it. Melle Mel is an icon of Hip Hop … Remember, he’s the original Hip Hop so Melle Mel speaks from that standpoint. For my generation, hey, Eminem is our monster. His color is irrelevant.”

Kurupt went on to acknowledge that Eminem probably got away with some things because he's white. Em has never shied away from acknowledging white privilege, including on "White America."

“He does have a point, Eminem being white,” Kurupt later admitted. “He might have got away with a lot of things, like him talking about all these different artists and shit, you know what I’m saying? And not having no backlash to where he’s blackballed. But not from his skill. [Being] white had nothing to do with his skills. But he might have got away with a lot of things. Shit, we got away with a lot of things once we became successful! Once you’re successful, you can do whatever you fucking want, and the game accepts it because they make money off of what you’re doing, so they give you that pass.”

Check out the interview above.