“I respect Em”— Symba clarifies his claims of being a better rapper than Eminem

Symba has come forward to elaborate on his comments regarding Eminem and being a rapper better than him. The rapper was interviewed by the Connect the Dots podcast on May 2, 2024, during which he clarified his comments from a year ago, stating that he had reacted like an NBA player when responding to a question:

"If you ask any NBA player who’s better than him, they gonna say nobody. It’s a competitive spirit that we have. Now, that does not take away from the legend and an icon and all the work Eminem has put in. But I was asked the question, and they cut the clip up in a certain way that made it look like I was going at one of the GOATs."

The rapper continued, stating that had not been the case and that he respected Eminem:

"But it was not that at all. I respect Em. I’ve learned a lot from him. I worked with Dr. Dre, and Dre told me a lot about Em. But when they asked me, I didn’t feel like nobody in this world is better than me as a rapper. That’s just how I feel. But shout out to GOAT Em."

In 2023, Symba participated in a panel discussion on The Revolt World channel titled The Great Debate, during which he stated that while he respected Eminem, he was a better rapper than the Marshal Mathers singer in response to a question from one of the panelist Tierra Whack:

"I respect Eminem on a level as a man. But as a rapper, I feel like I can name five better rappers... Anybody can rhyme words, [but] what are you saying?"

---

Symba, the latest to challenge Eminem's status as a rapper

With his original statements at the Revolt World panel discussion, Symba became the latest in a long line of rappers to challenge the status of Eminem as the preeminent rapper of the modern decades in recent history.

Before Symba, in 2023 itself, rapper Melle Mell commented on Eminem being on the top five in the Top 50 Rappers of All Time list by Billboard in March 2023, arguing that he owed part of his fame and status to being a white rapper. Speaking to the Art of Dialogue, Mell said,

"Obviously, he’s a capable rapper. If we was talkin’ about sales, he sold more than everybody, if you talkin’ about rhyme style, okay, he got a rhyme style. But he’s white! He’s white!"

Before that, The Game, rappers Moby and Will Smith, and others such as Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera also had back-and-forths with the Slim Shady rapper. They were a few amongst others to do so.