He wouldn`t be just a good rapper man, he`d have more respect than he does now, even the great Rakim said that. He said if Eminem was black he`d be like Muhammad Ali. You have to recognise that the white thing helped him sell records and reach a bigger audience but has hurt him in other ways.
thats your assumtion, if eminem was balck he wouldnt rhyme about the same stuff, like saying hes hated coz hes white. He wouldnt have as much mainstream coverage, that for sure.
I`m gonna break it down, how i rate the great rappers.
First I`m gonna say what i think are some of Eminems weaknesses. His voice, A lot of rappers have much cooler voices, even though on some songs i think his voice is great and His crazy shit lately, too childish (I don`t adore the fart and puke noises actually), I think Rakims flow is untouchable, but, has he written a track like Nas`s 'Rewind', Commons 'Used To Love her' or Eminem`s 'Stan'? Conceptual rhymes, stories that break boundaries, maybe 'Mystery', but, not on the same level as the forementioned. Can he make catchy hooks? Is he funny.
Does a rapper have to be funnier to be the greatest. Rakim rhymes sound perfect, if he wanted to write a song like stan he would, he lives a different life, grew up in times wen thoughtfull lyrics like in "casualties of war"(a song that eminem cant write) were more on point. He gives a positive image to his comunity, instead of boasting bout drugs and how hes a trouble maker, doesnt diss rappers, or any other artists. I Find that amzing, that makes him NO LESS then eminem. Infact im pretty sure eminem praises his work, like every other hip hop artist.
What i`m sayin is he`s a little bit one dimensional, and even though his tracks are amazing sometimes, they get boring quickly because every track is too similar, needs diversity.
wrong, to u its not different. Every song of his has a moral a subject an inspiration and a certain something that no other could add to the song.
A person that is not an eminem fan might say it the same way, he might say - "my name is", "real slim shad", criminal", "big winnie"etc etc are the same.
Big Pun's the same, awesome rhymes, genius flow and aggressive cool voice. But no storytelling or conceptual rhymes really or anything extra special like that.
Im not even a big fan of Pun, dont really listen to him.
SAme can be said for Pac and Biggie, GReat flows, cool hip-hop voices, but, in terms of breaking boundaries and inspiring disbelief, not really.
Generalizing again. There is a variety of artists for a purpose, coz everybody is good at something, some people stick to it some xperiment, doenst make them more or less equal.
Eminem has had success in every facet of hip-hop, battles, Lyrical skill, Freestyle, Story, Conceptual, Funny, Personal, Conscious, chart hits, even on a club level, plus he makes his own beats.
I can find a rapper in every one of these aspects that would be btter then eminem. And thats because every one of these aspects is not eminems main. Most artists try to push on one style, learn to respect that, and listen to sever artists that have supreme skill in each aspect.
Like u mentioned rakim i can say..
Eminem will never be a poet that 2pac and Nas are
Eminem will never be the weeded out rapper u listen to wen ur high like redman.
Eminem will never right a song likemystery with a concept so deep like rakim.
get wat i mean, once again a matter of pure perspective. THATS WHY ill say again, none of the rappers mentioned are the best.
There`s a lot of 'Very Good rappers', but, none of them would be able to claim all of the above.
U cant generalise hip hop in one person. Eminem can make beats- but there will always be better beats. Eminem can make funny songs - there will always be someone funier, same for other aspects...
Dedication to style is the most priceless. And u cant tell me its not true, coz thats just how it is. Eminem scientifically cant be "the best" by doing everything, coz in the end hell stistically still fail to take the top.
I`m goin to bed now man, cheers for the debate,

your welcome.