Eminem is trending on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, after a podcast guest claimed the musician can't be the greatest rapper of all time because he's white.
The take came from Dr. Umar Johnson, a controversial psychologist, activist and motivational speaker who has also spoken out against interracial marriage and homosexuality.
'No non-African can ever be the best of anything African,' the activist said during an episode of the 'Joe Budden Podcast.'
"This is going to my African fundamentalism," he said on a recent episode of the popular Joe Budden Podcast. (The full interview is available exclusively through the host's Patreon.) "No non-African can ever be the best of anything African. It is an insult to the ancestors, it is an insult to the race and it is an insult to every Black person."
Johnson framed his argument as one centered around supporting Black artists in a musical form that was created by Black musicians.
"I can acknowledge Eminem’s talent – but for you to put him at the top, that’s white supremacy," he said. "We gotta stop naming non-African people as being the best of any aspect of our cultural power because it is an insult."
Johnson added that he doesn't see Eminem building any schools or hospitals in Black neighborhoods.
The activist also listed DJ Khaled and video journalist DJ Vlad as non-Black figures in the rap scene who have risen to prominent positions.
Budden pushed back on Johnson before he even got his full answer out, noting that the question is ultimately up to the fans. As expected, the conversation quickly caught fire on social media.
Eminem has previously acknowledged that he and other white rappers are 'guests' in the world of rap.
For his part, Eminem himself has acknowledged that he's a guest in the world of rap. "I’m absolutely a guest. I never said I wasn’t. I never said I was king of anything, right?" the musician said in a 2020 interview with KXNG Crooked on his program Crook’s Corner.
Eminem also spoke on the topic for an XXL cover story last year. This came after the outlet wrote a strongly-worded article about the rapper's white identity during the early days of his career.
Johnson is also known for his controversial takes on interracial marriage and homosexuality.
"When things started happening for me, I was getting a lot of heat, being a white rapper, and XXL wrote something about that," Eminem told the outlet. "I remember going to one of those newsstands in New York when the magazine had just started out, and I bought that and a couple of other rap magazines. I flipped to the last page first and XXL was dissing me."
The musician said this wasn't the first time he'd fielded criticisms like that.
"But it hurt because I felt they didn’t know me to make that kind of judgment," he said. "Coming up, I had to deal with that a lot. I wanted to be respectful because what I do is Black music. I knew I was coming into it as a guest in the house… I understood, at the same time, everybody’s perception of a white guy coming into Hip Hop and all of a sudden things start happening for him. So, if XXL would’ve even had a conversation with me, maybe they would’ve understood me more."
