Melle Mel spoke on The Art of Dialogue podcast, where he discussed the newly announced Billboard & Vibe Top 50 Greatest Rappers list. During the conversation, the Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five star addressed Eminem's position on the list, claiming that he is only ranked fifth because he is white.
“Obviously he’s a capable rapper. If you was talking about sales, he’s sold more than everybody. If you were talking about rhyme style, okay he got a rhyme style. But he’s white. He’s white,” he says. “So now if Eminem was another ni**a like all the rest of us, would he be Top 5 on that list when a ni**a that could rhyme just as good as him is 35? That had records and all that? He’s 35. He’s white.”
He continued, “And anybody could be as mad… They could feel how they wanna feel. If you don’t think that race plays a part in the equation of how great he is — I heard one of the dudes that’s down with him, Royce Da 6’9″ [Royce Da 5’9″] or one of those – I heard he’s just as good as Eminem. Why he ain’t as big as Eminem? Because he’s Black. Ain’t none of that sh*t hard to figure out. Eminem gets a top spot because he’s white.”