Memphis Bleek appeared on ‘The Justin Credible Podcast,’ where he was asked a “barber shop” question: Who had the better verse on ‘Renegade’ Jay-Z or Eminem?
Featured on Hov’s 2001 “The Blueprint” album, Eminem and Jay-Z collaboration is forever in any hip hop debate. The question at hand: Who had the better verse, Jay-Z or Eminem?
For Memphis Bleek, the winner is without a doubt Jay-Z “To me, the streets and everybody, the public opinion, of course, says Eminem, right? At that time. Go back and listen to that record today. I bet you’re all going to agree it’s Jay. Because, you know, Jay was talking about something that was so far of what you even understood or comprehend that you didn’t know what he was talking about,” stated the New York rapper.
Of course for Bleek who is labeled as Jay-Z’s protégé and signed to Roc-A-Fella records, many would consider his opinion bias. The 44-year-old also stated that Em’s verse was straight forward and easy to comprehend, as opposed to Hov’s who’s verse had more to dissect.
“See, I’m a poet to some, a regular modern-day Shakespeare
– Eminem, Renegade
Jesus Christ, the king of these Latter-day Saints here
To shatter the picture in which of that as they paint me as
A monger of hate, satanist, scatter-brained atheist,”
But, an argument can be made for Eminem’s verse, which gave the white rapper the stamp of approval from the mecca of hip hop, New York. Another somewhat bias opinion comes from Royce Da 5’9, who was originally slated to appear on the record, not Jay-Z.
“Motherf**kers say that I’m foolish, I only talk about jewels (Bling-bling)
– Jay-Z, Renegade
Do you fools listen to music or do you just skim through it?
See, I’m influenced by the ghetto you ruined
The same dude you gave nothin’, I made somethin’ doin’,”
According to Royce, he and Eminem had the original “Renegade” record completed. As the record just “sat” there and Royce not a fan of the song, Eminem decided to switch gears. “I’m such a fan of both. Jay is definitely one of those people that I definitely always wanted to see [Eminem] work with. So when he sent it to him, and he did it, that’s when it started sounding great to me,”
Appearing on Crook’s Corner, Royce and KXNG Crooked chimed in on the iconic record. “I don’t think it’s one of them kinda songs, man. I don’t think it’s one of those kinda songs ’cause it didn’t sound like they were trying to tear each other’s head off; they made a song. I mean, I prefer the way that Em’ attacked the beat a little bit better,” Royce admits. Crooked adds, “Yeah, his cadence was crazy on that.” Royce continues, “I’ve heard both of them go crazier, just on some super-lyrical sh*t.”
For Jay-Z, he isn’t offended if listeners believe Eminem had the better verse, “No, I think Eminem is very intelligent rapper… It’s just, when you make 4000 songs.. I’m constant collaborator, you know and… some people gonna have better days. It’s just the way it is. But if we count the amount as the competitor and if we count the amount of records that I’ve been on versus people who had better performances then it’s gonna be 400 to 3,” Jay-Z during a Hot 97 interview.
