The legendary rap mogul shared his thoughts with James Corden on the comedian's SiriusXM show, 'This Life of Mine.'
Will the realest and best MC of all time please stand up? That would be Eminem, says Dr. Dre, who left zero room for ambiguity in declaring Marshall Mathers (aka Slim Shady) as the best ever.
Dre made the coronation while speaking to James Corden on his SiriusXM Show, This Life of Mine, as he discussed the genesis of his working relationship (and eventual lifelong friendship) with the Detroit native. Dre shared a myriad of stories, but the nugget that'll no doubt trigger endless debates came when he expressed that Eminem is the best in the rap game, ever.
"His imagination is off the charts, and I don't think anyone would disagree with that. I think he's the best MC ever. Point blank, period," Dre said. "Of course, there are going to be arguments about that because he's a white guy, you know? I don't think anyone that's rapping can touch Eminem on that microphone."
That's high praise from one of the best to ever do it. Dre -- alongside Eazy-E, Ice Cube, DJ Yella and MC Ren -- formed the iconic rap group NWA. Dre would eventually break from the group and earn monumental success as a solo artist and producer, with hits like 1992's The Chronic and 1999's 2001.
He's a seven-time GRAMMY winner as both artist and producer, and one of his proudest moments is having put Eminem on the map.
During their conversation and prior to coronating Em, Dre shared how he first heard about the "Lose Yourself" rapper. It was through music mogul Jimmy Iovine, who played Eminem's demo during one of their weekly listening sessions at Iovine's house.
"And I had no idea he was a white guy at the time," Dre said.
He added, "So, I took it home with me, and I couldn't stop playing this s**t. Couldn't stop playing it, and Jimmy called me the next day and he's like, 'You know it's a white guy, right?"
They'd eventually meet in the recording studio. And it was during their first meeting when Dre said he played the beat to what would eventually become Eminem's iconic 1999 hit, "My Name Is," which peaked at No. 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts and gave Em his first-ever top-40 hit.
"We're in the studio. I hit play on it, and he just went, 'Hi, my name is,'" Dre said. "It happened that fast. No bulls**t. And then we went from there, and that was the beginning of this relationship."
Immediately after sharing this tidbit, Dre declared Eminem as the best ever in the rap game.
The friendship grew from there, and their strong bond is why many, rightfully so, predicted Dre would somehow get Eminem involved when he was tapped as the Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show performer. Jesse Collins, executive producer of the halftime show, spoke to ET after that iconic performance (which doubled as a tribute to Dre's native Compton) and he spoke about the significance of the performance for Eminem.
"Dre hasn't come out in years, so of course Em had to be here tonight," Collins told ET. "Think about it, that set was more or less a studio where that record happened the first time, in the studio, with Dre. That had to be going through his head. Dre's at the boards, it was really taking him back to that moment."
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