Eminem Reveals How He Really Feels About Going Head-to-Head Against Kendrick Lamar at 2025 Grammys

Eminem has high praise for Kendrick Lamar.

In conversation with DJ Whoo Kid on the Sirius XM show Shade 45 on Dec. 24, the "Without Me" rapper opened up about his thoughts on the competition at the upcoming 2025 Grammy Awards.

“I mean, it’s very stiff competition,” Eminem, 52, said.

“Kendrick’s gonna sweep that s---," he added of Lamar. "He’s going to, and he should.”

At the upcoming Grammys, Eminem — who released The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) in July — is nominated for best rap album, best rap performance and best music video.

Meanwhile, Lamar earned seven nominations total, including record of the year, song of the year, producer of the year, best rap song, best rap performance and best music video. He released his latest album, GNX, in November, just after nominations were announced.

Eminem and Lamar previously performed together at the Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show in 2022, with Dr. Dre, Mary J. Blige, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent and Anderson .Paak.

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At the time, he was asked by SiriusXM’s Sway Calloway if he agreed the "Not Like Us" rapper, 37, was "the most electrifying vocalist of this generation."

“I absolutely would agree," Eminem said, per HipHopDX. "Kendrick is at the very top, top tier of lyricists — not just of this generation, but of all time."

Even before that performance, the Detroit rapper has been a long supporter of Lamar's talents.

“When I first heard Kendrick’s debut on Aftermath, I couldn’t believe it," Eminem wrote for Geniusin 2016. "The fact that it was his first real album and he was able to make it into a story which intertwines with the skits like that was genius."

“That hasn’t really been done that many times, let alone on someone’s first time up. The level of wordplay, deliveries, the beats — it’s just a masterpiece," he continued.

The two rappers have released one collaboration, "Love Game," on Eminem's 2013 album The Marshall Mathers LP 2.

Meanwhile, Lamar previously opened up about the influence Eminem had on his work.

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"The clarity, I got my clarity just studying Eminem when I was a kid. How I got in the studio was all just curiosity. I had a love for the music, but it was curiosity," Lamar told GQ in 2016. "The day I heard The Marshall Mathers LP, I was just like, 'How does that work? What is he doing? How is he putting his words together like that? What's the track under that? An ad-lib? What is that?"'

He continued, "And then, 'Why don't you go in the studio and see? So I do that. Then it became, How's his words cutting through the beat like that? What is he doing that I'm not doing, now that I'm into it?' His time is impeccable. When he wants to fall off the beat, it's impeccable. These are things that, through experience and time, I had to learn."

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