Eminem Tested Kendrick Lamar To Prove He Didn't Use Ghostwriters

Eminem doesn't trust the new generation. But he learned to more than trust Kendrick Lamar.

Ed Sheeran was on the Zach Sang Show recently, and he explained how Eminem tested K. Dot when he came in to record a verse for The Marshall Mathers LP 2. (Presumably for the track 'Love Game'.)

The album's producer Rick Rubin also helmed Sheeran's hit album X, and he told Sheeran the story.

“I heard a very cool story about Eminem and Kendrick Lamar,” Sheeran said. “Eminem heard that Kendrick Lamar was the best rapper and he invited him to the studio to get him on a song. He arrived and Kendrick came with all his mates and Eminem said, ‘I just want you in the studio, just you on your own. And then my engineer is gonna come in and then record you doing it. But your mates aren’t allowed in.'" Kendrick did it, wrote a sick verse, and Eminem said that he did it to test Kendrick because he thought he had a ghostwriter,” Sheeran continues. “He then realized that he didn’t, and then claimed he was the best, which is kinda cool I think.”

Since then, Eminem and Kendrick have both gone out of their way to say how much they admire each other as artists.

Listen to Sheeran explain how that all started at about the 7:45 mark.