For the magazine’s 25th anniversary, XXL Magazine reached out to an old friend.

Eminem covers the magazine’s Fall 2022 issue, marking his ninth cover with the publication. Marshall wrote the cover story, which chronicles the ups and downs of his journey, how meeting his rap heroes impacted him, his battle with addiction, the role he plays in today’s hip-hop, looking to the younger generation for inspiration and more.

Some choice quotes:

On Dr. Dre, and his major label debut album:

I remember saying, ‘If I could just get with Dre, man, my God that’d be so crazy. He’s so f**kin’ ill.’ Three weeks later, I was at Dre’s house. We made The Slim Shady LP. That was a fun album to make, but it’s also where everything suddenly changed. One of those changes was that drugs became a part of the way I was living my life once I got signed.”

On his 2004 album, Encore:

[The album] became a misstep and I struggled to get over the fact that I didn’t do my best. My best would’ve been good enough if the leaks hadn’t happened. But I released what I had at that point in time, and I feel that put a kind of a mark on my catalog. Encore did some decent numbers, but I was never that concerned with numbers. I was more so worried about what people think about the album. Critics and fans were important to me, and they were always at me about that project.”

On the younger generation after him:

I want to do things that nobody from this point on can ever top. Rap to a level that no one else could get to. And again, it’s subjective, and every rapper, especially rappers in competitive rap, wants to be the best rapper. So, I look for the younger generation to push me. I don’t have to make albums. I don’t have to do anything at this point. It’s about wanting to, and that’s never changed for me no matter what level the fame’s gotten to. I still love to rap. It’s always been the most important thing to me. I still have fun writing.”

The entire article can be read here.

Eminem Covers XXL’s 25th Anniversary Issue was last modified: September 15th, 2022 by Meka