Eminem is one of the most skilled lyricists in hip-hop and has been changing the game for over 25 years. As one of the culture’s most respected rappers, he has seen various artists come and go. However, there was one new-school prodigy who, according to Em, had mastered the art of freestyling.

Breaking out at the turn of the millennium after being discovered by Dr. Dre, Mathers released his second album, The Slim Shady LP, in 1999. The project was met with critical acclaim and went straight to number two on the Billboard 200. By the end of 1999, it was certified four times platinum. To this day, it is still classed as a classic and is one of the most successful hip-hop albums of all time.

One of the most incredible things about Eminem is his ability to freestyle. From lyrics off the top of his head to pre-written verses, his past as a battle rapper has given him an incredible advantage when it comes to the microphone.

That said, during an appearance on the podcast Crook’s Corner with Slaughterhouse artist Crooked I, Eminem spoke of his admiration for the late emcee Juice Wrld. The late SoundCloud rapper Juice Wrld was one of the most famous young artists in the US before tragically dying of a drug overdose in 2019.

Late last year, a posthumous single from Juice Wrld named ‘Lace It’ featuring Eminem, produced by Benny Blanco, hit s streaming services. The track heard Em give a shoutout to all of those MCs who have died of drug overdoses, including Shock G, Lil Peep, ODB (Ol’ Dirty Bastard), Gangsta Boo, Pimp C, Prince, Michael Jackson, and Juice Wrld himself.

Speaking to Crooked I about the ‘Lucid Dreams’ artist, Eminem reflected, “Juice, that kid was so talented man. His freestyle that he did on Westwood, where he rapped for an hour, was like,’ What the fuck?!’”

The Encore creator continued, “He might have been mixing a little bit of written in there, but that’s the shit that we used to try to do at the hip-hop shop was like try to work on our freestyles, but to slip in and out of written when you need to so if you got a punchline you need to get to take out this dude. To be so young! He mastered that so fucking quickly it’s really sad man, his potential was so off the chart.”

You can watch Eminem speaking about Juice Wrld in the video below.