Tha Dogg Pound rapper sat down for an interview with The Art of Dialogue, where he was asked about Melle Mel’s recent controversial comments about Slim Shady, who he said is only considered a top rapper because he’s white.

The Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five pioneer’s remarks came after Em was ranked No. 5 on Billboard’s Top 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time list, ahead of The Notorious B.I.G., Lil Wayne, André 3000 and others.

Kurupt initially responded by disagreeing with Melle Mel, arguing Eminem’s s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁s on the mic are undisputed, regardless of his race.

“That’s his opinion. That’s not our opinion,” he said. “The way Dr. Dre took Eminem subject matter-wise is one thing; the way Eminem rocked — he’s a battle rapper, so he’s Hip Hop, no matter what color he is. Dr. Dre took him in this way, so that has no bearing on his s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁. His s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁s are renowned.”

He added: “But that’s Melle Mel’s feel on it. Melle Mel is an icon of Hip Hop … Remember, he’s the original Hip Hop so Melle Mel speaks from that standpoint. For my generation, hey, Eminem is our monster. His color is irrelevant.”

Eminem has ruffled plenty of feathers throughout his career, both within and beyond Hip Hop. His initial rise to stardom in the late ’90s saw him poke fun at pop culture figures like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera — most notably in his music video for “The Real Slim Shady.”

More bitter feuds followed in the 2000s, including with Ja Rule, Everlast, Canibus, Mariah Carey, Insane Clown Posse, Benzino and The Source magazine. His lauded lyrics have also been laced with shots at sitting presidents, the LGBTQ+ community and his mother Debbie Mathers and ex-wife Kim Scott.

Eminem has never shied away from acknowledging the advantage that his skin color has afforded him, though. “Let’s do the math: If I was black, I would’ve sold half/ I ain’t have to graduate from Lincoln High School to know that,” he famously rapped on 2002’s “White America.”

His verse continued: “When I was underground, no one gave a fuck I was white/ No labels wanted to sign me, almost gave up, I was like/ ‘Fuck it’ until I met Dre, the only one to look past/ Gave me a chance and I lit a fire up under his ass/ Helped him get back to the top, every fan Black that I got/ Was probably his in exchange for every white fan that he’s got/ Like, damn, we just swapped, sittin’ back lookin’ at shit, wow/ I’m like, ‘My skin is startin’ to work to my benefit now’?”

In a revealing cover story for XXL last year, Eminem admitted that he was “hurt” by the white rapper criticism he faced early in his career.

“When things started happening for me, I was getting a lot of heat, being a white rapper, and XXL wrote something about that,” he wrote. “I remember going to one of those newsstands in New York when the magazine had just started out, and I bought that and a couple of other rap magazines. I flipped to the last page first and XXL was dissing me. What the fuck?