Nick Cannon says Eminem knows better than to mess with him these days.

 

Cannon, 43, speaking with Billboard about his rift with the Detroit native, 51, said he believes he’s established himself as someone who will push back against those who speak ill of him.

‘I think he knows better now,’ Cannon told the publication. ‘If he keeps talking about me, I’m gonna keep talking back.’

The latest: Nick Cannon, 43, speaking with Billboard about his rift with Eminem, 51, said he believes he’s established himself as someone who will push back if he’s challenged

 

The Masked Singer personality was asked about his most recent exchange with the Lose Yourself rapper late last year after Eminem called him ‘neutured’ and ‘whipped’ on the Fat Joe single Lord Above.

The San Diego, California native said he didn’t back down from the Grammy-winner, whose real name is Marshall Mathers.

‘My response was his invitation to Wild ‘N Out, and that still stands,’ said Cannon, who explained how he’s fine defending himself if attacked.

‘You gotta remember, I was defending myself once again,’ he said. ‘He keeps bringing it up for decades. I’m one of those cats that matches energy. I don’t do it – I overdo it.’

 

Standing up for himself: Cannon added that he’s held his ground in contentious situations since his teens. He was snapped in Miami in January

Beginnings: Cannon’s feud in Eminem began in 2009 when Eminem mentioned Nick and his then-wife Mariah Carey on his track Bagpipes From Baghdad, with Carey responding later that year with her song Obsessed. The former couple was snapped in 2008 in NYC

 

Cannon added that he’s held his ground in contentious situations since his teens: ‘Even in high school, I was a little guy, but if you made fun of me, I was gonna make fun of you, your momma.’

Despite the on-and-off clashes throughout the years, Cannon said he respects Eminem’s work, and views him as a standout performer in his genre.

‘If you’ve ever heard me speak on this matter,’ he said, ‘I always give that dude his props as an icon in hip-hop.’

 

Balanced: Cannon said he respects Eminem’s work, and views him as a standout performer in his genre. The Stan rapper was snapped in London in 2018

 

Cannon in the interview also elaborated on past remarks he made linking Eminem to institutional racism, saying that ‘it’s something Eminem has even addressed [in terms of] being a guest in the house of hip-hop.

‘When you come from a culture that was built by a community that didn’t have something of their own, but were able to embrace it and it became a new conduit of information for a new culture,’ he said. ‘And when someone comes in and shines in that medium and takes it to the masses, it’s the same thing as [what] Elvis Presley [did].’

Cannon added, ‘There’s nothing wrong with it, but you gotta accept it for what it is.’

Cannon’s feud in Eminem began in 2009 when Eminem mentioned Nick and his then-wife Mariah Carey in a negative way on his track Bagpipes From Baghdad, with Carey responding later that year with her song Obsessed.