“When the first Naughty By Nature album dropped, that whole summer, I couldn’t write a rap.”

Eminem is regarded as one of the best rappers of all time and he hasn’t shied away from going toe-to-toe with other rappers. The 50-year-old wordsmith revealed that, at one point in his career, he considered quitting due to feeling like he couldn’t keep up with Naughty By Nature and Nas.

The New York Times published an interview with Marshall Mathers on Tuesday (July 18) as part of their recognition of Hip-Hop’s 50th anniversary. The Detroit lyricist talked about rappers who utilized compound-syllable rhyming, namely Juice Crew, Lord Finesse, Kool G Rap, and Big Daddy Kane, among others. “I don’t even think I understood why I liked it,” Em said. “I had a couple of friends that had to point out to me how many syllables someone was rhyming.”

The “Rap God” artist, who is seemingly never at a loss for words, went on to speak about dealing with a difficult case of writer’s block at one point in his career due to Treach from Naughty By Nature. “And then Treach from Naughty By Nature came along and he was doing all that, too,” Slim Shady said. “I wanted to be him. When the first Naughty By Nature album dropped, that whole summer, I couldn’t write a rap. ‘I’ll never be that good; I should just quit.’ So I was depressed, but that’s all I played for that summer.”