Chris Webby on Eminem, Tech N9ne's Influences

Chris Webby's aware that before anyone actually listens to his music—like his recently dropped Chemically Imbalanced LP that just hit No. 25 on the Billboard 200 albums chart—his skin color might automatically have people inclined to compare him to the likes of Eminem. The indie MC says he finds the comparisons flattering as the two rappers have carved out completely different lanes for themselves.

"At the end of the day, I grew up listening to a lot of different rappers," he says. "Eminem was my favorite MC and he was the one who allowed me to realize it was even a possibility for me to do it, being of the pigment that I am. 

"I would say that I've taken pages out of a bunch of different books and I've written my own, stylistically. Anytime I'm being compared to Em, it's cool, man. As long as people aren't like, 'Yo, you're jacking his style!' And I really don't think I have, no one's really said that. It's a completely different story line, completely different upbringing, completely different lyrical style. There's just the similarity that we're white."