in a sort of unrelated note, people say it was Masta Ace, but I feel like it was ELZHI that Eminem stole his Slim Shady era delivery style from. Everybody who's heard Em's first "Infinite" album knows he didnt' sound like that at first.
But at the same time, I really don't know the time frame that El and Em both started rapping, or what Detroit's underground scene was like.
All I know is....