Eminem 'successful' because of Vanilla Ice? 'Ice Ice Baby' star 'paved the way' for white rappers like Slim Shady, will 'MMLP2' emcee respond with rap diss?

Vanilla Ice performed at Dubai's New Year's Eve celebrations earlier this week. But before ringing-in 2014, the infamous "Ice Ice Baby" rapper (real name, Robert Van Winkle) sparked some controversy by stating that he helped "pave the way" for other popular white rappers like Eminem. Wonder what Slim Shady has to say to that?

According to Vanilla Ice:

"I definitely opened doors and made it acceptable to get into hip-hop... White rappers are few and far between and, during that era, I made it possible to move into that genre and be very successful."

And the To the Extreme rapper doesn't care if some fans might think otherwise (especially those you claim Eminem's "nothing like him"):

"I carved a way and it helped the industry, I don't care what anyone thinks."

Ice also opened up about his depression during the early stages of his career:

"I had a hit with Ice Ice Baby when I was just 16. People forgot that I was still just a child, but I was surrounded by artificial people, living an artificial life. I self-destructed... You need to find the strength to continue and you need to surround yourself with real friends and family." 

Hey, maybe Ice and the MMLP2 hitmaker DO have something in common.

What do Mstars fans think - should Shady thank Vanilla Ice for his success over other legendary musicians including, let's say, the Beastie Boys?