Eminem will appear on the cover of Rolling Stone this week where readers can also find a detailed interview about The Marshall Mathers LP 2 rapper.

"I'm as happy as I can be, I guess," Eminem told Rolling Stone. "Hip-hop saved my life, man. It's the only thing I've ever been even decent at. I don't know how to do anything else. I think they have a word for that - what do they call it? Idiot savant?"

The rapper also discussed his platinum hit "Berzerk," which he says was influenced by the Beastie Boys.

"The whole song to me feels like vintage Beastie Boys," Eminem said. "...When Paul's Boutique came out, I was one of the fans that didn't get it. It took me years to realize how fucking genius it is. I felt bad for sleeping on it."

Slim Shady even sees similarities between himself and the Beastie Boys.

"Obviously, yes, there was something about Licensed to Ill - you had the Zeppelin samples and their vibe," he said. "You had Run-DMC, who were so cool, with the attitude of 'Fuck you if you don't like us.' Same as the Beastie Boys. 'Fuck you. We fucking curse. We spit beer. We throw it on our fucking fans.' And obviously as they got older their views and things changed, as all of ours do. You can be mad at their shit for not sounding like their last shit, but if it did, then they didn't grow as artists. Same as me."

Eminem finds inspiration in many hip hop greats.

"Being a student of hip-hop in general, you take technical aspects from places," he said. "You may take a rhyme pattern or flow from Big Daddy Kane or Kool G Rap, but then you go to Tupac, and he made songs. His fucking songs felt like something - 'Holy shit! I want to fucking punch someone in the face when I put this CD in.' Biggie told stories. I wanted to do all that shit."

Eminem's interview with Rolling Stones hits newsstands on Friday.