On the heels of his latest release, “Go,” British producer Alex Da Kid sat down with Julie Adenuga for a Beats 1 Radio interview released Wednesday (May 23) to give listeners the inside scoop on working with Eminem, Dr. Dre and Rihanna.
Known for producing tracks like Dr. Dre’s “I Need a Doctor” and Nicki Minaj’s “Massive Attack,” Alex opened up about how his production on B.o.B’s “Airplanes” remix started his relationship with Eminem.
“I was also sending him beats through his A&R, because he was going to make an album that wasn’t like Dre-centric for the first time, so he was looking for a new sound,” Alex says. “I was sending him really strange beats, because I know he liked them and then he did the remix, and he got on it, he didn’t really realize it was the same producer and then he realized and he’s like, ‘send me some more stuff,’ so I sent him ‘Love The Way You Lie,’ and he loved it and he did it.”
Though Em loved the track, Alex and him did get into a small dispute about mixing it.
“He was like, ‘OK, I want to put it out,’ and I’m like, ‘Well, who’s mixing it?’ And he was like, ‘I’m mixing it,’ and I was like, ‘Well, I need to be there.’ And he was like, ‘You can’t come to Detroit. I’m mixing it by myself or you can’t have the song.’ We argued for a little bit, and he said eventually I could come to Detroit and mix it, ‘Fine. Do it.’ So I came there and we just hit it off straight away.”
Alex also explained how Rihanna’s feature on “Love The Way You Lie” came to be and the success of the single, which is certified diamond by the RIAA and currently has 1.5 billion views on YouTube.
“Rihanna wasn’t even on it at the time. Skylar Grey, who wrote the hook, was on it still. The song was mastered and done and we were trying to get her to record it. She loved it but she was on tour and she couldn’t find a studio. But then she eventually got on it. I don’t think people really thought it was going to be a single. People loved it but people weren’t sure. Then it came out and Rihanna did a show at Staples Center and Eminem came out. And all the press and everybody were there and nobody expected it and it went crazy that point on. ”
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Take a listen to the full interview below.
“Recovery” is Eminem’s worst album. Yes, @ me.
Pretty sure Revival was his worst..it was trash top to bottom..
Revival is very middling but doesn’t have songs as bad as “Cinderella Man,” “WTP” or “Talking 2 Myself.”
Suck dick
Did you really just call “Talking 2 Myself” a bad song??? The song where we finally get to hear about his life and his thoughts on hip-hop for the last 6 years in hyper-personal detail (“I made a track almost dissing Lil Wayne”)???
I’d take any of those Recovery cuts over anything as rote and painfully pandering as “Remind Me,” “Heat,” “Needed Me,” “Tragic Endings,” and “Nowhere Fast.”
Far from a shady fan although he gets cred for his contribution.With tht said you are trippin byoi.No more nonsense trent
Yep Recovery is definitely his weakest joint
NO. Nobody respond to this CLOWN. Anytime you dissect the BS DX writes up, their comment gets taken down. Meanwhile hate speech and mumble rappers are praised. Trent Clark just wants clicks and traffic he doesn’t care about the music or culture. FOH
I don’t gunk so man. Revival is worse because he can’t find a flow… at all anymore. He flowed flawlessly in recovery. Cold wind blows, 25 to life, space bound, tbh I like every song on recovery. Sue ME… ur opinion is popular Trent don’t act like those are your own thoughts
Shit was trash anyway yo…fight me…
Revival is for sure Em’s worst, but Recovery signaled things for the worse.
Everything after the Eminem Show is the worst Trent Clark
Revival & Encore are easily way worse than Recovery. Maybe even MMLP2 too if it didn’t have the bonus disc.
When Recovery came out everyone loved it, now everyone hates it. Relapse was released and everyone said it was terrible, now they say it is a great slim shady album. I can’t take anyone’s opinion seriously.
Recovery is a great album, but the problem is his albums after that sound like bad versions. I think if he wouldn’t of kept going with this style Recovery would be appreciated more. As for Relapse (which is also a great album in my eyes) people just miss the old Eminem so they gravitate towards that more. Personally I always thought Relapse was amazing, it was like a new version of SSLP to me. But yea I think if it wasn’t for the style change, but would still love Recovery &Hate Relapse.
I don’t know what planet you lived on but I saw opposite reactions for Recovery. At first, people were bitching on Eminem’s new style too, nowadays it’s considered not as bad as his last two albums
Keepin it real, when I heard I first heard I need a Doctor I thought it was the worst song Dre ever produced. Was it released as a official record? Didnt make a chart anywhere. The only good clip out the video was showin Eazy E love which he shoulda did when he passed not 20 years later…