Just days after the highly anticipated ShadyXV cut “Detroit Vs. Everybody” was released, Statik Selektah, the producer behind the record, spoke about his initial response to fans questioning his appearance on the track despite not hailing from Detroit. The cut, in line with its title, features Detroit rappers Eminem, Royce Da 5’9, Big Sean, Danny Brown, DeJ Loaf and Trick Trick.
“I understand a real Detroit fan that was like, ‘I wish the producer was from Detroit,’” Statik Selektah says during an exclusive interview with HipHopDX that premiered in the DX Daily today (November 13). “But guess what? No disrespect to anybody there. I love Black Milk and I love Apollo Brown. Besides that, I don’t know anyone and they chose me. I don’t know what else to say. I love those dudes. It’s like Q-Tip and ‘Crooklyn.’ But yo, if I got that song in my e-mail and Black Milk produced it, I’d go in on it because it’s a good fucking record. I was fortunate enough to have it and I’ve been paying dues with Shady for a long time as far as being on the radio. I’ve done Eminem records before, but they were featuring him. I needed this, man. It’s a great feeling.”
After disclosing how the collaboration came about in an interview last month, Statik Selektah reveals why James Brown’s 1970 hit “Funky Drummer” was instrumental in the final version of the ShadyXV record.
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“When I made the beat, I could picture Eminem on it because I’ve been on a mission to get a record with Eminem—like an actual Em’ record,” Statik Selektah says during the interview, which was conducted after a show with Joey Bada$$ at Irvine Plaza in New York for his B4.DA.$$ tour. “So in my head, I’m thinking I got an Em’ record made. What else could it be? If it was Slaughterhouse, I don’t think it would’ve been the same involvement with Paul [Rosenberg, Eminem’s manager]. I think he would’ve sent me to an A&R or somebody. Paul was like, ‘Nah.’ Everything was between me and him the whole time. Not my manager. Nobody. It was an e-mail that said, ‘We don’t have much time.’ That’s how I knew it was for Eminem, because I knew ShadyXV was coming. I sent him all of it and then I went on tour.
“Now I’m on tour for a week with [Joey Bada$$],” Statik Selektah continues. “We’re in San Francisco and Rosenberg reaches out and says ‘Yo, we gotta rework the drums.’ So I ended up reworking the drums mad times over clearances and shit. And then at the end of the day, another three weeks go by and I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’ Then I get the paperwork from the label. All that goes through and now it’s official. At the end of it, they kept the original drums, which is amazing because I didn’t want to change them. It’s James Brown’s ‘Funky Drummer.’ I didn’t sample the record ‘Funky Drummer.’ I sampled the session. There was some issue clearing it, but they cleared it, though. At the end of the day, I never heard the record until last night at midnight when everyone else heard it.”
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