Eminem was a recent guest on LL Cool J’s Sirius XM radio show Rock The Bells Radio, where the two Hip Hop powerhouses discussed a bevy of topics, including their Hip Hop origins.
During the interview, Em recalled getting the Slim Shady EP off the ground, a fateful trip to Las Vegas and meeting Dr. Dre for the first time.
“The Slim Shady EP that we pressed up staring moving some decent amount of units,” he says. “We had a guy in Vegas who wanted to buy 5,000 of ’em. We were like, ‘Oh shit!’ So, we go to Vegas. We started running around, putting the shit on consignment at different stores and stuff. I come back to the hotel just from doing that and Marky Bass was like, ‘Man, we gotta a call from some doctor. He wants to meet with you.’ I’m like, ‘Don’t fuck with me. Don’t fuck with me. Do not fuck with me.’
“‘Cause I remember I was in the car with these two chicks right before I went out to Vegas to sell the tapes and they were playing ‘Phone Tap.’ I was like, ‘Yo, if I could just get with Dre. Oh my god.’ Literally a week later, we got a meeting with Dre when we go out there. Then he walks in and I’m like, ‘You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.’ That was it.”
As Slim goes on, he remembers running into LL at a Foot Locker after signing with Dre.
“Next thing you know, I’m in Foot Locker with Curtis Tucker and she’s getting outfits for the ‘Just Don’t Give A Fuck’ video and I see you [LL Cool J].
“I’m like, ‘Yo, he’s in here by himself. I was buggin’ the fuck out. You quoted a lyric back to me [from ‘Role Model’]. You said, ‘Yo, how can I be white/I don’t even exist.’ You quoting that lyric back to me, I think I shit myself.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Em opens up about the power of Hip Hop and how he fell in love with the culture. He rattles off LL, Run-DMC, Beastie Boys, Ice-T and the Fat Boys as being major influences on him coming up.
“It’s just something about the music spoke to me,” he says. “It was so new and different and refreshing. You also didn’t really have to be able to sing. Something about the music felt empowering. It just spoke to me as a kid. I wanted to be like you. I hope that doesn’t sound weird.
“I absolutely wanted to be like you. I wanted to be like Run-DMC. Something about it. It was the energy — you could just say what you wanna say. You could talk about your life and talk about shit that bothers you. I just gravitated toward it and never strayed from the first day I heard a rap song.”
Finally, Em discusses writing the iconic single “Stan” from 2000’s The Marshall Mathers LP. Over the past 18 years, the song has become a permanent fixture in pop culture. In fact, it’s even listed in the Oxford Dictionary.
“When I first got in the game, I didn’t understand a lot of shit,” he explains. “If you were walking outside the venue after a show, you saw some fans and took some pictures and shit, there’s always going to be somebody that you don’t get a chance to get to. That was one of the things that I started seeing.
“It was my first experience with it … I think it was combination of what I was going through at that time and experiencing fame for the first time and all that stuff.”
He adds, “I basically put myself in the fan’s shoes.”
The Eminem interview is part of the upcoming inaugural episode of LL’s new monthly show, The Influence Of Hip Hop, which will be co-hosted by DJ Z-Trip.
The show premieres on Saturday (September 1) at 3 p.m. ET on Rock the Bells Radio via satellite on channel 43 through the SiriusXM app on smartphones and other connected devices, as well as online here. [apple_news_ad type=”any”]
LL forever setting the bare in Hip Hop, how many MCs can say they literally invented styles of rap that everyone else in a culture has since used?
Bar.
If you know you know. But LL might have heard some records before they came out. Its not unusual for artists to just show up at other peoples studio sessions to see whats up. Maybe Dre or someone else played him something. LL has said numerous times that he heard about Eminem before he blew up with sslp.
1. Real Hip Hop (ft. Justin Bieber) 2. Motivation Ballad (ft. Skylar Grey) 3. Look At Us, We Can Rap Fast (ft. Tech N9ne) 4. Don’t Be Mad At Me (ft. Lil Yachty and Young Thug) 5. I’m Sorry (ft. Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera) 6. Rap God Pt 2 (ft. Macklemore) 7. Another Song for Hailie (ft. Lukas Graham) 8. Another Song for Mom (ft. Bastille) 9. Me and Riri Again (ft. Rihanna) 10. Fresh Prince of Detroit (ft. Will Smith) 11. Please Help Us (ft. Nicki Minaj) 12. Stans Will Always Love Me, No Matter What (ft. Future, Lil Pump and Drake) 13. Another Song About My Drug Usage (ft. Imagine Dragons and X Ambassadors) 14. Still No Shady Artists on Here (ft. Phresher) 15. I Love Fucking Up Classic Rock Samples (ft. Rick Rubin and P Diddy) 16. Ultimate Trump Diss (ft. YG, Macklemore and Jay-Z) 17. Real Hip Hop Remix (ft. Justin Bieber, Pink and Beyoncé) 18. BFF (ft. Dr. Dre and some new unknown female singer)
Yo wtf if you smoking? That ain’t never gonna happen. N Macklemore will never feature with the real slim shady!!!!
This was hilarious
Wow, get a life, dude.
The track list of hands down someone who doesn’t know shit about Hip Hop Hahahaha Also Will Smith bodybagged Eminem on “Mr Nice Guy” why would he feature with someone as toxic as Em when he’s all about positivity and inspiring people and Ems career has been trying to tear down celebrities he’s never met?
REAL HIP HOP FEATURING BIEBER PINK AND BEYONCÉ LMFAOOOOOOOOO
best rapper alive, even though his best raps are retired
That retirement traclist is jokes
Retirement tracklist is some real shit. FIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Down
Is
To the ones that didn’t take my tracklist serious and can take a joke, thank you. Shows that some people still have a sense of humor, even if the joke has some sad truths to it. Hopefully, all the mixed receptions of Em’s few previous albums, especially Revival, will light a fire on his ass and he’ll come out with a much better, more focused project next time where he wins more of his old fans back. I know he has it in him.
100. shit was hilarious. Em’s albums been trash since encore and I know I’m a minority for liking that one. We always got the first 4 and the D12 albums
Relapse and Recovery were better than encore IMO.
Eminem = MOST ANNOYING RAPPER EVER
When I met Drake the first time, it was at a Starbucks and I j-, I mean, pissed myself. He was the most handsome guy I’ve ever seen and wanted to be just like him at getting all the women. Let’s just say, I haven’t gotten very far with that since he’s pretty much all I think about along with fake drug dealer Pusha T, but he keeps me motivated everyday. I love you Drake, you’re the best!
That was unrelated and pointless. Thanks!
I’d SHZIZT myself meeting Mr.SLIM SHADY support my music and lyrics uncle josh c-LIFE sound cloud one LUV free C-murda campaign
True Legend! ain’t no one alive can spit bars like this man… some people say that he’s done some trash tracks but let me know when any rapper in the history that have had a full track list with no songs that you won’t skip? lyrically no one can mess with this guy and if you doubt it have any of your favorite rappers test him and lets see!