Rick Rubin Explains Creative Process Behind Eminem’s “Berzerk”

    Eminem’s upcoming album, The Marshall Mathers LP 2, slated to be released November 5, is set to be executive produced by Rick Rubin and Dr. Dre. Rubin recently addressed his work on the album’s lead single, “Berzerk,” during a behind-the-scenes interview at the selection’s video shoot. 

    “I think it’s unlike any current Hip Hop songs,” Rubin said. “If you listen to what’s going on in Hip Hop, this is not what this is. We wanted to do something kind of throwback to some of the early records we were making in the ’80s, and it more reflects that energy of the early days of Hip Hop.”

    During the interview, Rubin also explained how the song evolved from its original stages.

    “We were working in the studio on a bunch of ideas, and this was one of the later ones to come up,” Rubin said. “It started with a sample, and the sample that we started with ended up not being in the record. The song sort of evolved. It started one way, it kind of got programmed and written to, and then it changed into a whole different song.”

    “I thought the track was really strong, and didn’t know what direction it was going to go vocally,” Rubin added. “And then, when I heard the vocals, I was pretty excited. It was not at all what I expected. Just the energy in it, and the lyrics, and the style of it. It’s so well done, and so smart, and so funny.”

    During the interview, Rubin also said that his work with Eminem has been planned for years.

    “I had met Paul [Rosenberg], Em’s manager, a few years ago, and we always talked about the possibility of getting together to work on something at some point down the road,” Rubin said. “It just worked out that it was meant to be at this time.”

    Aside from working with Eminem, Rubin also produced Kanye West’s Yeezus album this year. In June, Rubin spoke about his work on West’s collection.

    “Kanye came over to play me what I assumed was going to be the finished album at three weeks before the last possible delivery date,” Rubin said. “We ended up listening to three hours of partially finished pieces. The raw material was very strong but hadn’t yet come into focus. Many of the vocals hadn’t been recorded yet, and many of those still didn’t have lyrics. From what he played me, it sounded like several months more work had to be done. I joined the project because after discussing what he had played for me, he asked if I would be open to taking all of the raw material on and help him finish it.”

    Rubin’s rise to fame was as co-founder of Def Jam Records, where he was instrumental in the careers of LL Cool J, Run-DMC, Public Enemy and the Beastie Boys, among others.

    Watch the interview below:

    RELATED: The Marshall Plan: Hopes For Eminem’s “Marshall Mathers LP 2”

    64 thoughts on “Rick Rubin Explains Creative Process Behind Eminem’s “Berzerk”

      1. right nigga…u saying that like ur some kind of fan n shit…13 years ago u said he doesnt belong in this culture and now u act like u care…fuck outta here

      1. People always hate ems first singles but just wait and watch each hater have 7 different favorite songs when his album drops. Slaughter house kendrick and Jon Connor are gonna tear the cyphers apart most for the second year in a row and that’s shady after math all day so all the haters can suck a dick.

    1. HHDX posts the video yesterday then transcribes it and repurposes it as news today. They been doing that a lot lately.

    2. eminem is garbage drake is the king. Eminem needs to realize that fact and accept it and quit his shitty rapping carreer.

      1. Another dumb young cunt skull jobbing drake…..listen you ten year old fuck em would tear a hole in drake and I fucked your mother so fuck you

      2. bezerk was trash drake makes better music. Dont be mad at me cus eminem fell off and is garbage now

      3. Drake makes music for faggots, and women who wear high heels… I assume you’re one of them. Eminem would rip Drake apart, but his music has been wack for years now… They’re both played out.

      4. Dear Young Ignorant Drake Fan,
        Eminem fell off lol? Eminem has been around for 13 years and his last album sold 4.5 million. With dumb opinion like that you will be lucky if even your mother listens to you when you tell her to stop seeing me. This website should talk some since into you.
        http://www.eminemalbum2014.com

      5. lol em can kill drake anytime! drake sucks ! pls dont even compare them to each other
        drake shit is all redundant
        fkin boring!

    3. This album is gon have terrible production if whats been rumoured is true and there gonna be using 80’s type beats it gon sound like a shit beastie boys album y is he gonna tarnish the name of MMLP.

      Eminem still got lyrics but his voice n rappity rap flow is annoying me a lot the punchlines don’t come off smooth and superb lyrics are getting lost in a horrible flow.Recovery yelawolf album n slaughterhouse album all heavily produced by Eminem were terrible pop dirt.

      It pisses me off cause I want Eminem to come back with an amazing album cause this Drake thing is getting outta hand he aint hip hop its the softest faggot ass music ever

      1. word.Em is so talented but this voice thing is gettin annoyin.Its good for 3 or 4 tracks if he wants to sound aggresive n shit but when he uses it in almost every song is bad.He doesnt let the beat breathe at all.And its not the artist over the beat.Its the beat over the artist(for me)

      2. You’re a fucking moron. A “shit Beastie Boys album”? Please, show me a Beastie Boys album that is shit, especially compared to contemporary music. Without the Beastie Boys there would be no Eminem for you to dick-ride about the ‘good old days’ like your in a long unhappy marriage with him. People grow up, people change. Late ’90s Eminem is over. Whether you like his old music or new music better is all subjective. But calling the Beastie Boys shit immediately shows you have zero Hip-Hop knowledge.

      1. I said rumored to be 80’s type production u little fuck-boy learn to read but I know u just angry cause u got a long week of getting bullied in school for being a fuckin faggot.

    4. DMX trod the whole battle scene in NY, undefeated, really ran them streets with hip hop in his blood from a young age and showed people that he has a love for this art and is not with all the bullshit singles and radio shit people be putting out.

      In a Battle Dmx>>>>> Eminem

      Albums Flesh of my flesh is his 2nd best album>>>>>>>>>>> any em album

      Energy on the mic DMX>>>>>>. EM

      Countless cla##ic verses, 4,3,2,1 and 24 hours to live, niccaz done started something, ruff ryders anthem >>>> any Eminem verse

      DMXs singles >>>>>> ems singles

      Dmx impact on the game >>>>>>> Eminem impact(Just made kids think cross dressing is cool)

      X took the game out of the shiny era dolo and made ruff ryders that label..

      Will continue to do better than em on Sony records.

      U heard it here first

      1. X has better singles then Eminem yes but that’s it Eminem done so much more put out loads of successful artists X was really only bout himself like most drug addicts hes very selfish he made music n stared in a few movies that was it now hes bankrupt he cant rap nearly as good as 1998.

        Id rather go see DMX in a concert cause I find the sober Eminem a boring pop artist but Shady has the better legacy of the 2.

        Dunno if u even care prolly trolling like them freaks who post the same Gucci/ja/drake/wayne comments over and over cause they have no life this could be him im typing to.

    5. My creative process with Em is to give him any beat, and then sit back and watch him kill it like no rapper in the game can. That’s it.

      1. Sorry he doesnt look pretty for u, smh fucking faggot.

        Only bitches talk about another bitches appearance, be a man.

      1. He did everything he could for both of them. The fact is, they’re regional niche artists. Em put them in front of people they’d never have been in front of without him.

    6. just another example of how it doesn’t matter if you’re going broke, washed up, and haven’t made any profits since selling Def Jam.
      All you had to be was Jewish, and you were somehow able to produce Kanye, Jay-Z and Em’ albums within 6 months of eachother.
      Another example of how the world works, I guess.

      1. please check this guy’s extensive discography of productions in an outside of Hip Hop before talking shit..

      2. Almost a page without a bunch of racist comments (probably because they have been deleted), very proud of you enlightened people.

    7. The single isn’t really growing on me but i still have hopes for the album. I wish he would go back to the actual MMLP formula with him and the Bass Brothers producing most of the album with Dre doing 3-4 tracks. Otherwise the title just won’t seem fitting at all.

    8. I have a feeling this album gonna be tight. Its a sequel to a classic, he’s suppose to be battlin Busta on his new one, Kendrick gettin lyricalism back. Relapse was radio friendly. I’m hyped for this.

    9. THE KANYE WEST BIT HAS NO RELEVANCE TO THIS ARTICLE… YALL ARE FUCKING TERRIBLE WRITERS!

      OH YEAH THAT BERZERK IS WACK AS FUCK

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