Skylar Grey has been a Hip Hop favorite since her rise to fame in 2010 and her voice is heard on some of Hip Hop’s biggest tracks. If she didn’t sing on the song, there’s a good chance she wrote it. Such is the case with Eminem’s biggest hit, “Love The Way You Lie.”
“Love The Way You Lie” was met with enormous public appeal. The Rihanna-assisted track, which was released in 2010, spent seven weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100. The song eventually went diamond and currently has over two billion views on YouTube alone.
After a slew of failure, Grey underwent a self-imposed exile, where she locked herself in an isolated cabin. While in confinement, Grey committed herself to become self-sufficient. She taught herself ProTools and focused on her songwriting and music production. Through her publicist, Grey met British producer Alex Da Kid. The first song they created was “Love The Way You Lie.”
In the first part of a three-part series, Grey tells HipHopDX about her early career, meeting Eminem and being dead broke when she wrote her first diamond-certified hit.
HipHopDX: What did “Love The Way You Lie” mean to you?
Skylar Grey: The song itself was very personal. I never had written a track before. Alex [Da Kid] sent me this track and I just sang whatever I felt over it, you know? It was a very personal lyric based on my experience, not only with my ex-boyfriend, but the music industry. Feeling like there was something in me that loved to be tortured and loved the misery, because I kept getting sucked back into situations. That’s what “Love The Way You Lie” was about. Then a month later it was the No. 1 song. Eminem had cut it. Rihanna had cut it. I was broke living in a cabin in the woods and this was all happening and suddenly I had the biggest song in the world as a songwriter. Fucking crazy.
HipHopDX: Where do you go from there?
Skylar: Well, my phone was ringing off the hook. Everybody wanted their “Love The Way You Lie.” I had a ton of different artists reaching out. Labels wanting to get songs for their artists. I always set out to be an artist. I never set out to be a songwriter for other people. But when I realized I needed to make a living in this music game, I opened my mind to getting other people songs. And it worked. I started answering these phone calls and it felt like commissioned artwork. I did some stuff for Dr. Dre and Puff Daddy and Lupe Fiasco. Mostly Hip Hop.
HipHopDX: Why do you think that Hip Hop was particularly drawn to your sound?
Skylar: You know, I don’t know. I didn’t really grow up with a Hip Hop background, although I discovered Eminem when I was twelve or thirteen and I was obsessed with his music. Then I got more into Hip Hop later in life. There was something in me that was always obsessed with that sound of that pretty female vocal over hard [rap] music. “Stan” was my first introduction to that sound. When I did “Where’d You Go” with Fort Minor, it sat in that same category. It felt like a cool place for me to live. I think I manifested this career for wanting to put my beautiful touches on harder music.
HipHopDX: When was it that you met Eminem?
Skylar: It was after “Love The Way You Lie” came out and was a big success. He invited Alex and I to Detroit to work on the project Dr. Dre was working on at the time. We walked into the studio and met Eminem together. It was crazy. I was really intimidated.
HipHopDX: I would be terrified.
Skylar: I remember just being super quiet, really shy. Later he told me he thought maybe I was kind of a bitch because I was so quiet [laughs].
HipHopDX: What were your first impressions of him?
Skylar: I just thought he was one of the most talented people of all time. He was really easy to work with, surprisingly. All I knew of him was his music up until that point. He’s been so generous with his time and feedback for me. He’s really become kind of a mentor.
Stay tuned for the next part of the Skylar Grey interview series coming soon and follow Skylar Grey on Instagram @skylargrey for new music.
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lol ..but he’s the greatest.. he don’t have ghostwriters does he?? lol oh yes… he does.. isn’t that funny??? Phresher is now putting words in Em’s mouth.. where they melt.. in his mouth apparently not on his hands.. crew on that for awhile.. the smoke has cleared.. it was a pack of lies.. so much for the great white hype… just another fake dick rider.. hilarious..
have you heard the song? she wrote the vocals that rihanna sang, not eminem’s lyrics dummy LOL
She wrote the entire song.. keep slapping ya teeth and gums.. and eat shit.. a whole shit cake ya bitch you..
Songwriter(s)
Marshall Mathers Alex da Kid Skylar Grey.
nah she didnt. a 5 second google search and you’d know. nice troll tho kaz.
Dmx here we go again is better then stan and I bet dmx wrote the chorus too I listen to Stan the other day and it only the chorus dat good too and eminem didnt write dat chorus either
content was ok here we go again by dmx is better it juz hes not talking to a fan u talking to someone he was cool wit x better then eminem cuz I know dmx had people on the chorus and dey might have written them but not his top 10 best or even top 20 I bet dat
you mean drake? lol
Shut up clown
My dicks in your throat.. after I just pulled out your mamas ass.. peck boy
Gay
She wrote rhiannas hook you numbnutts XD
Num nuts???? lol my nuts are numb .. yeah right .. what an insult.. numb nuts.. lol lol
Here’s the dumbest comment. Right here
Really? THAT was his biggest song? Bigger than “lose yourself” and “without me”? And “Stan”? Weird.
How is it weird? White rapper makes jingle rap and sells 90 billion records. That’s how it works.
You sound “like a pissed-off rapper who never made it” Lolol
guys… Puff Daddy…
It must be noted for the moron far below that Eminem wrote his verses. People are clowns. Anyone who wants to throw out the “he sold this much because he is white” line should realize: A. he himself admits this in White America (2002), and B. it doesnt take away from his greatness. It’s cool for rappers to do songs with Mariah Carey, Beyonce, JLo, Justin Timberlake (the list goes on) but he does songs with Rihanna, Alicia Keys, Skylar and Pink and he’s the sell out trying to go pop? Raekwon did a song with the Biebs, doesnt get more pop than that. Sure, Em used to rip on all the popstars, but the others making music with popstars generally claimed to be the hardest, baddest, most gangster til they realized they would make more money with someone else on the track. Jay once claimed he would never fall in love, now he is worshipping beyonce’s feet. Got no problem with it but technically it is being a hypocrite. OR, it’s called being young and flexing and then maturing and realizing a lot of the bullshit you said before isnt really how life works. I just hate the hate legends receive because it is cool nowadays to be snarky and bash on those who are successful.
Em eats shit..
And what have you done Kaz? Oh that’s right you’re a loser troll on the internet, wow great accomplishment!!! Shut your stupid ass shit eating mouth woman. Once I’m done with your momma’s holes I’ll stick it in your mouth.
Billions of humans eat poop because so many don’t wash their hands after wiping their ass. True story
Are you saying it’s not a sellout move or saying you don’t care that it’s a sellout move. Either way, the music was better when it didn’t have pop artists on it, that’s why we complain. I forgot about the Raekwon thing though, I never even heard the song but I’m sure it’s far inferior to anything on OB4CL.
Always great to see artists helping other artists.
Comment section is disgusting but its an Eminem story. I won’t bash his music here and even though I don’t care for Skylar’s music, her story is dope and she still has her own lane she stays in. The Airplanes joint and Words I Never Said were alright tunes.
That song .. That year.. The Best.. Love Rihanna(still my fav female artist) didn’t care for rap at that time it was a lot of bitch this puss(y) that niggar this and that with threatening anger tones now with that being said that song that year broadened my horizons to the world of hip hop (98%Eminem) 10 yrs later (now I’m 50+yo) still rap’n along w Em on Pandora playing his songs ovr and over an .. Well u get the drift he’s hard to keep up with lol.. I can relate, I love his story, love his style, love most of his attitude he’s real no b.s and tries not to give 2 fucks what pple say about him but you say something bout Haley!!..watch out mf hes coming for ya! Now that’s makes him a Real Man! (NVR leave your lil girl wondering what she did so wrong that you didn’t come bck) jus say’n.. Eminem is the most crazily brilliantly amazingly insanely talented male artist of ALL TIME! #???‼???‼ #???#??? #1??ofall??❗
Rihanna’s #1Female artist of all time! This is my opinion #nohaters
✌?respect!
Let me share something with ya. n×××AR is the hillbilly version of the word n×××ER and what you hear in rap music is n×××a, big difference. Black people use it without the hard r at the end and white people shouldn’t use it at all except when you’re alone rapping along to music. It’s 2020 and I don’t know about you but I want to be part of the solution.
Ya. No doubt then they should respect the fact of not glorifying the word either
Well it’s too late that word is theirs now it’s a part of their culture and I hope it feels like victory every time it makes a white person uncomfortable.
Obviously bigots will always try to use it to hurt but more then likely not face to face because they don’t wanna get their ass kicked.
Eminem is a culture vulture.
Lmfao. Ignore the fact that hip hop has roots in every other genre of music, but yeah, eminem is a culture vulture. Idiot.
Then so is Jimmy Hendrix
Em said “all I know is I wrote every single word of everything I ever murdered / time to separate these sheep’s from goats / an I got no faith In ur writers I don’t believe in ghosts”
She wrote the chorus smart guy…
Stans just can’t take the fact that Eminem has has ghostwriters huh ???
Lol you’re a dumbass. How do you get ghost writer from her singing her line/chorus? Do you even know what ghost writer means? Man you’re dumb as fuck lol lol
Eminem has ghostwriters ??????
She wrote the hook. She was originally planned to do the hook, then Rihanna took that spot. So Rihanna sang Skylar Grey’s lyrics. Eminem writes his own lyrics.
For choruses. Yea. Eyybody do.
Kaz it’s embarrassing reading your comments ? ain’t nobody agreeing with your ass but your so confident with the dumb shit you’re saying. You seem like a fucking loser who has nothing better to do than hate on the white rapper. Just a Salty and bitter ass Racist Nobody. What a halfwit. Small minded with a small dick. Like really, who hates on one of the few real talented MCS that we have left in the mainstream? I can understand hating mumble rap or 6ix9ine… there’s only one reason that you’re hating. You’re bitter and you’re a racist. Or you’re just triggered by the majority of the world loving Eminem. You know you can like Eminem, Big L, red man, schoolboy q, Treach, Nas, Jay, big daddy Kane and other real MCs? Please tell me the reason you hate lol makes no fucking sense to me.
Realist shit ive seen on this butch thus far thank you for speaking the truth
In no world did she say she wrote for Em where the fuck are ppl getting this from the king of hating ghost would never let another pick up his pen especially not a singer who doesn’t know how to rap she admits she only wrote for RiRi so dead all that she wrote his part too shit
She wrote Rihanna part not eminem’s. She Came up with the concept of the song the beat. Like Eminem said if he didn’t write it he not going to say it thats why Rihanna sings it.
This was far from his biggest song.
Lose yourself says hi
how about writing me a fucking cheque.
how about writing me a multi-million dollar cheque you deceitful woman.
Deceiving is your mom . You dicklet
out of all these eminem classics n hits this is the biggest song for him? damn i hadnt known…
gentlemen, gentlemen, what are we fighting about today?
you guy don’t know shot because man possible been stealing song royalties from everyone
Bro go back to school your penmanship sucks and you’re comment makes not a bit of sense.
This is poor journalism: ” If she didn’t sing on the song, there’s a good chance she wrote it. ” And yet, you offer only song to support your claim that she pretty much ubiquitous in hip hop. You can do better than this.