Eminem XXL 25th anniversary interview

[A Pimp Named Slickback]

When things started happening for me, I was getting a lot of heat, being a White rapper, and XXL wrote something about that. I remember going to one of those newsstands in New York when the magazine had just started out, and I bought that and a couple of other rap magazines. I flipped to the last page first and XXL was dissing me. What the fukk? I don't even know if I read the whole article—I was used to reading things like that about me—but it hurt because I felt they didn't know me to make that kind of judgment. Coming up, I had to deal with that a lot. I wanted to be respectful because what I do is Black music. I knew I was coming into it as a guest in the house. And XXL, The Source, Rap Pages and Vibe were hip-hop bibles at the time.
I understood, at the same time, everybody's perception of a White guy coming into hip-hop and all of a sudden things start happening for him. So, if XXL would've even had a conversation with me, maybe they would've understood me more. Obviously, I was upset. And it wasn't just magazines. I had rappers left and right taking shots at me. I was used to that, too. Coming up through the battle scene, that didn't mean shyt to me, you know? I would go head-to-head with whoever.
But we patched it up. I don't remember how we got good. I don't remember what conversations took place or what sparked it. I dissed XXL at first in my song "Marshall Mathers": "And then to top it off, I walked to the newsstand/To buy this cheap-ass little magazine with a food stamp/Skipped to the last page, flipped right fast/And what do I see? A picture of my big White ass/OK, let me give you muthafukkas some help/Uh, here, XXL, XXL/Now your magazine shouldn't have so much trouble to sell/Aw, fukk it, I'll even buy a couple myself." But then later during the beef between me and Ray Benzino I said something like, "I got XXL's number anyways." So, we eventually did the cover with me, 50 and Dr. Dre when we signed 50. And the war with The Source was going on.

When I look back at my catalog, the first three albums, I'm definitely proud of them. Sometimes I go back, and I listen to them if I'm in a spot where I need some inspiration. Sometimes it helps me to go back to those songs. But then I think, Man, I could've done those vocals so much better. I could've connected this word with this word. I always do that kind of shyt.

My writing process is different now than it was back in the day. It used to be, give me whatever piece of paper is laying around and I'm going to write some ideas down. Sometimes I wish I could have that freedom back. At the beginning of my career, I had this whole canvas that I could paint on. "I haven't made a song about this, this, this. I can make a song about this." The more you paint on that canvas, all of the sudden, you've made a song about every single thing you can fukkin' possibly think of. So, I start getting in my head. If I had a choice between being the best rapper or making the best albums, I'd rather be the best rapper. That's how I rap, to be the best rapper. Obviously, all of that is subjective, and everybody's got their favorite rappers, but in my head, I would rather do that than just make good songs.

^ this explains so much


Read More: Eminem Interview - His Career, Addiction Battle, More - XXL | Eminem Gives Rare Interview on His Career, Battle With Addiction and Why He's Going to Keep Rapping

 

[Deltron]

you know Em, you can be both the best rapper and make good songs...the GOAT does that pretty effortlessly...

 

[TripleAgent]

Change that font color

 

[Busby]

Pretty interesting how Em reveals that “We As Americans” was the original opening track for “Encore.” Would have been the perfect contrast to “White America” that opened “The Eminem Show.”

Also quite interesting how “Bully” was going to be the follow up track which was then going to lead into “Evil Deeds.” If those tracks along with “Love You More” didn’t leak I believe the album would have been received a tad bit differently.

The first 5 tracks of “Encore,” Em did have a good flow going until we get to “Puke” and that’s when the album starts going downhill from there.

Kinda wish he stuck to his guns and kept those tracks on there regardless of the leaks..

 

[A Pimp Named Slickback]

Change that font color

What is it now?

 

[TripleAgent]

What is it now?

White, you can't read it.

 

[Black Mamba]

If he’s finna keep on rapping then respond to Game don’t be scared!

 

[A Pimp Named Slickback]

White, you can't read it.

What should I change it to? I'm on dark mode

 

[TripleAgent]

What should I change it to? I'm on dark mode

Something readable on both...bright red, maybe? Blue?

 

[Mike the Executioner]

you know Em, you can be both the best rapper and make good songs...the GOAT does that pretty effortlessly...

I really like Eminem's interviews because even though he's a private, guarded person, he'll always slip in something that lets me know why his music is the way it is, or reveals something about his creative process. This is one of those things.

We know he raps for sport, and we know that he's more concerned with how many syllables he can fit in his lines than how good the song sounds, but it's a different feeling when he confirms it.

I also think I understand now why he prefers Encore to Relapse. Encore should have been a better album and he knows that. If the songs hadn't leaked and he didn't make new ones while popping Valium and Vicodin every day, it could have been a classic. In his mind, it's the album that got away and it's always going to bother him. Relapse is more like, "Why did I make this at all?" and probably doesn't remind him of his earlier music, so he has no reason to care about it.

 

[ADP]

Dont even know where to start with that cover...

Tormented wax figure od photoshop of a job

Legendary run 98 2003, not many rappers more passionate about the craft than slim shay

 

[JustCKing]

Wow. This let's me know how far XXL fell off because whoever runs it now couldn't have any clue about the magazine history. How do you not at least reference Master P or Jay Z on the cover? XXL was the first publication to feature either of them on the cover. This was before either of them really blew up. Grand opportunity to highlight the growth of both of them over the last 25 years and how it coincides with the changes Hip Hop has undergone since XXL has been in publication.

 

[Deltron]

I also think I understand now why he prefers Encore to Relapse. Encore should have been a better album and he knows that. If the songs hadn't leaked and he didn't make new ones while popping Valium and Vicodin every day, it could have been a classic. In his mind, it's the album that got away and it's always going to bother him. Relapse is more like, "Why did I make this at all?" and probably doesn't remind him of his earlier music, so he has no reason to care about it.

so i guess he was sincere when he said encore should/would be his illmatic in a few years

 

[SunZoo]

 

[Mike the Executioner]

so i guess he was sincere when he said encore should/would be his illmatic in a few years

The strange thing is that he was right that critics will go back and praise his work after some time passes, but that applied to Relapse, not Encore. That probably pisses him off more that the album he sees as his worst one has a cult following.