
Tuesday's release of The Marshall Mathers LP2 is like any Eminem arrival: There are lofty expectations from virtually everyone. I'm always thinking about music videos and ideas, concepts. "I'm always imagining shooting video visualizing the picture. Speaking Wednesday from New York, where he'd arrived for the SNL gig, Eminem reflected on the video work he'd done days earlier in Detroit. As is usual, a new Eminem disc is cause for speculation, big headlines and high-profile appearances, including Billboard and Rolling Stone covers hitting newsstands this week and a scheduled performance on Saturday Night Live. It was a rare look behind the scenes of Eminem's famously tight-lipped and closely held world, just a week before his first new album in more than three years was to be released.
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This scene repeated itself for hours during the Detroit Free Press visit, which was just a small chunk of the two-day shoot. He'd huddle with his cohorts, take some water and get right back out in front of the camera. After almost every shot, Eminem would go immediately to one of the video monitors looking for things he liked - and didn't. Then he'd jump in front of the camera, performing a full, six-minute take. Among those watching were Eminem's longtime manager, Paul Rosenberg, and music video director Rich Lee, who also helmed the videos for Lighters and Not Afraid.Įminem, like a prizefighter about to step into the ring, moved from one corner of the designated floor space to the other corner.

Inside the Russell Industrial Center complex just north of downtown, the production crew had created an ominous mood - minimal lighting, the air filled with smoke. Working in front of one stationary camera and a production crew of a couple dozen people, the Detroit rapper was hard at work on the upcoming video for the song - a boisterous, six-minute verbal fusillade that both drops respect for past hip-hop stars and declares Eminem as the man of the moment.

When Eminem returned to see that Kendrick Lamar had created what Ed Sheeran calls “a sick verse,” any thoughts of Lamar using a ghostwriter instantly went out of the window and the song Love Game was born.Dressed in a black tracksuit and white tennis shoes, Eminem bobbed his head back and forth as a recording of his song Rap God echoed through the open, empty space of the Detroit warehouse.

When Kendrick Lamar arrived at the studio, Eminem separated his music industry colleague from his entourage and left him alone in a room to come up with a verse that could be used in the song Love Game. Eminem wanted to see if that really was the case. Rumours had been swirling around Kendrick Lamar and his alleged use of ghostwriters to help him create his music. In 2017, fellow musician Ed Sheeran told the Zach Sang radio show that according to producer Rick Rubin who had also worked with, Eminem devised a special test for Kendrick Lamar. As a result, Eminem wanted his fellow rapper to prove his worth before they worked together on the album. Kendrick Lamar had clearly been high on Eminem’s list but not necessarily for the right reasons.

To bring an extra something to the album, Eminem, who has been no stranger to collaborating with other artists over the years, wanted to include some of the best and brightest talents in the business for The Marshall Mathers LP 2.
