MTV 1999

Eminem: Slim Shady Goes Home

While much has been made of the controversy and commercial success of Eminem and his new album, "Slim Shady," little attention has been paid to the complex character behind the Detroit rapper.

Splitting his childhood between the streets of Kansas City and the Motor City, Eminem, a.k.a. Marshall Mathers, was raised by his single mother and never really knew his father. After his family eventually settled down in Detroit when he was 12, Eminem entered an admittedly tumultuous time in his life, and his passion for rap and freestyle soon became the dominant force of his formative years.

The lofty goal of securing renown and respect in rap circles seemed like all but a dream when Eminem released his mundane debut, "Infinite," back in 1996. But the disappointment caused Mathers to tweak his style into the highly animated, sharp-witted flow featured on "Slim Shady."

The young father also focused on winning over the underground hip-hop scene, a move that eventually earned him a spot on the first Lyricist Lounge tour and a friend and mentor in Dr. Dre., who produced several "Shady" tracks.

During a visit to Detroit, MTV News' Kurt Loder joined Eminem for a journey through the rapper's past, and the two discussed Mathers' hard knock life, his 3-year-old daughter, plans for Eminem's upcoming tour and his reaction to the critical outrage sparked by some of his over-the-top lyrics.

Our interview catches up with Eminem as the rapper returns to the house he grew up in, and attempts to persuade its current occupants to let him and Loder come inside for a little tour...

Eminem: This is the house. See back there? There used to be a garage there, but it burnt down. Looks like they've put a new front door on. Actually, it doesn't look that bad. Let's see if anybody's here...

(to person inside house) Hello? Yo, excuse me. Can we talk to you -- not through the door?

Voice: About what?

Eminem: My name is Slim Shady. I used to live in this house. I'm here with MTV right now.

Kurt: That always works for me when I want to break in someplace.

Eminem (to person inside): I used to live in this house six years ago, and I grew up here. What if we take a look in the back yard? Can we do that?

Voice: Yeah, go ahead.

Black Gold 1999

Eminem Interview by Debbie Rigaud for Black Gold

*** Please notice- Explicit Language ***

(Intro) Who would've known that on October 17th 1974 one of today's hottest mcs, Eminem aka Slim Shady would be born? By using virgin tight lyrics, metaphors that flow out of him like genetic material out of a thug after some raw sex, while at the same time manipulating words like a pimp does his ho, His Royal Shadiness has taken the hip-hop world by storm, transporting him from the underground rap scene to mainstream America.

It all started back in the hard streets of Detroit, home of Motown, where Eminem started laying the smack down on mcs all over the city. After garnering the reputation as a battle mc, Eminem entered the Rap Olympics in '97. Although he "lost" the battle and finished in an undeserved second, he still won the war by impressing Sway & King Tech (of 92.3 The Beat) in that they invited him to bless the mic. Super producer Dr. Dre was so impressed by Shady's lyrical prowess that called the show to get in contact with Eminem, and the rest is history...Vinni Vidi Vici. He came onto the scene. He saw, and others saw, that he has the skill to make his mark in hip hop. He conquered the stereotypes that people had about "white mcs" and his skill: A Double Platinum Album and blessing other albums, from platinum artists such as Missy Elliot, to the likes of the Madd Rapper and the High & The Mighty, not forgetting his underground roots. As well as dampening the panties of females worldwide. With topics ranging from baby momma drama (Bonnie & Clyde '97), being pissed off to those that dissed him (Just Don't Give a Fuck), a man fighting within himself (Guilty Conscience), and a Jesse James/Billy the Kid themed collaboration with fellow mc Royce the 5'9 (Tommy Boy Records), Eminem has put Detroit in the Hip Hop Atlas.

While other magazines like to dwell and exploit the obvious, it was time to get down and dirty and ask Sir Shady his views on violence in Hip Hop, negative publicity, and OF COURSE SEX, SEX, and MORE SEX. Now get your hands in the air/and get to clappin' 'em/and like back and forth because/this here is what you thought it wasn't/it be the magazine with the questions by the dozen/ I be the D-E-double B-I-E/and check out the man who goes by the name of...Slim Shady. (FROGG please forgive me!)

INTERVIEW (Debbie): How are you feelin' today?

(Eminem): I'm doing good. I'm doing good.

(Debbie): Here's a copy of the Magazine. How ya feelin' the magazine? 

(Eminem): I'm feelin' it! I'm feelin it

(Debbie): Why don't you give the readers the 411 on you : name, age, sign, birthday... 

(Eminem): Alright. (with a nerdy voice) My name is Marshall Mathers, I'm 24 years old, I was born October 17, 1974, and um I...I'm a Libra. A'ight

(Debbie): I saw you on MTV Spring Break and you were definitely making it happen. How were you feelin' it? 

(Eminem): I was feelin' it. I love Cancun. I love Spring Break. That was one of my most funnest part of the tour.

NME 1999

Eminem NME Issue 1999

Icast 1999

ICAST: What was your life like growing up, and how do you think it
influenced your music?

Eminem: My life was really shitty growing up, and obviously it influenced my music. All you got to do is pick up a Slim Shady album. I feel like if you listen to the album in depth, there is really not many questions to ask.  I'm pretty much coming out and telling the world this is what I been through, this is what I seen, this is what I done.

I feel like I represent hip-hop. I've lived it all my life and I know it, I grew up on it. And I would say my sound is just pretty much for anybody who's been through some bullshit man, who has ever been through some - trifling times or whatever. We pretty much all have, so I represent those people. All I do is reflect what's went on in my life in my music.

ICAST: How old were you when you started rapping?
Eminem: Like nine. I was about nine when I started listening to rap. I started rapping, writing my own ryhmes about fourteen and just kept getting better at it.

Proof: Better and better.

ICAST: What kind of influences do you guys bring to the sound of the music?

Proof: Ice-T. Ice-T, "Reckless" on up.

Eminem: Yeah, Ice-T's "Reckless" was the first rap song I ever heard. I was in the fourth or fifth grade. But growing up, I had a lot of influences like L.L. Cool J, Beastie Boys, Run DMC. Some of the earlier groups.

Proof: NWA, 2 Live Crew.

Eminem: But the list goes on and on. It was Run DMC and 2 Live Crew, then it was NWA, and Run DMC again. Just whoever was putting out albums.

Proof: Basically, we checked everything. No matter if it was wack, we would know because we were bright. Every tape that was out, we bought it. He had a tape collection that was incredible. I had the vinyl and he had all the tapes.

ICAST: What's your writing process like?

Proof: We not gonna say that because what if somebody is watching that and we tell you, we gotta kill you because you'll give away the formula.

Eminem: No, my writing process is basically, I don't try to sit down and think of shit. I let the thoughts pop into my head, and then I write them down. I let it come natural. It's not something that I try to search for.  I gotta let the stuff - throughout the course of my day, I might find like six to twelve ideas. And then just jot them down and at the end of the week or the end of two weeks or whatever, I stack my ideas up and then I write a rhyme.

Proof: If somebody listen to the album, and they listen, most of the stuff he say reflect from his life. He don't try to think creatively, he just take from his life and animate it with lyrics.

ICAST: Does that help you work through some stuff? Some of your songs are
about pretty serious things.
Proof: I think it is a therapy for him. It's a therapy for every rapper.

Eminem: For every rapper out there - hip-hop has always been known to be pretty much autobiographical. You reflect your life - you tell what you know. You say things from your point of view, like this is my point of view, this is the way I see life, it's always been like that.

ICAST: Do you think you material deserves to have like a parental warning on
it?

Proof: Yeah definitely.

Eminem: Definitely, but it's not going to stop kids from getting it. I was 11-12 years old, listening to 2 Live Crew, sneaking into rated R movies.  Kids are kids, and kids are a lot smarter than we really give them credit for.

Proof: That's what it is.

Eminem: People want to try to blame music, like the kids in Colorado and shit like that, people want to try and blame the music for it, but those kids are really crazy.

Proof: To start with. And the parents should be checked for that. They always try to blame - find something else like maybe it's the Slim Shady record because he talking about crazy stuff.

Eminem: It's the music or it's the movie that the kid's seen that made him do it. If they want to see that movie, they the one that did it. Or if they want to listen to that record, they wouldn't of did it. Come on man.

Proof: They don't just take one song and make a person go nuts. That's a growth thing.

Eminem: If I'm a jump off a bridge, I'm a jump off bridge because I want to jump off a bridge, not because somebody told me to.

Proof: Not because Ice-T says he jumped off the bridge. We jump off the bridge cause we gonna jump off the bridge anyway.

Eminem: You want to jump off the bridge with us? Let's all three of us go right now and we'll go jump off a bridge.

Proof: Come on man, everybody is doing it.

Eminem: Everyone is doing it now.

Proof: Everybody is jumping off the bridge, dude. Dude, everyone is jumping off the bridge.

Eminem: Would you come jump off the bridge with us?

ICAST: If I jump off the bridge, I can't listen to your CD anymore.
Eminem: You can listen to my CD on the way down.

ICAST: Did you ever run into resistance?

Eminem: No, no, no.

ICAST: Well, I mean, because you're a white guy.

Proof: Oh God----

Eminem: I'm white!

Proof: He's white! Man, I didn't know you was white! All that time - - get out of here. You telling me this guy is white.

ICAST: As far as I can tell.

Proof: This dude is white? Damn it.

Eminem: No it's sunburn.

Proof: Sunburn. He's red.

ICAST: Do people have expectations, like this guys isn't going to be able to
do it because he's...

Eminem: I don't know - you have to ask those people.

Proof: Listen, I'll tell you this. I went to black dominated high school and I used to sneak him in there into the lunchroom. And they'd be like, "We want to battle you." "No, can't battle me, why don't you battle the white boy over there first?" And everybody would be like "I'll kill him."  Then the Em would come out and kill the whole lunch room, which was a black dominated school and would be looking like "damn!"

Eminem: Everything is always looks. You gonna fuck with somebody --- people are gonna mess with you by looks. Whether you go to a mixed school or you go to an all black school or you go to an all white school, you gonna pick things out to mess with kids about. Growing up, that's just what you do.  This kid's fat. This kid's too skinny. This kid's got buck teeth, this kid's got a big forehead - you know what I'm sayin?

Proof: And this kid looks like Chris Rock. We've been through all that.

ICAST: Do you think it made you work harder to get respect as a rapper?
Eminem: Definitely. I had to work hard and there was a certain level of respect I had to get. It was definitely an uphill battle, but I feel like I'm winning it. I'm slowly winning over the respect of everybody. I don't care if you black, white, orange or whatever colour you are, that kid can skateboard, that kid can ride a bike, that kid can rap, that dude can play football.

Proof: It don't really matter. I think that the youth that's coming up now is really dope. Whoever they cool with, they cool with personality.

ICAST: How did you hook up with Dr. Dre?

Eminem: I was just in a lot of rap competitions and I was in the '97
Scribble Jam, and then towards the end of '97, I was in the Rap Olympics.  And taking second place in the Rap Olympics, kids from Interscope were there and they got the tape, my demo tape so to speak, and I gave it to him and Jimmy Iovine, the head of Interscope, he liked it and he played it for Dre, and Dre was like, "Yo, let's find this kid, let's hook him up or whatever."  And they found me.

ICAST: What was it like to work with him?
Proof: That's the greatest producer in rap history. The greatest man.

Eminem: Dre is the best. The best producer of all time.

Proof: No doubt.

Eminem: That's a question that is always asked and it's kind of self-explanatory, like what am I supposed to say?



ICAST: I mean, how does he communicate his ideas and how does he get your ideas in a way that someone else wouldn't be able to? Because he obviously succeeds.

Eminem: Their chemistry.

Proof: Because there is a chemistry there.

Eminem: Yeah, like when him and Snoop Dogg first got together. There's a chemistry there. It's like this - I'm a lyricist and a writer. He makes beats and produces it. He has a vision. He can make that come to life.  Every Dre beat - damn near every Dre beat that I hear, I wanna rap over. It makes me instantly think of things, so like I said, it's just a chemistry.  We just get together and in one studio session, we can knock out one or two songs right there.

ICAST: Where do you think rap is headed?
Eminem: Rap and hip-hop if the biggest thing, you know what I'm saying?

Proof: It's embracing the youth, so - there's always babies every minute.

Eminem: I think rap embraces the youth, so as long as there's always youth, there's always rap.

ICAST: What's your relationship with a live audience like?
Eminem: The reaction has been good so far. Especially with the Warped Tour. It's a different crowd for me to perform in front of so everything has been on the up and up. The crowds are perceiving me well, so I'm cool with it. I like to work for my money. I like to go out and earn crowds because it makes me feel like I'm working. Not just come out on stage and stand in one spot and the crowd just loves me the whole time just because of who I am. I want to give a show. I want to entertain people. I want to be in touch with the crowd and talk to people, keep eye contact with the people.  And really just try to see what they're feeling. These are the people that's buying my records, so they're paying my way. So, you gotta keep in touch with them fans.

ICAST: So the audience can affect your performance?

Proof: Definitely. Because we not the kind of MC's that go on stage and don't care what they do. We feed off the crowd every time. Every show.

Eminem: If the crowd is not making no noise, I'm going to address it.  Whatever the crowd is doing, I'm going to address it. If they ain't making no noise, I'm going to stop my record --- "yo, you ain't feeling me or whatever?" If they throwing shit, and acting rowdy, I'ma address it.

Proof: If they're not hype, we work harder sometimes. Jump in the crowd, whatever we gotta do.

Eminem: Jump in the crowd, take our clothes off,

Proof: Beat up their pets.

ICAST: You mentioned that the Warped Tour audience is different than your normal audience, how is it different?

Eminem: It's different because ever since January I been on tour --- pretty much non-stop, and every tour that I done so far has been pretty much strictly hip-hop crowds. And this is like you got alternative, you got Blink 182 to Ice-T. You got people that come to see me, you got people that come to see Suicidal Tendencies. So it's just all types of crowds. When I look into the crowd and I'm saying my words, and the front row might not know it, but the people in the back might not know the words to my songs because they ain't heard my album yet or they barely know who Eminem is. So I'm trying to get the respect of them people.

Proof: We want to work them.

ICAST: What do you think is the biggest risk that you've had to take for your career?

Eminem: Drugs.

Proof: No, I think his biggest risk was the sacrifice into his family time.

Eminem: My family I don't get to see. My girl and my daughter. I don't get to see them. And one of the main things that's really fucked up is when people piss you off, you can't hit them in the face.

Proof: We can't do nothing no more because the way it used to be, we was the
bully busters.

Eminem: We can't act like how we wanna act. How we really wanna act.

Proof: Cause the higher powers that be won't allow it. We can't even look at nobody no more.

Eminem: Judge Judy.

Proof: We can't argue, we can't do nothing. We gotta - it's just crazy man.

ICAST: How do you do that?

Proof: It's hard.

Eminem: I got out of control a couple of times.

Proof: He can't live with it. I think I can, but I don't think he can live with it.

Eminem: It's really hard, man. When somebody disrespects you on a street level, you want to do something to retaliate. But you got to learn to control your temper and you got to take the "Fuck you's" and "You suck!" and shit like that.

Proof: Even the flapping you. Or whatever they do to you.

Eminem: Somebody slaps me, and ----

Proof: We was lying right there on that part. If you hit us, we gonna hit you back. Believe me.

ICAST: Sounds like you've been able to direct your own career a lot of the time. So how do you define success?

Proof: That's funny, that's a funny word, success, cause success is like when you succeeded. What have we succeeded?

Eminem: I'm cool with success as long as it doesn't get too out of hand.  I'm trying to keep shit balanced and ---

Proof: Down to earth.

Eminem: And what people don't realise is that you're a regular person. When I go out on that stage --- if I'm on stage and my voice cracks or I'm losing my voice because I've been on tour for so long --- if I slip and fall down and trip over a cord, whatever happens. People don't realise that whatever happens, happens. And you're just a human being. And when you don't want to sign million autographs when you're standing outside of your bus and you sign a few of them, and then them other people that didn't get their autographs are like "fuck you, asshole!" People don't realise you're a regular person, a human being. And that's one of the hardest things that people have trouble coming to grips with.

Proof: That you're regular. That you bleed and use the bathroom.

ICAST: So what do you do when you have your down time? How do you keep your head together?

Proof: Down time? What the fuck is that?

Eminem: We had like two weeks off.

Proof: We had 13 days off.

Eminem: I masturbate a lot. I masturbate a lot.

Proof: But masturbation is cool.

ICAST: The ultimate in safe sex.

Proof: Ultimate safe sex. Especially if you wear a condom.

Eminem: Use condoms. Don't do drugs. Leave it up to me.

ICAST: What is the most important thing you've learned since you've gotten a real level of commercial success that you might not have had earlier in your career?

Proof: I don't know man, I gotta lot of shit to learn still. Everyday I learn something new. Everyday I meet somebody new, so maybe as me in 20 years.

Eminem: My main thing was, I wanted to get the respect, I wanted to show the world and people who didn't believe in me that I could do this. And now that I'm doing it, I'm proving my point. And I'm going to keep proving my point until I'm tired of the rap music. I can't do it forever. None of us can. You can't ask questions forever. You probably got about 87 more questions on there, so --- you can apparently ask questions forever. I can't rap forever.

Rolling Stone 1999

Check Out:

Rolling Stone 2002 Interview
Rolling Stone 2004 Interview
Rolling Stone 2010 Interview
Rolling Stone 2013 Interview

In three short months, twenty-four year old Marshall Bruce Mathers III has gone from white trash to white hot. 

The Michigan rapper who calls himself Eminem - and whose debut The Slim Shady LP, sold 480,000 copies in its first two weeks - was a $5.50-an-hour cook in a Detroit grill before his obscenity-strewn, gleefully violent, spastic, hilarious and demented rhymes landed him in the studio with rap honcho Dr. Dre. 

The blue-eyed MC is dealing with the instant fame and simultaneous criticism well enough -- much better, actually, than he is dealing with the fifth of Bicardi he downed an hour ago. On a chilly Friday night in New York, he emerges bleary-eyed from the bathroom in his manager's office. "I just threw up everything I had," he says in his slow-roll drawl, which is a bit slower at the moment. "All I ate today was that slice of pizza. Feel good now, though." 

His manager exhales slowly with relief. Eminem has three club gigs tonight, and the first one starts in less than an hour. The crew (nine, including DJ Stretch Armstrong and Dennis the security guard) ambles toward the elevator. Downstairs awaits Eminem's partner in rap, Royce the 5'9, who looks to be about that and has seven people of his own in tow. Em hops into a gigantic ant white limo as fellow honky Armstrong cops a rhyme from Eric Clapton's Cream. "In the white room, with white people and white rappers," he bellows. A minute later there's a knock on the window and one of Royce's posse gives Em the first of the three hits of ecstasy he will consume over the course of the night. Down it goes in a swallow of ginger ale as the car zooms off towards Staten Island. 

Out on New Dorp Lane, there is a crowd of kids, a mere fraction of the number already inside the Lane Theater. The all-ages show is packed, and Eminem is the evening's main course. The mob is being controlled by the club's security, but when the rapper moves inside, the burly dudes are no match for the crush of shouting teens. "You look good!" one girl shouts. "Oh, my God, he looks even better in person," shrieks another. Everywhere, kids have tiny glow sticks in their mouths, which, here in the dark, look like neon braces. At the back of the club, up a ladder, is the minute-dressing room, where the very proud owner of the club is waiting. "Hey, nice to meet ya," he says. "My daughter told me to get Eminem, so I got Eminem. It's her fourteenth birthday. Hey, say hi to her and her friends." 

Launch 1999

Emerging from the Detroit hip-hop underground this year with the hit single "My Name Is," Dr. Dre protégé Eminem--otherwise known as "Slim Shady"--attacked the mainstream with a slew of ill beats and outrageous lyrics about drugs, violence, and a painful childhood. 

But like other white rappers who have taken a beating in the credibility department, Eminem hopes to attain the street cred that has eluded his Caucasian counterparts. Now that he's riding high on the success of his major-label outing, The Slim Shady LP, Eminem is starting his own label to further the careers of his fellow Motor City rappers and is even thinking about an acting career. 

The lyrically extreme and musically daring Eminem sat down with LAUNCH's rap/ R&B editor Billy Johnson Jr. recently to discuss his lyrics, drug-addled teen years, abusive mother, and stormy relations with the mother of his daughter. Video excerpts of the conversation can be viewed in Issue No. 30 of LAUNCH on CD-ROM; an exclusive live performance of "My Name Is..." can also be viewed on the same disc. 


LAUNCH: 
There are some interesting styles of hip-hop coming from the Detroit area. Is it a coincidence that artists like you, Kid Rock, and Insane Clown Posse--groups that are totally different musically--come from the same region? 

EMINEM: Being from Detroit and being on some different sh-t, I don't think it's a coincidence. You've got the East Coast and you've got the West Coast. The East Coast is predominantly known for lyrics and the West Coast is predominantly known for gangsta sh-t, you know what I'm sayin'? Detroit is in between both of them. So when you mix the two, you get something crazy. Kid Rock, Esham, and myself are influenced by both coasts, so when you blend the two of them together, you get some different sh-t. Which is cool. That's what it's supposed to be. We're not supposed to sound like we're from either coast. I want my sh-t to sound like it's somewhere in the middle, which it is. 

LAUNCH: 
Has there been a resolution to the feud between you and Insane Clown Posse? 

EMINEM: I don't think I take the beef as seriously as they do, because I don't consider them artists. They look at me as an artist. I think they get more uptight about it. I can look at them and laugh. They can't do anything to me. What can they do to me? They have no credibility, no respect, no talent, they have nothing. All they can do is dis me vocally, they can't dis me lyrically. There's nothing they can do to me as far as the music goes. I don't take it as seriously as they do and I think that frustrates them. I think it's funny. 

LAUNCH: 
When you were starting out on the Detroit hip-hop scene, it wasn't necessarily easy for you to get a lot of respect from your peers. Can you recall the first time you got respect you were looking for? 

EMINEM: I remember I used to go to this place called the Rhythm Kitchen way back in the day. I was probably 16 or 17. The first time I grabbed the mic, I got booed before I even said anything. As I started to rap, the boos just got louder and louder and louder until I just got off the mic. At this place called the Hip-Hop Shop, every Saturday, MCs would come up there and rhyme. The first time I ever got respect was the first time I grabbed the mic at the Hip-Hop Shop. I had said some sh-t and people was quiet at first, then cheers and applause, and it got louder and louder. That was the spot I started going to every Saturday. They would have official announce battles every couple of months and I kept winning them. 

LAUNCH: 
Was it because you went to a different spot or was it that you were getting better at rhyming? 

EMINEM: I think it was something a little different about me; I started growing up and I just got better. At 15 or 16, I was wack. I didn't know how I wanted to sound, I didn't know anything. But at 18, 19, I started learning. This is how I should sound on the mic, learning how to battle, practicing freestyle. That was what I was known for in Detroit, in the underground for a couple of years before all this happened. 

LAUNCH: 
The thing that's missing in hip-hop today is that very few people have anything interesting to say. You have a lot of interesting lyrics...things that make the listener want to go back and rewind and listen again. What is your approach to writing? Are you a perfectionist? 

EMINEM: I'm definitely a perfectionist. I make my music for me. I know how I want it to sound. I don't think about if anyone else is going to like it. I listen to it and make it for me, so that I'm satisfied with it. If I am, then everybody else will like it. If I say the word "the" wrong, I'll go back and change it. Usually when I write my songs, I write the verses and then sum them up with a hook. But my delivery and the way I say things across the mic, I make sure that sh-t is perfect, for me, so I can listen to it a million times and not find a flaw in it. 

LAUNCH: 
How long is the songwriting process usually? 

EMINEM: Some songs take longer than others to write, it just depends on what type of mood I'm in or what I'm thinking at that time. I don't know, "My Name Is..." was really simple to write. I thought of the hook right away, even before I wrote the song. Sometimes I'll do story raps and have to come back the next day to finish it. "Brain Damage" took a couple of days to write. It just depends on the mood and how the sh-t is flowing. 

LAUNCH: 
"Brain Damage" really stands out for me. I really like the story. I think anybody can relate to it. Is it a true story? 

EMINEM: "Brain Damage" is a true story, except for my brain falling out of my head. I used to get harassed by these bullies in school. This one in particular, because I got a concussion and almost died. When I wrote that, I was summing up my whole years of grade school, junior high, high school. The second verse I started getting really truthful. But when I write a story, I don't want the sh-t to get boring, so I lay down the truth as the foundation and then mix it with a little imagination. 

LAUNCH: 
Your writing is really honest and almost comedic in a lot of ways. Do you think people have the right perception of you? 

EMINEM: I think the young people are getting it. The older people are getting it confused, tending to take my sh-t too literal. I don't care, it's funny to me, because if I say my f--king brain fell out of my skull, and they believe it, what's wrong with them? The younger people have a sense of humor and can determine right from wrong. Kids are a lot smarter than we think they are. I only get flack from the white-collar motherf--kers who don't know about hip-hop anyway. When N.W.A. came out, look how literal everyone was taking it. It was entertainment and people didn't understand it. If N.W.A. said, "I'm gonna shoot you," they believed: "Oh my God, they're gonna shoot somebody." Maybe Dre or Ice Cube was mad when they wrote that, but it doesn't mean they feel that way constantly. When I'm writing I may feel that way at the time, so I sit down and write that. 

LAUNCH: 
Tupac pretty much wrote the same way. 

EMINEM: He had his positive songs, negative songs, angry songs, just whatever mood he was going through at the time. That's what writers do. 

LAUNCH: 
Kid Rock said when you write your lyrics you don't write them in paragraph form--they're just all over the page. Can you describe the way you write your lyrics? 

EMINEM: I collect ideas throughout the week. It might take a while, but I write on a sheet of paper, scattered ideas, words and metaphors. When I have enough ideas, I'll piece the sh-t together. I do it purposely so that if a rhyme sheet is lost, whoever finds it won't know what it means. Half a sentence will be here, another half here...a word over here. I don't know how I started doing it. When I write a full song now, I start at the corner of the paper, I write in slants. I don't know why I do that sh-t neither, but I do. 

LAUNCH: 
Is writing therapeutic for you? Do you cope with things better once you write them down? 

EMINEM: Yeah, definitely. My sh-t is like therapy for me, not only when I'm writing it, but also when I'm in the booth saying it. It's a way to get sh-t off my chest. On my album, I've got my happy songs, crazy songs, serious songs--all jokes aside. Those are songs like, "Okay, I've slit my wrists 90 million times, I cut my own f--king head off, but this is how I really feel." I put those songs on my album so you could see for yourself. It's not rocket science here. It's so clear when I'm joking and when I'm serious, but some people just don't get it. 

LAUNCH: 
This is not a dis, but have you ever talked to anyone about your thoughts, like with a therapist or whatever? 

EMINEM: Have I ever gone to counseling? I got a doctor for that sh-t. But Dre ain't helping me for sh-t. 

LAUNCH: 
Will your next album be the same or will it be different? 
EMINEM: It's gonna be a little different, probably worse. Every time I hear critics talk sh-t about me, when they dis me, they only egg me on and they only make me madder. This album might have been here, but the next one will be out there somewhere. Each time I do an album, I'll just keep taking it further. 

LAUNCH: 
You mentioned to me earlier that Master Ace is one of your favorite artists. What is it about his music that you relate to? 

EMINEM: Master Ace was ahead of his time. I feel like when that album came out, I went and copped it. MC Proof was the first one who turned me on to the first album, when the second album came out, I thought it should have gone double-, triple-platinum, but it was so ahead of its time that people didn't understand. He was trying to say that hip-hop was straying from the lyrical side. I think he was directing things toward the West Coast, like hip-hop was getting too much like "I'll shoot you, stab you, and kill you," and we need to get back to the lyrics. 

LAUNCH: 
You have a tattoo of a mushroom on your arm. Is that a drug reference? 

EMINEM: I just got it. I had to show it off. I try not to f--k with mushrooms that much any more because that sh-t gets me too out of my mind. I go through phases with drugs and sh-t. I have a different drug of choice every other month. If I do too much of something, I say, "I'm never doing that again!" I might stray from it for a little bit, and go back to it later. Mushrooms make me too f--king giggly; I just laugh at everything. I don't like to laugh too much. 

LAUNCH: 
You say a lot of outrageous things in your lyrics. How are you in your personal life? Are you an outrageous person? 

EMINEM: I do a lot of crazy sh-t that maybe normal people wouldn't do, but I don't know what the f--k is normal. I don't consider myself insane. I don't walk around like a f--king lunatic. Day to day, I consider myself pretty normal. My thoughts, what I write, I think other people think a lot of the same sh-t, I just think they don't say it. I may think a little bit different than the average person, but how I act, dress and carry myself, I think it's normal. 

LAUNCH: 
Lil' Kim is criticized a lot for being speaking her mind and being outrageous. But people come up to her on the street and tell her that they can relate. Do you get the same reaction? 

EMINEM: Yeah, I get a lot of that. Lil' Kim speaks her mind and says what she wants to say. There's no in between, people will either love you for it or hate you for it. That's what I've found just on a street level--fans, and people on the street--they either can't stand me or love me for telling the truth and saying what's on my mind. 

LAUNCH: 
Are there any limitations on what you say? Are there some things you won't touch? 
EMINEM: My thing is this, if I'm sick enough to think it, then I'm sick enough to say it. Why are these thoughts in my head? A lot of people think sh-t, they just don't say it. If I'm crazy enough to think it, then I'm crazy enough to say it. That's how I base my whole sh-t. I think there's a reason why I think this way. I don't think I say the things I say for no reason. I write it down and say it. 

LAUNCH: 
Tell me about the song "Bonnie & Clyde Part II." 

EMINEM: I go through phases with my daughter's mother constantly--we've been going off and on for nine years--different phases of our relationship where I want to kill her. I don't know if you ever felt like you wanted to kill someone, but there have been times, literally, where I want to kill her. I've had songs about killing her for five years now that nobody's even heard. I've killed her, like, 11 times. The song "Bonnie & Clyde Part II," really "Part I" is what happened before I killed her and stuffed her in the trunk. It's like the argument that took place. It's crazy. I don't want to give too much away. I want people to hear it. When I did it, I was kind of high, so I came back and listened to it the next day, I was just like, "Whoa." 

LAUNCH: 
What does your daughter's mother think about all this? 

EMINEM: She thinks I'm crazy. She thinks I'm f--king nuts. When I did "Bonnie & Clyde '97" she was mad because I took my daughter into the studio and put her vocals on it. At the time, she was keeping me from my daughter. I barely got to see her at all. So when I did get to see her, I wanted to use that to get back at her. My daughter was being used as a weapon against me. I put the song on an EP that was only released in Detroit. I never thought it would be as big as it is. She was mad. She thinks I'm f--king crazy, insane for real. But it's all good. But maybe I am! 

LAUNCH: 
What kind of influence does your daughter have on you? 

EMINEM: She keeps me from being too extreme. I realize that no matter how crazy I act onstage or how wild I may get, there's got to be a limit. I can't step out of a certain boundary--I have to be here for her. Her father has to remain alive. I have to maintain. She really helps me when I'm about to do something too stupid. All I have to do is think about Haley. She keeps me in check, definitely. 

LAUNCH: 
Do you have a name for your next album? 

EMINEM: I've got a title, but I don't want to reveal it yet, because I change my mind a lot. I don't want to say it's this and it comes out and it's called something else. 

LAUNCH: 
Will your next album this possibly be your last? 

EMINEM: I won't know until it's finished and I put it out. 

LAUNCH: 
Even though you've been working underground for years, now that you are well-known, why would your next album be your last? 

EMINEM: Just depends on how I feel after it's done. Right now, My little girl is three years old. I'm missing the best years of her life. I'm not seeing her grow up. There's gonna be a time when I have to think, "Yo, do I want this? Or do I want this?" If I can't find a balance, I'll have to make a choice. I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, you know what I'm saying? I'll have to see what happens with the next album, then I can make a decision, but right now, I really can't. 

LAUNCH: 
Do you think you could write a song about dealing with an issue like that? 

EMINEM: Yeah, I can make a song about anything. I probably will write a song about that. I just started working on my next album recently. I don't know where it's gonna go. I know where it's headed towards...but I don't know where I will totally take it yet. 

LAUNCH: 
Whenever someone mentions the song "Guilty Conscience," they bring up your comment about Dre and Dee Barnes. How did that come up? How did you deal with it and what was Dre's reaction? 

EMINEM: When we did "Guilty Conscience," it was pretty much Dre's concept to come up with a song with the devil on one shoulder, and the angel on the other. Like in Animal House, the dude was about to rape the girl, he had a devil on one shoulder telling him to do it and an angel on the other telling him not to. That's kind of the concept I based it on. Dre lately has been on the positive tip, trying to clean up his image and sh-t. I'm at the stage where I don't give a f--k. Of course, I was the devil, he was the angel. I came up with the three scenarios: The liquor store, the rape, and sh-t. At the end of the song, I felt I was losing the battle, so I felt I had to take pokes at him. Like, "Are you gonna listen to him?" And I remember when he slapped Dee Barnes. So when I wrote it, I didn't tell him I was going to say it. He fell over in his chair laughing, so I guess it was all good. But I was thinking the whole time, "What is he going to say about this?" 

LAUNCH: 
What do you think about the idea that you're the one rap artist that's bringing Dre back to prominence? Does that pressure you? How do you feel about that? 

EMINEM: I wouldn't say I was bringing Dre back. I don't think he ever left. "Phone Tap," on the last album, The Firm, was dope to me. "Phone Tap" was one of the dopest beats I ever heard. I just want to return the favor. Dre basically saved my life; my sh-t was going no where. Dre took me in and taught me a lot, not just rap-wise, but business-wise. Whatever I can do to return the favor, I'm here. We've got a chemistry that works and we'll make it work for however long it works. 

LAUNCH: 
When you say Dre saved your life, do you mean you would have left hip-hop all together and found something else to do? 

EMINEM: I would have probably quit in '97 if it weren't for Dre. My daughter was one at the time. I couldn't afford to buy her diapers. I didn't have a job. I had job after job after job and just kept getting fired. I didn't have a high school diploma. I failed ninth grade three times. I was basically going nowhere. When I made the Slim Shady EP, I told the production people, "Yo, if this doesn't work, I'm about to be 23, I gotta quit, get a job, do something." We just so happened to go to L.A. that same year and Dre heard the tape, gave us a call. I was reaching a boiling point, doing a lot of drugs and f--ked-up sh-t because I was so depressed. So when I say Dre saved my life, I mean he literally saved my life, and I feel like I owe him a lot. 

LAUNCH: 
Dr. Dre 2001: What is your involvement with that? 

EMINEM: I've been in there pretty much from the beginning, just being involved, giving my input, writing, doing whatever I can do to make the sh-t hot. The album is over-the-top, definitely some classical sh-t. It's going to be bigger than my album. I know this for a fact. But it's hot, man. I don't want to give any details. I just want people to be surprised. I want to sit back and say, "I told you!" 

LAUNCH: 
To be linked with one of hip-hop's best producers, what does it say about you sticking to your guns and not giving up or changing what you do, when you thought people wouldn't accept you? 

EMINEM: I think that's why people do accept me because from Slim Shady EP to LP, I haven't changed sh-t. "My Name Is..." blew up commercially, but we had no plans for that. We just thought it was a hot song and we put it out. Now, you've got underground kids talking sh-t about me like I'm a pop artist because I made one song that was catchy. My album is probably the rawest album this year, as far as material and sh-t. It's not an egotistical assumption, that's just the way I feel. I haven't changed sh-t lyrically, style-wise. I'm still me. I could have made a commercial album. But I didn't. My album is underground as f--k, but the single blew up, people heard it and bought the rest of the album. My sh-t is underground. If I've got some appealing sh-t, is that my fault? That's what you're supposed to do, right? Otherwise you stay underground and you stay broke as f--k. 

LAUNCH: 
Do you still battle? 

EMINEM: I f--k around with my friends and crew members and sh-t, but as far as me going out and getting in a battle with MCs, I'm a marked man. Everybody knows everything about me, and I wouldn't know anything about the person I'm facing off against. I don't really choose to do that. Sometimes at shows, I'll pull someone onstage to battle just to make them look stupid. Some people think that I don't have it anymore. "Eminem made an album and now it's double-platinum and he can't battle no more." That's bullsh-t. I do it for the fun now. I don't take it as seriously as I used to take it. Back then when I was coming up through the underground, it was a do-or-die situation. When I lost the Rap Olympics, I was ready to kill somebody. There was a $500 prize and a Rolex. I was evicted from my house and I needed that money. Now, I do it for the fun. 

LAUNCH: 
Is there a female celebrity out there that you'd like to get with? 

EMINEM: Female celebrity? Mariah Carey. If she's reading this...I love you! 

LAUNCH: 
I understand that people have questioned whether you're black or white. 

EMINEM: 
Whether or not I'm white? Last time I checked I was, I guess. I looked in the mirror this morning and was combing my hair and I said, "Wow, I'm sure white today!" I was born this way, I don't think I have much say in the matter. 

LAUNCH: 
I understand that you have a song on the Wild Wild West movie soundtrack. Who are playing with on the track and what is the song about? 


EMINEM: 
It's me and Dre. It's a Western theme. We wanted to tie in with the wild, wild West for the soundtrack. At the same time, it's a sneak preview of what's coming up on the Chronic II. We're plugging Chronic II and still staying tied into the movie. 

LAUNCH: 
Do you spend a lot of time on the Internet? 

EMINEM: 
I don't spend much time on the Internet. I don't really get into computers and sh-t. I don't have the patience to sit down. I'm a jittery person; I don't like to stay in one place too long, unless I'm writing. And sometimes when I'm writing, I get up and I pace the room. Sitting at a computer, I can't really function like that. I look every now and then to see what's going on. 

LAUNCH: 
What do you think about groups like the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync? 

EMINEM: 
I'm not mad at them--Backstreet Boys, or whatever--they're just doing whatever it is they do. It's not the same type of music I'm doing, so I don't feel I'm in competition with them. I think they're corny as f--k. All those boy bands and girl bands and sh-t. But little teenyboppers like it. So sell it and do it, I guess. 

LAUNCH: 
Is there anything else in the works for you? 

EMINEM: 
I'm probably going to be starting my own label soon called Shady Records. Right now the artist I'm looking at is MC Proof, who is on tour with me now. Actually, he's my hype man. Bizarre Kid is another MC from Detroit. It may sound biased, but I'm really trying to kick open the doors for Detroit--to put Detroit on the map full-blown. Until I do that, I won't stop with Detroit MCs. If I come across a dope MC from another town, I'll put them on the label, but Detroit has been struggling for years. 

LAUNCH: 
Are you looking to get into acting any time soon? 

EMINEM: 
I've had some offers to do some movie roles. I haven't taken anything yet because I don't want it to take away from the music. I'm already busy as f--k. Touring, working on my new album, doing all the interviews, etc. I don't want to get too busy. I already can't see my family. Dre and I have talked about a feature film about my life. But it will be some bugged-out sh-t: how Dre sees my life, how he thinks I was conceived and sh-t. It's some ill sh-t. But we've just been talking about it. It's not official yet.