According to : https://www.facebook.com/MojoInTheMorning
Detroit's very own Calvin Johnson and Eminem are featured on this month's ESPN Magazine Cover
* More to come *
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| Another photo... found on twitter |
A blog made by fans, for fans!
Showing posts with label 2013. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2013. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Jeff Bass on Eminem (Grantland, 2013)
Q&A: Producer Jeff Bass on Discovering Young Eminem: 'He Was Sitting on the Toilet, and He Came Up With the Alter Ego'
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| Jeff Bass (Credit: 'Jeff Bass Music' facebook page) |
By Amos Barshad on November 6, 2013 4:18 PM ET
You may have never heard of the Bass Brothers. But you've heard the Bass Brothers. Before Jimmy Iovine, before Dr. Dre, it was Michigan's Jeff and Mark Bass who were flipping their shit over the sounds of a young kid from Detroit named Marshall Mathers. In the early days, the production duo's studio on 8 Mile Road was like a second home for Eminem. And it was there that they recorded The Slim Shady EP, which would eventually make its way to Dre and Iovine and land Eminem his record deal. They'd continue to work with Em for years, producing all but three tracks on The Slim Shady LP, some of the more twisted ends of The Marshall Mathers LP, and — drum roll, drum roll, drum roll — "Lose Yourself." With this week's release of The Marshall Mathers LP 2, we got Jeff Bass on the phone to talk about the good old days.
How'd you meet Eminem?
My brother was listening to the radio, what today is our 95.5. It was a DJ we knew named Lisa Lisa. He called and asked her who that was, freestyling. She said, that’s Marshall Mathers. He said, “Is there any way we can get in touch with him?” She gives him the number. My brother called. And at three o’clock in the morning [Eminem] came to the studio, with a bunch of little dudes who turned out to be D12. That’s how it began. We didn’t know him, and he didn’t know us. He took a leap of faith at three in the morning.
Was he in school then?
He was working. He was flipping hamburgers at a little diner. Kind of a Coney Island. And every chance he got, he was in the studio. After work, before work. Studio.
What'd you make of him at first?
I was always kind of a hip-hop head, because of the R&B roots behind it. But when Marshall came into the picture, I wasn't quite sure about his ability — because I couldn't understand what he was saying! He was triple-timing, spitting rhymes: I was just trying to comprehend him. Then I started writing tracks for him. And it became apparent that he was amazing.
In between Infinite [Eminem's official, independently released first album] and The Slim Shady EP, we figured out how to communicate with him. Because he doesn’t come from a musical background. We had to figure out a way emotionally to get through to him. So how I approached it is, any song that had a happy feel we’d call a happy tune. Angry, sad, violent — we’d use adjectives to get through to him. So that he could write the type of lyrics that’d go with the track.
Most people know Kim as a character. You have a different perspective.
He’s been with me since ‘95, when he was a young buck. I was with him when Hailie was just born. I knew Kim. She used to come into the studio with us all the time. We used to take Marshall out to the different clubs in Detroit. She would come with us, be her crazy self.
Friday, January 3, 2014
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Billboard 2013
*This is an excerpt*
Eminem Returns: The Billboard Cover Story
By Reggie Ugwu | November 01, 2013 1:00 PM EDT
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| Eminem on the cover of Billboard's Issue |
For "The Marshall Mathers LP 2," Eminem set himself a challenge: to re-create the moment when people first heard him on record.
Even at the peak of his popularity, when he was raising hell on MTV, inspiring bottle-blond dye jobs in middle schools across the country and selling more records than any other artist of his generation, Eminem never got good at being famous. He's still awkward in interviews, still lives in his native Detroit and maintains the same core group of friends he's had for most of his adult life. Two of his best albums, 2000's The Marshall Mathers LP and 2002's The Eminem Show, were largely about either rebelling against the spotlight or reflecting it back on those who deigned to wield it. And on latest single "The Monster," featuring Rihanna and released Oct. 28, the rap megastar's discomfort with stardom remains front and center.
"I remember it felt like shit was just flying by me and nothing really seemed real," Eminem says, recalling the media frenzy of his early years, during which he tangled with, among others, GLAAD and Lynne Cheney, wife of former Vice President Dick Cheney. "When I was making records, I would just take my frustrations out about that. I mean, fuck, here it is 2013 and I still don't really have a total grasp on it yet and understand it.""I wanted the fame, but not the cover of Newsweek/Oh well, I guess beggars can't be choosy," he rhymes. "Wanted to receive attention for my music/Wanted to be left alone in public, excuse me."
The price of fame is just one of a handful of favorite topics that Eminem, now 41, wrestles with once more on new album The Marshall Mathers LP 2, due Nov. 5 on Aftermath/Interscope. He's dubbed the project a "revisitation" of the first Marshall Mathers, taking the opportunity to re-examine "themes and chapters that I felt like I hadn't closed."
With its invocation of his seminal breakthrough album-which, at 10.8 million copies sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan, is also his best-selling (The Eminem Show is a close second at 10.3 million)-Eminem knows his eighth solo LP is likely to be subjected to intense levels of scrutiny. But he's never been the type to shy away from a challenge. Asked whether he's worried that people will take the project the wrong way or compare it unfavorably with its predecessor, he displays a convincingly Zen-like detachment.
"I kind of just make what I make and however people take to it is how they take to it, or don't take to it," he says. "I knew that it would have to match a certain intensity and vibe and feel in order to call it [The Marshall Mathers LP 2]. I want to say I'm confident that I've done that, but it's up to the listener to decide."
The idea of taking a trip down memory lane first came to him after recording "Hell: The Sequel," his 2011 collaborative EP with fellow Detroit rapper and old friend Royce Da 5' 9". On a creative streak after the project had finished, he recorded a handful of solo songs that friends, including manager Paul Rosenberg, said reminded them of the old days.
"He was messing around with a few things and I told him some of the delivery and vocal tones he was using felt reminiscent of his older stuff," Rosenberg says. "That planted the seed in his head."
Eminem adds, "One of the things I thought might be cool to try to accomplish was to see if I could bring it back and remind people of the first time they ever heard me on a record. I wanted to try and recapture that nostalgic feeling."
As effective as nostalgia may have been for the creative process, it was of little solace to Rosenberg and Interscope, who faced the task of marketing the sequel to the 14th-best-selling album in the history of SoundScan in a radically changed industry environment. To approximate the omnipresence that Eminem enjoyed in the era of "Total Request Live" and Tower Records, his team crafted an aggressive and forward-looking campaign that relied heavily on strategic partnerships.
November marks five-and-a-half years into the second act of Eminem, who, in the years following 2004's "Encore," famously ended the first by self-immolating on Vicodin, Valium and Ambien. In 2006, best friend and lifelong confidante Proof was gunned down in an altercation outside of a Detroit nightclub. The tragedy turned a long-simmering romance with prescription drugs into an all-consuming affair, and he spent days on end in a hazy stupor, emerging either cruel or incoherent on the occasions when he could get out of bed. Rock bottom was his bathroom floor, where his kids found him after an accidental methadone overdose two days before Christmas in 2007. Doctors later said he had been just two hours away from death.
"When he wasn't sober, he was just so unfocused and not himself that it was difficult to connect with him," Rosenberg recalls. "There were times when you literally couldn't have a normal conversation with him. And when you can't have a conversation with someone or connect with them on a human level, you feel like you've lost them. It was horrible."
The lost years ended formally on April 20, 2008, when Eminem finally got sober with the help of a rehabilitation counselor, whom he still sees, though lately on a less frequent basis. But the artist who came out on the other side of addiction was changed. "Relapse," his 2009 album and first attempt at recording after getting clean, was a bleak and discomfiting glimpse at how dark things had become. Under the cover of trusty alter ego Slim Shady, the album was unrelenting in its exorcism of Eminem's most ghoulish demons.
A year later, he took another first step toward the light with the companion album "Recovery." Part return to form, part new chapter, the album featured him fashioning hits out of inspirational anthems including "Won't Back Down" (featuring P!nk) and "Not Afraid," which gave him his fourth career No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. On album cut "Talking to Myself," Eminem attempted to make amends, like any good 12-stepper, for being less than himself in years prior.
"Them last two albums didn't count," he rhymed. "Encore I was on drugs, Relapse I was flushing 'em out."
"Things are a little more calm for me now," Eminem says. "There was a time when everything was kind of flying by the seat of my pants and I kind of didn't know what was happening to my life. That certainly did get the best of me, with drugs and the pressure of all that shit. I'm at a different point now, but I still want to rap with the same energy and intensity and passion as before because, at the end of the day, this is what I love."
The Marshall Mathers LP 2, title notwithstanding, is as much a continuation of the Eminem story as it is a return to signature themes. For every throwback song or reminder of his humble origins-including "Legacy," which features the singer Paulina doing her best impression of Dido circa "Stan"-there's one that explores yet uncovered sonic or thematic territory. "The Monster" sports a synth-based buoyancy that borders on dance music, "Rhyme or Reason" samples the Zombies' '60s psych-pop standard "Time of the Season" and "So Far..." finds Eminem, who has been a dad for the duration of his career, officially rapping like one: "What the fuck I got to do to hear this new song from Luda? Be an expert at computers?" he complains.
This Eminem is a pop oddity, a rap rabble-rouser who became a global phenomenon, self-destructed, survived and, somewhere along the way, grew up. The existence of an eighth album from someone who once ruthlessly ridiculed anyone older than 35 is no less a cause for celebration among his core fan base, which has proved remarkably resilient.
In 2009, after a five-year absence (and a year after MTV gave into its reality TV identity by finally pulling the plug on "TRL"), Relapse sold an impressive 609,000 copies in its first week. The next year, Recovery fared even better, selling 741,000 first-week copies and going on to become the best-selling album of the year.
Eminem will perform Nov. 2 on "Saturday Night Live" and again the next night at the YouTube Music Awards, where he's nominated for artist of the year. In February 2014, he'll embark on a four-date tour of Australia and New Zealand, supported by J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar, the latter the latest in a line of Dr. Dre proteges that includes Snoop Dogg and Eminem himself.
"What he's doing right now, it's pretty fucking incredible," Eminem says of Lamar, sounding genuinely excited. "He seems like this kid that's just full of life and happy to be here. The impact he's had over just the last couple of years. it's been really fun for me to watch."
As for whether there will be a Marshall Mathers LP 3 in 2026, don't bank on it.
"I hope not," Eminem says. "I don't know what I'll be doing as far as whether I'll still be making music-I'd like to keep doing it as long as I still have the passion for it. But I hope to always be involved in hip-hop in one form or another. Because when it comes down to it, this is really all I know."
Rolling Stone 2013
Eminem Q&A Exclusive: The Making of 'The Marshall Mathers LP 2'
In these cover story outtakes, Slim Shady goes deep on the creative process behind his new album
By Brian Hiatt
November 1, 2013 2:10 PM ET
November 1, 2013 2:10 PM ET
Check Out:
Eminem was just a couple of days away from finishing his new album, The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (due November 5th), when we spoke in his suburban Detroit studio in early October. In these outtakes from the upcoming Rolling Stone cover story, which will hit stands November 22nd, he talks about the recording process, going blonde, his wicked sense of humor and much more.
Are you feeling good about the album at this point?
Um, that's a tough question, man. For the most part, yeah. But I don't know if I ever feel totally great about a record when I put it out. With every record that I put out, someone has literally got to come pry it from me because when I listen to my own music, I just hear flaws in it. Like I hear 'Oh fuck! I could have done this better or that better!' And I'll work it to death. Obviously if I wasn't comfortable with it, I wouldn't put it out. But from the beginning, ever since my career started, I don't know if I've ever been totally like, this is completely it.
Um, that's a tough question, man. For the most part, yeah. But I don't know if I ever feel totally great about a record when I put it out. With every record that I put out, someone has literally got to come pry it from me because when I listen to my own music, I just hear flaws in it. Like I hear 'Oh fuck! I could have done this better or that better!' And I'll work it to death. Obviously if I wasn't comfortable with it, I wouldn't put it out. But from the beginning, ever since my career started, I don't know if I've ever been totally like, this is completely it.
Complex 2013
BACK ISSUES
HAVING RECLAIMED HIS SPOT AT THE TOP, EMINEM TAKES A PAGE FROM RAP’S GOLDEN AGE.
Interview by Noah Callahan-Bever
Photography by Daniel Hastings
“Oh, I also got the first song done for my new album. Do you want to hear it?”
If Eminem asks you this question—at any point in time, for absolutely any reason—common sense dictates that you immediately respond with an enthusiastic, “Yes!” However, if he asks you this having just played you rough demos of “Forgot About Dre” and “What’s the Difference?” you’d better exclaim, “holy fucking shit yes please right now thank you thank you thank you,” with the motherfucking quickness. So yeah, pretty much, that’s what I said.
It was September 1998, and myself, Jonathan Shecter, Stretch Armstrong, Royce da 5’9”, Paul Rosenberg, and one Marshall Mathers III were assembled at GAME Recordings’ TriBeCa office listening to new tunes. Eminem’s first album, The Slim Shady LP, was in the can, to be released early the following year, and he was in NYC to handle Interscope business. I’d brought an advance of Jay’s Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life, which I’d come by via my staff writer position at BLAZE magazine, and Em had these sketches of what would become 2001. A lot of good songs had already been played.
And then: Genteel chimes gave way to a manic piano line, Em’s baby talk preamble escalated to a violent threat. “Sit down, bitch, you move again I’ll BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF YOU!” The air in the room was gone. He was playing “Kim” for us and WEOENO. As his beautiful ugliness exploded from the speakers, no one made eye contact. No one did anything. We just listened. We’d never heard a record like this. Shit, a record like this had never existed. After wowing us with his inventive wordplay and cartoonish creativity on his first album, Eminem had bared it all. He’d untethered himself from convention, from shame, from morality, from all things socially acceptable. Unhinged and unhindered, he had crafted one of the most brutal, honest, repulsive, intoxicating musical moments ever.
The song finished and we all sat quiet. No one spoke. I already considered Em a tremendous talent, but that moment—disturbed and awed—was the first time it passed through my mind that dude might be one of the great artists of my generation. Of course not for a moment did I consider the baggage that comes with that distinction.
“So yeah, what do you guys think?”
Fifteen years later, driving through the quiet streets off 8 Mile, Eminem is previewing me a handful of songs from his forthcoming The Marshall Mathers LP 2.
In the intervening years, as a result of the visceral connection songs like “Kim” made with fans, he’s become one of the most famous people on earth, experiencing all the pleasure and pain that comes with such adulation. Now four years sober, a 41-year-old father of three, Eminem remains arguably the most technically gifted rapper alive. But his art has become more restrained.
Eminem has spent the better part of the last decade trying to put the genie that is his personal life—the very genie that granted the once-struggling musician wishes of success, wealth, and fame—back in the bottle. At this point we know little about his private life. Aside from the promotional rounds for his albums, we barely even see him. And that’s exactly how he wants it.
His last two albums, Relapse and Recovery, were mined from his experience as an addict and then as a recovering addict. Their narrow focus allowed him to go deep, if not broad. To keep a few things for himself. But the songs he plays for me today range from spine-tingling (“Legacy”) to brain-bending (“Rap God”), and though all are quite personal, one thing they’re not is personally revealing.
Speaking to Eminem over video chat a week later it seems he is now ready to “take the restraints off,” as he puts it. He’s still tinkering with his album as he counts down the hours before his deadline. “I can’t even remember the last time I did an interview,” he says. “When I’m in the process of making music I can’t even think of what I want to say. But I got to get back in that mode, and you know what? You’re my first.” During a conversation broken up by Brooklyn police sirens and FaceTime glitches, we discuss whether or not the personal revelations that fueled the MMLP were worth it, how the new album might tread in similar territory—though he doesn’t want to ruin the surprise; he’s big on surprises—and why you should never pry into a man’s fantasy football strategy.
What does The Marshall Mathers LP mean to you?
Eminem: It doesn’t mean shit to me. [long pause] [Laughs.] Nah, I mean, I don’t know. I guess it’s just a feeling that I associate with that time period.
When did you decide that this would be a sequel?
When I started recording this album, a lot of the songs that I would play for people, they were saying it reminded them of that era. Which was kinda what I was going for in the first place, but the fact that other people started taking notice made sense.
It’s revisiting some themes on The Marshall Mathers LP, but it’s obviously a different time period in my life. So that’s why I wouldn’t call it a sequel. A sequel would just be a continuation of everything that was on there.
What themes are you revisiting in particular?
Um… [long pause] certain things, man. I’m trying to think if I can answer this. And I’m retarded, so…. On the first Marshall Mathers LP there were some personal things that I addressed and on this record there are some chapters that I wanted to close. This isn’t Recovery, where I was coming off some personal tragedies. I’m not coming off of a drug overdose. It’s more about going back to the basics of hip-hop and some fundamentals in that sense.
Recovery has very personal moments on it but it deals narrowly with your addiction. The Marshall Mathers LP dealt more with your personal relationships. Do you feel more comfortable revisiting those now after having addressed your demons?
Yeah, I don’t know. A lot of my career I put a lot of my life out there. It was personal shit I would put out there and didn’t really give a fuck. Sometimes I think back and I’m like, “Damn, was I doing the right thing? How much of myself do I wanna put out there?’ In one aspect you want your fans to feel like they know you and connect with you. But then you’re like, ’Man I got nothing to myself no more.” I don’t want to give away how personal this shit is going to get.
But when people read this they will have heard the album.
Yeah I know, but I kind of don’t want to tell you until you’ve heard it. I don’t even want to be a spoiler alert for anything. I’m big on the element of surprise; I’m not sure if you know that. [Laughs.]
[Laughs.] Yeah, I picked up on that over the last 15 years. I was prepping for this interview and listening to The Marshall Mathers LP for the first time in a while….
A while? That’s fucked up. [Laughs.]
I know, I’m sorry man. [Laughs.] So I was listening to “Kim”—have you listened to that song recently?
I don’t think I’ve listened to much off that album recently.
That record is incredibly personal—and also weird and dark. Does listening to those records make you feel uncomfortable?
I haven’t listened to them in quite some time. But a lot of the shit is stored in my head, the music and the main themes of each album. Performing a song like “Kill You” in concert refreshes my memory. Like I said, it was a different time period in my life and a different time period in rap, period. And I’m just gonna keep saying “period.”
I always say this about my music, and music in general: Music is like a time capsule. Each album reflects what I’m going through or what’s going on in my life at that moment. I don’t want to give too much away as far as how personal this album gets, but I don’t know if it’s going exactly where that album did.
Putting the title MMLP2 on this album ups the expectation for the fans. Did that weigh on you at all?
I don’t even know how to answer that question because I don’t want to say, like, “That album was the shit….” But I do feel like to call it that, it would have to live up to a certain standard.
People generally regard that album as the shit. [Laughs.] You sold a few copies and changed pop music. I don’t think anybody would find that vain.
I just don’t know how to say that though. I don’t feel comfortable saying that. [Laughs.]
To that point, one of the other big themes on The MMLP was the “Me looking at you looking at me” thing. That comes up on “Rap God” and some of the other songs that you played me—you acknowledged that fewer people are looking at you now than in 2000. How have your feelings evolved on being in the fish bowl?
It still feels like that. It’s not what it was but there’s still a little bit of that fish bowl effect going on. It’s the blessing and the curse—the fact that I’m able to be in the studio as much as I want, and create as much as I want, but it’s kind of gotten to the point sometimes where it feels like— [sirens in background] What’s that?
There’s a siren outside my window. You know, I’m just out here doing gangsta shit. Cops coming to get me.
[Laughs.] Like, “Yo, lemme just get this interview out of the way before they bag me!” Anyway, what the fuck was I saying?
You were saying, you still feel like you’re in a fish bowl.
And that’s the reason I chose to not talk about personal shit anymore—aside from what I put out there on records. I’ve got to do things to protect my personal family life. I wouldn’t even comment on that honestly. That’s not being a dick to you.
No, I understand. On one of the records you say the Columbine line again and talk about how you feel you might be able to get away with that now.
Oh, you caught that?
Yeah, I was listening.
How do I say this? Obviously there was more hype back then and people were hanging on every word I was saying. It’s not so much like that anymore, so I wonder, “Can I get away with a little bit more shit now that the spotlight is not on me?” Part of it is that people are used to me now. When I’m spouting off I don’t know if people think as much.... They’re just used to me now.
At what point did Rick Rubin get introduced to the situation?
About a third of the way in. I’ve always admired Rick and what he’s done. The way he’s able to jump from different genres of music and be a master at all of them has fucked my head up for so long. Paul said he might be interested in working with me and when Yoda wants you to come see him, you gotta go see Yoda. So me and Paul went out to L.A. to see what the vibe was like. Me being a fan of his for so long and seeing his track record—from being a kid, records he’s produced with LL and his whole body of work—I’m meeting Rick for the first time so I’m a little nervous. Absolutely. And super flattered that he would even want to work with me. By his vibe being so chill and so mellow, that opened us both up to be able to create together. We had a conversation and got in the studio and started fucking around.
We’ve all seen him on the couch with his shoes off. Can you maybe give us some insight as to what it was like to work with him as a producer? Is it coaching you or is it actually working on beats or just talking out feelings?
All of that. It’s all three things: Guiding. Trying shit out. Fuckin’ programming drums and “Do you like this? Do you like that?”
What is the most significant thing Rick said to you as a coach?
He always said: “Try everything.” Whenever there was an idea, no matter how ridiculous it sounded or if it sounded wack at first, his whole theme was, “There’s nothing we shouldn’t try. If it doesn’t work, we’ll know it.” Me and him on a lot of these songs would have the same ear that if we tried something on a track, we both instantly knew at the same time that it didn’t work. There wasn’t much fighting for something. Rick has a very let-shit-happen-organically attitude. So the instant I’m not feeling something that he puts in a track, nine times out of ten he would take it out. “It obviously doesn’t work. There’s some reason you’re not feeling it.” So that’s one of the things that makes him so great, too. If he’s hooking the beat up, I can sit there with the pen writing something and be like, “Ahh, I don’t know if I’m really feeling this one.” He’ll say, “OK, move on.”
This record was the first time in a while that I actually started producing records again myself. Nothing on Relapse and very little on Recovery was produced by me. So that was one of the fun things to be able to do again: Get in there and make beats from scratch with Luis Resto and just see what we come up with. It felt good to be able to put the producer hat on again—
You—
What? I’m sorry.
No, go ahead, man
Nah—you go.
I mean it is really all about me, right?
It always is, isn’t it, Noah? Fuck, man.
Sorry, but this is my one moment to shine.
You get this gig at BLAZE and then your head gets all big. What the fuck, man? And then the stripe on your head got bigger, too.
It’s true. It totally did. Have you heard the Kendrick “Control” verse?
Yes.
What was your initial reaction?
It’s hard to say because he fucking destroyed that verse, but it’s fucked up because everyone tells you what he did before you get a chance to hear it. My initial reaction was “Holy shit” and then it was “Wow, that was smart as fuck.” He did it in such a smart way. You really can’t get mad because he’s saying what every MC is thinking or should be thinking. You know what I’m saying? “I want to destroy the competition. I want to fucking kill everybody.”
Did it remind you of “Till’ I Collapse” at all?
In what sense?
“Here’s the order of my list that it’s in….” You did the same thing with exclusion rather than inclusion. You named the people at the top of the game, and positioned yourself next to them—
I think Kendrick—and I’m sure he would probably say this, too—he definitely took a page from that era when I first came out, Royce first came out, Canibus first came out. I’m sure that I’ve been known to do shit like that, Royce has been known to do shit similar and Canibus. So I think he took a page from that but he updated it. Nobody is really doing that and that’s why I say it’s so smart for him to do it, because he’s at a stage in his career where he’s like, “Fuck it. I’m going to say this and whatever the repercussions are the repercussions are. But this is how I feel. And I’m going to make it so smart these dudes can’t even get mad. Because if you get mad you might look crazy.”
We gotta have the G.O.A.T conversation—are you ready?
The G.O.A.T conversation? I don’t own any goats, man.
Breaking Bad or The Wire—which is the Greatest of All Time?
Aw, that’s not really fair because I haven’t seen all of Breaking Bad, but I will tell you this, it doesn’t matter. Breaking Bad is good. I saw the first five or six episodes but then I got so busy I couldn’t watch it. The Wire, hands down the best thing that’s ever been on TV ever. Best fucking show ever. There will never be another Wire or another like it or even remotely fucking close. Hands down. I stopped watching TV because of The Wire. Like, The Wire ruined everything for me because I don’t even want to watch anything else now. Did I tell you I like The Wire?
Yeah, I’m picking up on that. When we were walking through the studio to get to the car, it looked like there was a fantasy draft board up in the mic booth. Do you have a fantasy team?
Yeah, I’ve had a fantasy team for a while.
How are you doing this season?
Not very good. [Laughs..] A lot of my players are hurt.
Who is in Eminem’s fantasy league?
Just friends, man. Homies.
Do you have a team name?
I got a team name, but again that’s something that I choose to keep to myself. I don’t have many things to myself so it’s like, you’re prying, man!
Here I am with these personal questions about your fantasy team. [Laughs.] Where do you feel like you fit in the landscape of hip-hop right now?
I don’t know. I struggle with that sometimes. I guess it’s more about where people see me, and where people feel like I fit in. Hopefully when all is said and done, people see me as just an MC. That’s pretty much all I can ever ask for. I know that when songs cross over and they have some type of appeal that goes to certain stations and certain stations play ’em and then it’s like, “Aw, what the fuck? This isn’t hip-hop.” How do I say this? I don’t really have no control over that once I release my music. Regardless of what it is or what it’s about, every song that I do I always try to push lyrically. I would never try to compromise and just say, “This beat sounds like it could have commercial appeal to it. Let me write this kind of hook and fucking wing it.” I’m not just trying to sell records or trying to make a radio record. And, speaking of which, I do have some records to finish. I am fucked right now by the way. No, I’m fine. But I won’t make the deadline.
OK. I’ll let you go. You think we’ll still be doing this in 15 years?
As long as BLAZE magazine is around, we’ll be doing this.
Eminem: It doesn’t mean shit to me. [long pause] [Laughs.] Nah, I mean, I don’t know. I guess it’s just a feeling that I associate with that time period.
When did you decide that this would be a sequel?
When I started recording this album, a lot of the songs that I would play for people, they were saying it reminded them of that era. Which was kinda what I was going for in the first place, but the fact that other people started taking notice made sense.
It’s revisiting some themes on The Marshall Mathers LP, but it’s obviously a different time period in my life. So that’s why I wouldn’t call it a sequel. A sequel would just be a continuation of everything that was on there.
What themes are you revisiting in particular?
Um… [long pause] certain things, man. I’m trying to think if I can answer this. And I’m retarded, so…. On the first Marshall Mathers LP there were some personal things that I addressed and on this record there are some chapters that I wanted to close. This isn’t Recovery, where I was coming off some personal tragedies. I’m not coming off of a drug overdose. It’s more about going back to the basics of hip-hop and some fundamentals in that sense.
Recovery has very personal moments on it but it deals narrowly with your addiction. The Marshall Mathers LP dealt more with your personal relationships. Do you feel more comfortable revisiting those now after having addressed your demons?
Yeah, I don’t know. A lot of my career I put a lot of my life out there. It was personal shit I would put out there and didn’t really give a fuck. Sometimes I think back and I’m like, “Damn, was I doing the right thing? How much of myself do I wanna put out there?’ In one aspect you want your fans to feel like they know you and connect with you. But then you’re like, ’Man I got nothing to myself no more.” I don’t want to give away how personal this shit is going to get.
But when people read this they will have heard the album.
Yeah I know, but I kind of don’t want to tell you until you’ve heard it. I don’t even want to be a spoiler alert for anything. I’m big on the element of surprise; I’m not sure if you know that. [Laughs.]
[Laughs.] Yeah, I picked up on that over the last 15 years. I was prepping for this interview and listening to The Marshall Mathers LP for the first time in a while….
A while? That’s fucked up. [Laughs.]
I know, I’m sorry man. [Laughs.] So I was listening to “Kim”—have you listened to that song recently?
I don’t think I’ve listened to much off that album recently.
That record is incredibly personal—and also weird and dark. Does listening to those records make you feel uncomfortable?
I haven’t listened to them in quite some time. But a lot of the shit is stored in my head, the music and the main themes of each album. Performing a song like “Kill You” in concert refreshes my memory. Like I said, it was a different time period in my life and a different time period in rap, period. And I’m just gonna keep saying “period.”
I always say this about my music, and music in general: Music is like a time capsule. Each album reflects what I’m going through or what’s going on in my life at that moment. I don’t want to give too much away as far as how personal this album gets, but I don’t know if it’s going exactly where that album did.
Putting the title MMLP2 on this album ups the expectation for the fans. Did that weigh on you at all?
I don’t even know how to answer that question because I don’t want to say, like, “That album was the shit….” But I do feel like to call it that, it would have to live up to a certain standard.
People generally regard that album as the shit. [Laughs.] You sold a few copies and changed pop music. I don’t think anybody would find that vain.
I just don’t know how to say that though. I don’t feel comfortable saying that. [Laughs.]
To that point, one of the other big themes on The MMLP was the “Me looking at you looking at me” thing. That comes up on “Rap God” and some of the other songs that you played me—you acknowledged that fewer people are looking at you now than in 2000. How have your feelings evolved on being in the fish bowl?
It still feels like that. It’s not what it was but there’s still a little bit of that fish bowl effect going on. It’s the blessing and the curse—the fact that I’m able to be in the studio as much as I want, and create as much as I want, but it’s kind of gotten to the point sometimes where it feels like— [sirens in background] What’s that?
There’s a siren outside my window. You know, I’m just out here doing gangsta shit. Cops coming to get me.
[Laughs.] Like, “Yo, lemme just get this interview out of the way before they bag me!” Anyway, what the fuck was I saying?
You were saying, you still feel like you’re in a fish bowl.
And that’s the reason I chose to not talk about personal shit anymore—aside from what I put out there on records. I’ve got to do things to protect my personal family life. I wouldn’t even comment on that honestly. That’s not being a dick to you.
No, I understand. On one of the records you say the Columbine line again and talk about how you feel you might be able to get away with that now.
Oh, you caught that?
Yeah, I was listening.
How do I say this? Obviously there was more hype back then and people were hanging on every word I was saying. It’s not so much like that anymore, so I wonder, “Can I get away with a little bit more shit now that the spotlight is not on me?” Part of it is that people are used to me now. When I’m spouting off I don’t know if people think as much.... They’re just used to me now.
At what point did Rick Rubin get introduced to the situation?
About a third of the way in. I’ve always admired Rick and what he’s done. The way he’s able to jump from different genres of music and be a master at all of them has fucked my head up for so long. Paul said he might be interested in working with me and when Yoda wants you to come see him, you gotta go see Yoda. So me and Paul went out to L.A. to see what the vibe was like. Me being a fan of his for so long and seeing his track record—from being a kid, records he’s produced with LL and his whole body of work—I’m meeting Rick for the first time so I’m a little nervous. Absolutely. And super flattered that he would even want to work with me. By his vibe being so chill and so mellow, that opened us both up to be able to create together. We had a conversation and got in the studio and started fucking around.
We’ve all seen him on the couch with his shoes off. Can you maybe give us some insight as to what it was like to work with him as a producer? Is it coaching you or is it actually working on beats or just talking out feelings?
All of that. It’s all three things: Guiding. Trying shit out. Fuckin’ programming drums and “Do you like this? Do you like that?”
What is the most significant thing Rick said to you as a coach?
He always said: “Try everything.” Whenever there was an idea, no matter how ridiculous it sounded or if it sounded wack at first, his whole theme was, “There’s nothing we shouldn’t try. If it doesn’t work, we’ll know it.” Me and him on a lot of these songs would have the same ear that if we tried something on a track, we both instantly knew at the same time that it didn’t work. There wasn’t much fighting for something. Rick has a very let-shit-happen-organically attitude. So the instant I’m not feeling something that he puts in a track, nine times out of ten he would take it out. “It obviously doesn’t work. There’s some reason you’re not feeling it.” So that’s one of the things that makes him so great, too. If he’s hooking the beat up, I can sit there with the pen writing something and be like, “Ahh, I don’t know if I’m really feeling this one.” He’ll say, “OK, move on.”
This record was the first time in a while that I actually started producing records again myself. Nothing on Relapse and very little on Recovery was produced by me. So that was one of the fun things to be able to do again: Get in there and make beats from scratch with Luis Resto and just see what we come up with. It felt good to be able to put the producer hat on again—
You—
What? I’m sorry.
No, go ahead, man
Nah—you go.
I mean it is really all about me, right?
It always is, isn’t it, Noah? Fuck, man.
Sorry, but this is my one moment to shine.
You get this gig at BLAZE and then your head gets all big. What the fuck, man? And then the stripe on your head got bigger, too.
It’s true. It totally did. Have you heard the Kendrick “Control” verse?
Yes.
What was your initial reaction?
It’s hard to say because he fucking destroyed that verse, but it’s fucked up because everyone tells you what he did before you get a chance to hear it. My initial reaction was “Holy shit” and then it was “Wow, that was smart as fuck.” He did it in such a smart way. You really can’t get mad because he’s saying what every MC is thinking or should be thinking. You know what I’m saying? “I want to destroy the competition. I want to fucking kill everybody.”
Did it remind you of “Till’ I Collapse” at all?
In what sense?
“Here’s the order of my list that it’s in….” You did the same thing with exclusion rather than inclusion. You named the people at the top of the game, and positioned yourself next to them—
I think Kendrick—and I’m sure he would probably say this, too—he definitely took a page from that era when I first came out, Royce first came out, Canibus first came out. I’m sure that I’ve been known to do shit like that, Royce has been known to do shit similar and Canibus. So I think he took a page from that but he updated it. Nobody is really doing that and that’s why I say it’s so smart for him to do it, because he’s at a stage in his career where he’s like, “Fuck it. I’m going to say this and whatever the repercussions are the repercussions are. But this is how I feel. And I’m going to make it so smart these dudes can’t even get mad. Because if you get mad you might look crazy.”
We gotta have the G.O.A.T conversation—are you ready?
The G.O.A.T conversation? I don’t own any goats, man.
Breaking Bad or The Wire—which is the Greatest of All Time?
Aw, that’s not really fair because I haven’t seen all of Breaking Bad, but I will tell you this, it doesn’t matter. Breaking Bad is good. I saw the first five or six episodes but then I got so busy I couldn’t watch it. The Wire, hands down the best thing that’s ever been on TV ever. Best fucking show ever. There will never be another Wire or another like it or even remotely fucking close. Hands down. I stopped watching TV because of The Wire. Like, The Wire ruined everything for me because I don’t even want to watch anything else now. Did I tell you I like The Wire?
Yeah, I’m picking up on that. When we were walking through the studio to get to the car, it looked like there was a fantasy draft board up in the mic booth. Do you have a fantasy team?
Yeah, I’ve had a fantasy team for a while.
How are you doing this season?
Not very good. [Laughs..] A lot of my players are hurt.
Who is in Eminem’s fantasy league?
Just friends, man. Homies.
Do you have a team name?
I got a team name, but again that’s something that I choose to keep to myself. I don’t have many things to myself so it’s like, you’re prying, man!
Here I am with these personal questions about your fantasy team. [Laughs.] Where do you feel like you fit in the landscape of hip-hop right now?
I don’t know. I struggle with that sometimes. I guess it’s more about where people see me, and where people feel like I fit in. Hopefully when all is said and done, people see me as just an MC. That’s pretty much all I can ever ask for. I know that when songs cross over and they have some type of appeal that goes to certain stations and certain stations play ’em and then it’s like, “Aw, what the fuck? This isn’t hip-hop.” How do I say this? I don’t really have no control over that once I release my music. Regardless of what it is or what it’s about, every song that I do I always try to push lyrically. I would never try to compromise and just say, “This beat sounds like it could have commercial appeal to it. Let me write this kind of hook and fucking wing it.” I’m not just trying to sell records or trying to make a radio record. And, speaking of which, I do have some records to finish. I am fucked right now by the way. No, I’m fine. But I won’t make the deadline.
OK. I’ll let you go. You think we’ll still be doing this in 15 years?
As long as BLAZE magazine is around, we’ll be doing this.
XXL 2013
Eminem Manager Paul Rosenberg On The Evolution Of Slim Shady
Eminem’s highly-anticipated eighth studio album, the Marshall Mathers LP 2, officially dropped yesterday, and Billboard is already projecting it to be his seventh straight No. 1 album and the second-highest debuting record of the year. But there have been a number of elements in the buildup to this release that have made MMLP2—the followup to 2010′s Recovery—a much different Eminem product than what fans have seen in the past.
Much of that can be attributed to the work of longtime Em manager Paul Rosenberg, who has helped guide Marshall’s career since 1999′s Slim Shady LP announced his arrival on a major scale. His followup to that, 2000′s original Marshall Mathers LP, was a massive, diamond-selling statement, which saw Em pushing back against the critics, his mother, fame and his family life, all in one dazzling explosion of emotion, raw rapping and songwriting brilliance. So when Em announced this new record would be the second in the Marshall Mathers lineage, it opened it up to direct comparisons lyrically, thematically and, in a radically different music industry, promotionally. XXL spoke to Paul Rosenberg last week about MMLP2, the marketing rollout that saw Em do spots on Saturday Night College Football and with Call Of Duty, and how the character of Slim Shady has changed over the past 13 years. —Dan Rys (@danrys)
XXL: When did you guys get started working on the album?
Paul Rosenberg: Well, Em is always recording whenever he gets the chance; that’s sort of what he does on a day-to-day basis when he’s not out doing shows or whatever the case may be, he’s in the studio. It’s kind of a continual process, but I would say he really became serious about focusing on it and figuring out when he might want to put it out sometime around early March, 2012.
When he first started did he know he wanted to make it the second Marshall Mathers LP?
No, I don’t think so. I think it’s something that came into focus earlier in the process than it usually does—meaning the title—but I don’t think he started off before he recorded anything saying, “This is what I’m gonna call the album.” I think it’s a concept that came out of the work he was doing.
No, I don’t think so. I think it’s something that came into focus earlier in the process than it usually does—meaning the title—but I don’t think he started off before he recorded anything saying, “This is what I’m gonna call the album.” I think it’s a concept that came out of the work he was doing.
How was it different than any of the other albums that he’s put out?How was it different? Well, it’s the first time he’s ever done an album that’s a continuation of another album, so it’s different in that sense. I think it’s the first time he reached back and decided to revisit some of the themes that he had explored in some earlier records and give them a continuation. When he talks about the album he doesn’t talk about it as a sequel, he talks about it as a revisitation.
It seems like some of the emotions are flipped—well, not necessarily flipped, but different…
Well, you know what it is? It’s not that the emotions are different at all, it’s that you’re dealing with a person almost 15 years later and their perspective on some of the same themes. And obviously that’s gonna change for anybody, but specifically for him, who has been through so much in that 15 years, that you’re looking at things differently. So I think what we’re getting to hear is a guy who has had 15 years of life experience as an adult since he’s recorded these records when he was 25, 26, 27 years old. And it’s a very different perspective.
Well, you know what it is? It’s not that the emotions are different at all, it’s that you’re dealing with a person almost 15 years later and their perspective on some of the same themes. And obviously that’s gonna change for anybody, but specifically for him, who has been through so much in that 15 years, that you’re looking at things differently. So I think what we’re getting to hear is a guy who has had 15 years of life experience as an adult since he’s recorded these records when he was 25, 26, 27 years old. And it’s a very different perspective.
It’s fascinating, too, looking at the two albums side-by-side. His delivery is more mature, but there’s still a lot of—I don’t want to say anger—but the raw emotion that he’s so well-known for.
Yeah, I think that’s definitely the thread that connects the two projects. And you’re always gonna get that from Marshall, he wears his heart on his sleeve when he raps, and you’re always gonna feel what he’s going through and talking about. I think that’s one of the things that makes people connect to him so much, is that they feel something when they connect to his music, and they can relate to his emotions, even though it may not be the exact circumstances you’re going through, you can always relate to [it].
Yeah, I think that’s definitely the thread that connects the two projects. And you’re always gonna get that from Marshall, he wears his heart on his sleeve when he raps, and you’re always gonna feel what he’s going through and talking about. I think that’s one of the things that makes people connect to him so much, is that they feel something when they connect to his music, and they can relate to his emotions, even though it may not be the exact circumstances you’re going through, you can always relate to [it].
Was there any pressure coming off such another massive album with Recovery and then the inevitable comparisons that were going to come with making this a part two? Was there any special pressure?
Yeah, there’s always pressure; he’s achieved a level where the expectations are always going to be high. So yes, there’s pressure from those expectations, but we just try to do our best to make the right record for him at that time and what he’s doing creatively, and support that vision. My job, really, is to support that vision and figure out the best way to market and promote it.
Yeah, there’s always pressure; he’s achieved a level where the expectations are always going to be high. So yes, there’s pressure from those expectations, but we just try to do our best to make the right record for him at that time and what he’s doing creatively, and support that vision. My job, really, is to support that vision and figure out the best way to market and promote it.
He talks a lot on the album about the difference between him and Slim Shady. What’s the biggest difference you see between Slim Shady on this album versus the first Marshall Mathers album?
The difference between Slim Shady on those records? That’s an interesting question. [Laughs] I think back then, Slim Shady was connected to a younger guy who didn’t have the same perspective, going back to what I said before. And now it’s connected to a person who is older. So I don’t know if he definitely has more of a moral compass, so to speak, as a character, but I think Slim Shady thinks a little more now, as a character.
The difference between Slim Shady on those records? That’s an interesting question. [Laughs] I think back then, Slim Shady was connected to a younger guy who didn’t have the same perspective, going back to what I said before. And now it’s connected to a person who is older. So I don’t know if he definitely has more of a moral compass, so to speak, as a character, but I think Slim Shady thinks a little more now, as a character.
How did you guys get Rick Rubin involved?
It started off with Rick wanting to produce tracks with him. I had had several conversations with Rick over the course of the past few years—I had met him through some mutual friends—obviously, we’ve been a longtime fan of him and his career and what he’s done. After talking to him and learning how interested he was in potentially working with Em, it was just about finding the right time and the right project. So one of the things that I keep pointing out to people is that prior to Recovery, Em didn’t really work with a whole lot of producers. He worked with Dre, and he produced his own stuff himself and his small crew of people that he worked with, and that was it. So moving forward with Recovery, for whatever reason he opened the door up a little more and realized that he enjoyed the experience of working with more people and keeping it a little more open. So it was really about timing, and the timing worked out because he had just opened up to that concept. So the difference from working with Rick and a lot of other producers who may just send tracks is that they went into the studio together and created the stuff that they had made from complete scratch. There was no pre-existing beats, there was no pre-existing anything, there was just a couple of guys going through break beats and seeing what moves the needle for them.
It started off with Rick wanting to produce tracks with him. I had had several conversations with Rick over the course of the past few years—I had met him through some mutual friends—obviously, we’ve been a longtime fan of him and his career and what he’s done. After talking to him and learning how interested he was in potentially working with Em, it was just about finding the right time and the right project. So one of the things that I keep pointing out to people is that prior to Recovery, Em didn’t really work with a whole lot of producers. He worked with Dre, and he produced his own stuff himself and his small crew of people that he worked with, and that was it. So moving forward with Recovery, for whatever reason he opened the door up a little more and realized that he enjoyed the experience of working with more people and keeping it a little more open. So it was really about timing, and the timing worked out because he had just opened up to that concept. So the difference from working with Rick and a lot of other producers who may just send tracks is that they went into the studio together and created the stuff that they had made from complete scratch. There was no pre-existing beats, there was no pre-existing anything, there was just a couple of guys going through break beats and seeing what moves the needle for them.
And it’s crazy hearing some of the songs that have come out, the way they put it together. Some songs have four, five, six different parts to them, and that’s wild.
Yeah it is. Part of that is the stuff they sampled. The Joe Walsh record, “Life’s Been Good,” [on the Eminem track "So Far"] has all those different parts in it naturally. But then the thing I think is so awesome about “Berzerk,” it really sounds like something that could have been pulled from the License To Ill sessions from The Beastie Boys, especially with the way that the beat changes and these sort of random breakdowns and variations in the beat. It reminds you of something like “Hold It Now, Hit It” or “Slow And Low” or something like that.
Yeah it is. Part of that is the stuff they sampled. The Joe Walsh record, “Life’s Been Good,” [on the Eminem track "So Far"] has all those different parts in it naturally. But then the thing I think is so awesome about “Berzerk,” it really sounds like something that could have been pulled from the License To Ill sessions from The Beastie Boys, especially with the way that the beat changes and these sort of random breakdowns and variations in the beat. It reminds you of something like “Hold It Now, Hit It” or “Slow And Low” or something like that.
How did you pull together the marketing rollout? You guys had the Call Of Duty placement, and then the College Football appearance—were you trying to get the biggest possible platform with those?
It’s not really about being on the biggest scale possible ever. It’s about doing things that make a lot of sense and that have some sort of connection to Eminem and his fans. So when we look at what the possible partners might be and the ways to creatively—or as they call it, strategically—market the album, we look at things like Beats, because there’s a natural relationship obviously with Eminem and Beats, being that it’s Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine’s brand, and they’re the guys that put him in the game. [Based on] the obviously long-standing relationship that they have, nobody’s gonna look at that and say, “Oh, that’s weird.” And then similarly, with Call Of Duty, not only have we done stuff with Activision in the past with the DJ Hero game we did with them through licensing music and being involved with previous Call Of Duty games. But when they do research for their fanbase—and trust me, they do a lot of it—they continually get feedback that Eminem is one of the most popular, if not the most popular artist for their fans. So when we can connect to that fanbase through something that they love with a game like that, it makes total sense as well. But then also, those are bigger-scale—and obviously with Call Of Duty being the biggest entertainment property in the world that’s a big benefit, and of course we look at that—but also, it just has to fit. So we had this song “Survival,” which is just a natural fit for a game like that, so that makes sense, too.
It’s not really about being on the biggest scale possible ever. It’s about doing things that make a lot of sense and that have some sort of connection to Eminem and his fans. So when we look at what the possible partners might be and the ways to creatively—or as they call it, strategically—market the album, we look at things like Beats, because there’s a natural relationship obviously with Eminem and Beats, being that it’s Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine’s brand, and they’re the guys that put him in the game. [Based on] the obviously long-standing relationship that they have, nobody’s gonna look at that and say, “Oh, that’s weird.” And then similarly, with Call Of Duty, not only have we done stuff with Activision in the past with the DJ Hero game we did with them through licensing music and being involved with previous Call Of Duty games. But when they do research for their fanbase—and trust me, they do a lot of it—they continually get feedback that Eminem is one of the most popular, if not the most popular artist for their fans. So when we can connect to that fanbase through something that they love with a game like that, it makes total sense as well. But then also, those are bigger-scale—and obviously with Call Of Duty being the biggest entertainment property in the world that’s a big benefit, and of course we look at that—but also, it just has to fit. So we had this song “Survival,” which is just a natural fit for a game like that, so that makes sense, too.
And then it’s not just about being big, because we’ve done stuff with things that have been on a smaller scale. But when we talked about ways to do things differently… And that was the outset from the beginning; okay, we know how to market and promote a record, obviously, but how can we do it differently?
Do you remember how you’d worked the original MMLP?
I mean, it was very traditional; I don’t even remember us having a marketing partner for that album. Back then, that was kind of less common, frankly. And because the industry was twice the size it is now, there was more money. And when there’s more money, you don’t have to necessarily look for more ways to be more creative. And I’m not saying that Eminem albums don’t generate a lot of money, I’m saying that the extra dollars to just throw around don’t exist as much as they used to.
How else has the music business changed for you in the past 15 or so years? Is that mainly it—you have to get more creative?
Well, you know, I look at it like this—there’s two separate things, there’s the music business and then there’s the record business. The music business is doing fantastic; the record business is having problems and we all know why, and it’s half of what it was 10 years ago, maybe even less. So when we approached things in terms of selling a record, yes, we have to look at things differently and have to be more creative sometimes, ’cause we can’t do all the stuff that we used to do, and we can’t take the things for granted that we used to be able to.
Well, you know, I look at it like this—there’s two separate things, there’s the music business and then there’s the record business. The music business is doing fantastic; the record business is having problems and we all know why, and it’s half of what it was 10 years ago, maybe even less. So when we approached things in terms of selling a record, yes, we have to look at things differently and have to be more creative sometimes, ’cause we can’t do all the stuff that we used to do, and we can’t take the things for granted that we used to be able to.
It’s incredible—Recovery still went platinum in two weeks. Em still moves records like that.
Yeah, on a very consistent basis. He’s got an amazing fanbase that really connects with him, and I think that the interesting thing about him is that he doesn’t just have this sort of static fanbase, but he’s still continuing to grow new fans. He’s an artist that has kids that like him that are 12 years old and adults that like him that are 40 years old. So it’s really broad.
Yeah, on a very consistent basis. He’s got an amazing fanbase that really connects with him, and I think that the interesting thing about him is that he doesn’t just have this sort of static fanbase, but he’s still continuing to grow new fans. He’s an artist that has kids that like him that are 12 years old and adults that like him that are 40 years old. So it’s really broad.
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| Paul Rosenberg, Eminem's manager in an interview to XXL-- Photo Credit: XXL website |
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