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Eminem Covers Complex, Talks Kendrick’s “Control”

blame it on Meka November 4, 2013
eminem-complex-dec-jan

Speaking of Slim Shady, he graces the cover of the upcoming issue of Complex, where he speaks on his new album, revisiting old roots while leaving things in the past, and more. You can check out the fancy, HTML5 interview with Marshall over at the ‘Plex homestead. Some choice quotes, down bottom.

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.

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.

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.

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