Eminem Calls Getting Tricked by Someone Who Said They Worked for a Hip-Hop Label ‘The Lowest Point’ of His Career
Eminem may be a world-famous rapper today, but in the early days of his career, he was just a Detroit rapper looking to get his career off the ground. At one point, the up-and-coming emcee believed that he was on his way to securing a record deal — until realizing he’d been tricked.
Eminem dreamed of being a famous rapper
Eminem released his debut studio album Infinite in 1996. His star continued to rise in the late ’90s and early ’00s with albums like The Slim Shady LP and The Marshall Mathers LP. In a 2022 interview with XXL, Eminem reflected on his journey from the beginning, and how he never expected to be an influential rapper.
“I never thought I would be anyone’s influence. When my first album came out, I was still staying wherever I could stay — mostly with Kim and her parents,” he said. “I didn’t get my own house until the second album [1997’s The Slim Shady LP].”
He went on to remark on how people started to look up to him — and pay him visits themselves. “I wasn’t sure before then if this was a one-time thing, but I had people knocking on the door and I realized that it was getting crazy,” he said. “That was one of the inspirations for writing ‘Stan.’ It was like, These people are actually looking up to me? I also was amazed. Y’all are getting pissed off about me? Little old me? How in the f*** is this happening?”
“So, it inspired songs like ‘Stan’ because to have fans is a dream come true, but it’s also so bizarre and so surreal,” he continued. “Even as I sit here now, I still trip out in my head about how it got to this level. All I ever really wanted to do was to be a respected MC. To make enough money to survive, so that I wouldn’t have to work a regular job. That ties into my competitive spirit, and I don’t know when that’s going to go away, if ever. That’s probably my biggest weapon mixed with lyricism.”
He was once tricked by someone who claimed to own a record label
Eminem went on to recount a time he got career advice from fellow Detroit rapper Royce da 5’9″. Eminem was working with production duo the Bass Brothers on his first few projects, and thought that his next career move was on the horizon.
“Before any of this happened, before I signed to Dr. Dre and Interscope, I remember having this conversation with Royce [da 5’9″],” he said. “We had somebody at this hip-hop label who said they wanted to sign me when I was working with the Bass Brothers. I made three or four songs, and we gave it to this guy, and found out that he worked in the mail room and he wasn’t really who he said he was.”
Being scammed threw Eminem into a spiral. “I was at the lowest point. I didn’t even know what I was going to do because it didn’t look like it was going to happen. I’m 24 years old and I got a baby to take care of and all I want to do is rap, but it didn’t look good,” he said. “I was super depressed.”
Eminem has his own record label now
By speaking with Royce about their love for rapper Redman, Eminem almost manifested what happened next.
“Royce and I are having this conversation. We loved Redman. To this day, love Redman. Huge f***in’ fan. And we had this conversation and I said, ‘Man, Royce, if we could just go gold, man. Think about Redman. He’s got so much f***in’ respect. It doesn’t have to be any of that other stardom s***,'” he said.
“That conversation just always sticks with me because as s*** started happening, I’m thinking, ‘This is next-level s***.’ And I never expected it,” he continued. “There are a lot of building blocks and things that had to fall in place for things to go the way they did for me and if you take one of those pegs out, the whole f***in’ thing would’ve fallen down.”
In 1999, Eminem launched a record label of his own, Shady Records.
