Eminem Breaks Down What It Takes To Get Signed To Shady Records

Co-signs from an established artist can be huge in the music industry, and perhaps the biggest co-sign an up-and-coming rapper can get from Eminem is being signed to his Shady Records label. Now, Eminem has revealed what he looks for in a Shady Records artist.

Atlanta rapper and Shady signee GRIP is the subject of a new Complex profile, and for that, the publication spoke with Eminem, who said of GRIP, “We all got excited about GRIP after we heard [the 2019 album] Snubnose. It was really refreshing to hear a new artist so focused on making a conceptual project and it caught my attention.”

Eminem went on to detail his desired traits in a Shady rapper, saying:

“It’s definitely great when artists we sign connect with a larger audience, and 50 [Cent] is a perfect example of that. Obviously we want anyone who signs with Shady to succeed. But first and foremost we’ve always focused on the raw talent and ability of the artist as an MC. We’ve always been pretty clear on that being the main thing we look for: high level fundamental skills and mechanics are definitely the priority.”

He also spoke about his philosophy on collaborating with Shady artists, saying, “It’s really important in a creative collaboration for there to be that personal connection for it to succeed. Shady is a boutique label and we don’t sign a lot of artists, so we have a chance to get involved at a deeper level with the ones we do. And I think that goes both ways. I like to be motivated by the artists we sign and I want to feel pushed by their creativity as well. The people we sign have a point of view and vibe that made us want to work with them in the first place. Part of our job is to help them get out to a bigger audience but also I don’t like to insert myself where I’m not needed. I am looking to find where and how I can get involved that adds to or builds on what the artist is already doing.”

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