Eminem’s Revival is just a little over a week away, and the living legend has increased his presence online tenfold as the album’s release nears. He’s been picky about just who he gives an interview too, as the historically recluse rapper has only spoken to Malcolm Gladwell and DJ Whoo Kid on his own Shade 45 radio since his return, but now Marshall is opening up to another interviewer whose name you might recognize: Elton John.
Elton and Em had a chat for Interview Magazine, as Elton waxed poetically about his Grammy cohort, discussing everything from the new album, to their shared affinity for songwriting, the genius of Dr. Dre and more. One topic Elton seemed especially intrigued by was Em’s infamous Donald Trump freestyle from the BET Hip-Hop Awards this year. He gushed about the performance, saying it was an “example of someone actually getting off their ass and saying something.”
In grilling Em about the freestyle, Elton was able to get some new details out of his buddy, like the original plan to perform the track live, on stage at the award show. “The original idea was for me to go to the BET Awards and do it acapella onstage,” Em said. “I went home that same day and wrote it all, but then at the last minute, plans got switched around and we filmed it in Detroit.”
Em also said the setup of the video for the freestyle was “trying to mimic Public Enemy’s You’re Gonna Get Yours cover,” which depicts PE with a group of men in a parking garage with a few cars.
He also talked at length about what the freestyle meant for him, and how his support of Colin Kaepernick and other protesting athletes isn’t meant to disrespect the military, the flag our the country.
“It was about having the right to stand up to oppression,” Eminem said about the athlete protests and the freestyle. “I mean, that’s exactly what the people in the military and the people who have given their lives for this country have fought for — for everybody to have a voice and to protest injustices and speak out against shit that’s wrong. We’re not trying to disrespect the military, we’re not trying to disrespect the flag, we’re not trying to disrespect our country. But shit is going on that we want to make you aware of. We have a president who does not care about everybody in our country; he is not the president for all of us, he is the president for some of us. He knows what he’s doing.”
Check out the entire interview, including some glowing words form Elton about Eminem at Interview magazine here.
