Hip-Hop fans have been holding their breath for a collaboration betweenEminem and Kendrick Lamar ever since the TDE rapper was spotted in Detroit back in June, but Shady definitely wasn't going to give them exactly what they expected. He told MTV News that he decided to take a unique route with his K-Dot feature, just to trip everyone up.
Eminem revealed that the comical and lyrical "Love Game," which samples Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders' "Game of Love," was one of the final tracks recorded for The Marshall Mathers LP 2, and Kendrick seemed like the obvious choice for the record.
"I was recording for so long and trying to squeeze a lot of songs on the CD and some wouldn't fit because I never really stopped writing songs and recording," he told us Monday night. "By the time I got to a place where I thought we were close to being finished, I was like sh--, I have no features, like rappers on here. And the one name that popped up was Kendrick."
"I had just met him at Coachella and then I got a chance to chop it up with him in Detroit and he's a really cool dude — super humble and super cool," Em added. "I like him as a person and the fact that he's on Aftermath, the same label, it just made sense. So he came in and I'm super grateful that he did it, and he killed it."
The Detroit native said that before he recorded with Kendrick, he explained to him that The Marshall Mathers LP 2 was very rap heavy, and could use a bit of a twist. "I laid a couple of ideas down and [told him], 'This one I'm geared towards more, just because the other verses I have are kinda rappity-rap and I've got so much of that on my album. I feel like this one might be a better direction to go, just conceptually."
"When Rick [Rubin] sent me that beat, it was so different to me, I didn't think people would really expect us on a record like this and expect himto be on a record that sounds like that," Em added. "It's got a unique sound to it, so he liked the concept and we decided to go with that as opposed to what people might expect."
When MTV News caught up with Kendrick at Power 105.1's Powerhouse concert this weekend, he confirmed that he and Em had met a couple of times and become acquainted before actually hitting the studio, but that didn't stop from bringing his A-game to their session.
"It's definitely reassurance that I need to keep approaching [music] the way I approach it," K-Dot said of getting the call from Em. "You're only good as your last song, your last verse, your last hook, your last show — and going in with that mind state already, I had to put that in my head times 10 because this is Eminem.. This is one of the greatest guys to do it. So I had that mentality walking in there and I put my best foot forward."
Over the course of the record, Em plots to destroy his cheating lover, who happened to get busy with a few other rappers. ""Used to be my fiancé, until you sucked on Wayne, Andre and Kanye/ LeBron, Akon, Jay, Lil' Jon, Raekwon, Ma$e, Polow Da Don, Drake, Dante Ross, James Conway, Kwame," he spits. Meanwhile, Kendrick manages to weave in references to his good kid, m.A.A.d city character and love interest Sherane, while drawing parallels to the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin.
The Marshall Mathers LP 2 is in stores Tuesday (November 5).
