The time Mac Miller was star-struck by Eminem: “Holy shit, that’s Eminem!”
Mac Miller didn’t get star-struck often during his lifetime, but meeting Eminem was a completely different experience. Although they’re both from the US, they never crossed paths on home soil. The only times they ever met were in Japan and Europe.
During an interview, Mac recalled watching Em perform in Asia and going backstage to meet him. The Pittsburgh rapper was so overwhelmed by the experience that he didn’t know what to say in that moment.
“It was crazy because it was in Japan, so I went to go and see him in Japan and then I went backstage,” he said on Big Boy’s Neighborhood. “I don’t really get star-struck or anything. I’m not trying to be cool about it, but I have just met a lot of my heroes and I haven’t been star-struck. But this man just has a wild aura around him. When he walked out, I was like, ‘Holy shit, that’s Eminem!'”
He added, “You know when you’re nervous and all you can do is smile and laugh. He could have been saying anything and I’d be like, ‘Haha, yeah.’ He [could have been] like, ‘Man, I hated your last record.’ [I would be like], ‘Haha, oh Eminem, you and your jokes. Chka-chka, Slim Shady!’ But it was cool, he was real nice.”
Mac also opened up about the second time they met, revealing he was drunk and played things a little too cool around Em. “I got to kick it with him a second time,” he said. “And me, I’m a pretty personable person, so if I met you once and we had a conversation, now we’re super tight. So I got drunk in Europe and I go backstage with him then and I was just a little too comfortable.”
He continued, “So I just sat right next to him on the couch and I walked in like, ‘Man, how about that show?’ Like, breaking my own rules. But it was crazy because that’s like arguably one of the biggest rappers in the world. You know what, it was cool ’cause he’s sober now. I wasn’t drunk and annoying, I hope, but he was kinda like having a good time.”
Mac spoke about their encounter on another occasion, revealing they had a conversation about his broken hand. Em asked Mac why he was wearing a cast and shared a very on-brand reaction to his comments.
“I was really smiley,” he said. “I was like, ‘Woah, that’s Eminem,’ you know? He’s mad famous. I had a cast on at the time. If you didn’t know, I broke my hand, which is why I have a cosmetic deficiency in my knuckles for the rest of my life.” He continued, “So I was wearing my cast, and Em comes out, and he was super funny. He walks out and he’s like, ‘So, what happened to your hand?’ And I was like, ‘I broke it, I punched a door.’ And he was like, ‘That’s pretty fucking sweet.’ And then we chopped it up for a little bit.”
Eminem paid tribute to Mac on the original version of Conway The Machine’s ‘Bang’ in 2019, which was released on Em’s Shady Records label. In his verse, he rapped, “RIP Mac Miller.”