Eminem, the rapper born as Marshall Mathers, is known worldwide as one of the first white emcees to be loved, accepted and embraced by the hip-hop community and is now considered among the best in the industry with regard to lyricism. With so many iconic songs, it is hard to deny the Detroit rapper’s talent and the impact he has made on the genre as a whole.
Born in Missouri and raised in the 8 Mile area of Detroit, Eminem was the biggest name in hip hop at the turn of the millennium, without a doubt. His second album, The Slim Shady LP, released in 1999, was met with critical acclaim and went straight to number two on the Billboard 200, and by the end of 1999, it was certified four times platinum. To this day, it is still classed as a classic and is one of the most successful hip hop albums of all time.
Eminem’s alter-ego ‘Slim Shady’ captivated the world as he explored highly dangerous subjects that no other rapper had dared to and flung profanity into his songs for fun. The rapper’s ability to immerse his listeners in a story is second to none, and the movie 8-mile only fuelled his popularity.
The soundtrack for the movie featured some amazing songs with some amazing artists, and one of those artists was Obie Trice. Shortly after signing to Aftermath, with the success of the Slim Shady LP, Eminem was given a subsidiary label Shady Records. This allowed Mathers to scout and sign artists to Interscope Records through his label. Eminem signed a multitude of artists and groups to Shady Records, including acts such as D12, Obie Trice, 50 Cent, Stat Quo, Bobby Creekwater, Cashis, Slaughterhouse, Yelawolf, Griselda, Westside Gunn and Conway the Machine.
Obie Trice is a Detroit rapper like Eminem and signed with Shady Records in 2000, shortly after the release of the Slim Shady LP. Trice worked extensively with Mathers on the soundtrack for 8-mile, and Trice’s debut album Cheers was executively produced by Mathers. Although Mathers and Trice did end up going their separate ways, as Trice went on to form his own record label, Black Market Entertainment, the two have remained on good terms, with Trice even releasing a diss track against Nick Cannon in 2019 to defend Eminem after Nick Cannon released two diss tracks against Eminem.
However, while together, they did make magic. Below you can watch rare footage of the two artists in the studio.
