Eminem and Lil Wayne.Photo:Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty
Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty
EvenLil Waynegets nervous before calling up a superstar likeEminem.
In an interview withThe New York Timesfor a feature on the50th anniversary of hip-hoplast week, Weezy spoke about feeling “scared” about the prospect of asking Eminem to collaborate for the first time.
“I was scared, actually, when I called Eminem for a song,” Wayne, 40, told the outlet. “That is a monster.”
“He must have the same thing I have with words. Like, we can’t get them out of our heads. Every meaning, every aspect of them. Things that rhyme, we hear it,” continued the “A Milli” rapper. “I already know the gift and the curse that he has. And I love to hear the way he puts it together.”
Lil Wayne and Eminem.ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty
ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty
At the time, Wayne had already collaborated with fellow rappers including Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross, Drake and Nicki Minaj — but as a fan of Eminem, it felt different to approach him.
The rappers first collaborated on Drake’s 2009 track “Forever,” which also featured Kanye West. Their first song as a duo was “Drop the World” from Wayne’s 2010Rebirthalbum, and they reunited for “No Love” from Eminem’sRecoveryalbum the same year.
His daunting call to Eminem proved to be worth it, as all of their collaborations have become hits. “Forever” peaked at No. 8 on theBillboardHot 100, while “Drop the World” reached No. 18 and “No Love” landed at No. 24 — with all four songs eventually going multi-platinum.
Elsewhere in Wayne’sNYTinterview, he spoke about his admiration forJAY-Z. “To me, Shawn Carter, Jay-Z, was the god of words. He could’ve rewritten English books,” said the rapper.
JAY-Z.Shareif Ziyadat/Getty
He then quotes lyrics from “Lucky Me”: “And I swear to everything when I leave this earth/it’s gon’ be on both feet, never knees in the dirt/you could try me, [expletive]/but when I squeeze it hurts/fine …”
Wayne continued, “And what’s crazy is we stop the music on that part and the crowd sings the rest of it with me as if I wrote that. But that’s all Jay.”
source: people.com
