În ultimul număr al revistei Vibe a apărut un interviu foarte interesant cu Eminem. Modest ca întotdeauna, acesta a vorbit despre succesul de care se bucură albumul său “Recovery”, despre conflictele pe care le-a deschis odată cu apariţia acestuia, dar şi despre retragere. Deşi a vândut peste 700.000 de copii în prima săptămână şi peste 2.000.000 per total, Eminem nu se consideră un star:

“I don’t consider myself a star. Obviously, I know I’m a celebrity but I don’t look at myself in that light. I’m just me, man. It’s one of the reasons that I stay here [in Detroit]“

Eminem a declarat că piesa “Talkin’ 2 Myself“, în care îi ataca pe Lil Wayne şi Kanye West, nu a fost întâmplătoare şi nu regretă niciun conflict de-a lungul carierei sale, cel mai “puternic” fiind cu Everlast şi a spus că a îngropat securea războiului cu Mariah Carey, ultimele vorbe despre ea fiind în piesa “Cold Wind Blows“. De asemenea regretă trecerea în nefiinţă a colegei sale de platou din filmul autobiografie “8 Mile“, Brittany Murphy, de care era foarte apropiat.

Iată câteva pasaje din interviu care mi s-au părut interesante:

Did Interscope pressure you to finish Encore and Relapse? Were they telling you, “We need the album. We need product?”

No. Interscope, Dre and Jimmy, they kind of let me work at my own pace, which is a cool thing. I don’t really get the pressure. Every now and then, I’m sure they are like, “Yo, what’s up?” But for the most part, I pretty much don’t put it out till it’s right.

You seem very self-assured on Recovery. Is this the most confident you’ve ever felt? Not as a rapper, but as a person.

As a person, yeah. I feel stronger than ever, better than ever, nothing is going to stop me. That is the undertone of the record. It’s also; I think that, um, by me putting out a record like this, it can show people that no matter how down you are, it does get better.

After the last two mediocre albums, Recovery was vital for your legacy. How important is it to you to be mentioned as one of the greats, if not the greatest?

How important is it? I think, hmmm. I mean, anytime you hear things like that, it’s certainly an honor and feels good but I don’t rap to be the absolute best rapper in the world because I think there is no such thing. I rap to be the best that I can be. I feel like I compete with myself a lot and I’m always trying to top what I did. I think Wayne once said, “Of course you are rapping to be the best rapper. Because otherwise, why are you doing it?” So everyone raps to say they are the best or to be the best or whatever. I don’t even know if I’m making any sense. It’s what hip-hop is based on: “I’m better than you. I do this better than you.” At the end of the day, I don’t believe that there is one rapper that can be the best because that means you have to be the best at everything. There are certain things that I may do better than Wayne. There are certain things that Wayne may do better than me. There are certain things that Jay may do better than both of us. Everybody has certain things that they are good at. Being the best? There is no such thing.

Why is there no jokey first single?

About halfway through recording the record, I was probably thinking, one of those kind of singles isn’t going to make sense. It’s one of them things man . . . [I’ve] grown up so much just in the last couple of years since I’ve been sober. Relapse didn’t reflect that [or] where I really am mentally.

Other critics called you the voice of a generation. Did you buy into that?

I don’t know. I’m trying to think how I felt back then. It’s so weird man. I don’t mean to sound like an asshole but things were moving so fast for me that I don’t know if I took time to stop and feel or be able to assess what was going on around me. I just remember moving so fast. It was way too big back then for me to actually grasp what was happening. You know what?

On Recovery, you mention “the perfect verse” several times. What’s the closest you’ve come?

Every verse that I put out on this album. And by perfect, I don’t mean the best verse ever. I mean that I got it to where it’s good enough for me. There will be shit that two years from now, I will think I could have said better. I always feel like I can do shit better. If this album isn’t better than my last one, then why am I doing it?

I can’t picture you quitting because you seem to really love hip-hop.

I do love it so much. But even if I was rapping at 50 [years old], I don’t know if I would put it out. I know it always makes me feel better to lay things to tape, and—“Lay the tape.” See, I’m old school. The fans might say the shit is garbage. You don’t how long people are going to want you around . . . Realistically, if I don’t rap, what the fuck am I going to do? It’s too late to just be unfamous right now at this point.

Do you consider yourself normal?

Normal by whose standards?

Your standards.

I don’t consider myself a star. Obviously, I know I’m a celebrity but I don’t look at myself in that light. I’m just me, man. It’s one of the reasons that I stay here [in Detroit]. I don’t want the attention. I don’t like the attention. I don’t like all that shit. Yes, I love the respect and the admiration that some people show me but I don’t thrive off that whole thing. I just want to be regular.

Întregul interviu îl puteţi găsi aici.

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