Can you believe that Shady Records has been in business for 15 years? Neither can Eminem and his partner Paul Rosenberg. They detail their experiences with the label in a recent roundtable discussion.
Over the years their roster has boasted the talents of 50 Cent, D-12, Slaughterhouse, Bad Meets Evil, Yelawolf, Stat Quo, and Obie Trice. While many of the artists originally on Shady have moved on to other situations, their place in history can’t be denied.
In celebration of the anniversary the very elusive Eminem and label boss Paul Rosenberg discussed the company’s beginnings, ups and downs live on Shade45.
So we present the top 9 things we learned from the Eminem & Paul Rosenberg XV roundtable special. Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
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Photo: Instagram
1. The Origins
The real reason Eminem wanted to launch Shady Records was to give his crew D-12 a platform to put out albums. He never had big dreams of being a record executive.
2. The Movie
They admitted that the crew was taking a huge risk in doing the 8 Mile as there was a lot at stake and rapper anchored movies aren’t always well received. See here.
3. Skits
Em was influenced by the early 90’s Hip-Hop albums that featured skits which ended up giving those projects more personality.
4. 50
The first song that Eminem heard from 50 was “Life’s On The Line”. He felt so much conviction from his bars that Slim thought Fif was a threat.
5. GRODT
They battled with finalizing Get Rich Or Die Trying. 50 Cent had so many great records everyone at the record label fought to see which will be kept and which will not make the final product.
6. Obie Trice
Paul’s old friend and Em’s former DJ Hed put both onto Obie playing his independent single to them. Bizarre was also a fan and got Trice to rap for Slim and the rest is history.
7. Shade45
Jimmy Iovine actually was pitching to do a Interscope Records channel on Sirius radio. Sirius declined but expressed interest in Em which led to creating Shade45.
8. Yelawolf
The first record Slim heard from Wolf was “Pop The Trunk”. What cemented his interest was Yelawolf’s lyrical ability and uniqueness.
9. House Gang
Em was already impressed by the individual members but to see them come together as a group impressed him enough to considering signing them.
