Ahead of the new album’s release, Kid Rock gives an update on sudden changes to the tracklist. Lil Wayne replaced Eminem on “Seven Sins”, but Em’s feature is still listed, just on another song.
In a carefully curated video, Kid Rock talks about his upcoming meeting with Trump and addresses the public pushback that met his previous announcement about the Eminem collaboration.
There’s been some people on the internet and whatnot, like there always is, that don’t seem to be too thrilled about my old friend of almost 40 years, Eminem, doing a song with me on my new album, Halfway to Jesus, which comes out this Saturday. You folks will probably be happy to hear that he’s no longer on “Seven Sins”. Another very good friend of mine, Little Wayne, is now on Seven Sins. And it will probably not make you very happy to hear that Eminem is still on the album. He’s just on another song now called “Heal My Faith”. The track listing, the new track listing, will be in this post somewhere.
I want to reiterate that thinking differently, and having the freedom to do so, is what makes this country great.
The last phrase is a token of his current message, which he repeats in every interview he does while heavily promoting the upcoming album. While it is generally a well-meaning message of unity, it tells the audience very little about the creative reasoning behind this change to the tracklist.
It cannot be easy to play musical chairs with guest stars just several days before the album release. It also raises the question about the material that can be moved so easily from one song to another. With strong production skills and enough determination, it is not impossible to adapt a verse to a new sonic environment and make it feel natural on a song it wasn’t written for. ut is that what happened here?
It is widely known that Eminem produces his own verses when he sends them out for a collaboration. Would he do that in these particular circumstances? Admittedly, there are more questions than answers. Meanwhile, this sudden shift might also point to a possibility that hasn’t been examined closely yet.
What if it is again not a verse, but a spoken word contribution from Eminem? A direct message to Kid Rock at best, a ready-made stock record as another possibility. We have already seen how M80 uses Eminem’s interview lines to attract more attention to albums released by artists he works with. Certainly, this strategy is easy for others to pick up.
The political situation surrounding this particular collaboration amplified the attention. A staunch MAGA supporter and Eminem who once said he didn’t want to see Trump supporters among his fans were suddenly making a song together. But if that song was easily swapped for another at the last moment, what do we have left to talk about?
Kid Rock’s new album is out on October 17, and that is where we will get the answers.