Fat Joe mentioned recently that he could not expect a better promotion for his album than the renewed feud between Nick Cannon and Eminem. However, that means that now every interview he gives about his new album within minutes becomes an interview about this scandal.
That was not his intention though, explained Fat Joe to XXL’s “Hip-Hop Moments of Clarity” podcast. He had no idea what Eminem had in store for this track and when he learned what it was about, he tried to stop Nick Cannon from digging himself deeper:
Let’s get it real. Eminem mixed and mastered that record. So we didn’t have a choice on the verse. It was like, “Em, we need you on a verse! – Oh, I’d love it. – Imma send it. – Imma mix and master it”. It’s the first ever happened to me in my life. I didn’t think he was dissing at Nick Cannon. So when we got it I was like, goddamn, I like Nick, he’s a cool dude, that’s my man, I did records with him but I’m not turning down Eminem verse. So that is what it is. And the thing is, Nick came at me immediately. He called me, it was like, “Yo, I know, it’s hip-hop, you ain’t got nothing to do with it bro”. I know I’ve got nothing to do with it but, you know, it is what it is. I told him, “Don’t play yourself and try to diss Eminem. Like, come on man! You gotta stop!”
The pity is that in all the hype people forget what this song is, what is the message and how differently and Eminem sounds there. These were the points that Dre tried to talk about:
As a fan of Eminem and all the music he created in his career, this the first time you’ve heard like soul flip. I keep telling Joe, I’m getting “hate it or love it” feels off that song. When we got this record, when we produced it was just a song on the album. But when people heard it, it just touched people in a different way. And I think Em’s verse did that, Joe’s verse did that, what Mary’s doing… People are saying “That’s the best verse we’ve heard from Eminem in ten years!” I won’t say that ‘cuz I don’t want to disrespect the music he’s been making for the past ten years…
But he went crazy! He tapped into a chamber! – Joe chimed in.
The host asked an interesting question about people who try to get a shot at Marshall recently. Is the number rising? Fat Joe doesn’t think it has anything to do with Eminem personally. It’s culture, says Joe:
I’m pretty sure that if Tupac came back from Cuba somebody would diss him within a month. It’s a game. It’s disrespect.
Watch the interview below: