Detroit’s comedy queen, Coco, shared some behind-the-scenes gems about her experiences collaborating with Eminem.
Coco, a legend in the Detroit comedy scene known for her sharp wit, shared her journey from open mic nights to national recognition in a recent episode of the Kid L Podcast. Her story takes a surprising turn when she reveals a hidden platinum plaque in her living room.
Turns out, Coco’s comedic talents landed her a spot on Obie Trice’s album “Cheers”, produced by Eminem. She voiced the now-famous “crazy woman” in the skit on the explicit version of the song “Hoodrats”, reveals Coco:
Eminem is my guy. I’ve got a Platinum record. It’s so funny. On Obie Trice’s CD “Cheers” is a song called “Hoodrats”, and on the explicit version of that song, there is a skit in the beginning, and I’m the voice of the crazy woman at the beginning of the skit. So I’ve got a Platinum in my living room right now. I’ve got a platinum record from Eminem, Obie, and all of that stuff. I got a great check from Interscope. It was a great check, and I enjoyed doing it. Then I’m in the video “Got Some Teeth”.
By the way, Eminem also plays the part of a bartender in that video.
Coco also dropped a fun fact about her early encounters with Eminem in a legendary Detroit spot:
I knew Eminem because it used to be a club on the west side, and it’s still there, too, called Ebony Showcase. On Tuesday nights, the rappers would be there, and the comedians would be there. So, Marshall would be in the corner selling his cassettes. And I was like, who is that white boy? They’d be like, “Oh, that’s Marshall. He’s a rapper”, and so forth and so on. So, it’d be Marshall, Proof, a lot of those cats.
Having known Eminem before his meteoric rise, Coco offers a unique perspective. She acknowledges the negativity surrounding him but emphasizes that the real Em is far from the caricature some paint:
When I see all the negative stuff that people say about him, I reserve my comments because he’s not the person that people make him out to be.
Coco then dives into the recording process for the “Hoodrats” skit. Eminem’s meticulous nature is on full display. A seemingly simple 60-second skit took eight hours to perfect! Coco describes Em’s dedication, from constantly refining lines to ensuring her comfort throughout the long session:
When I got the call to do the skit, I was in the studio with Em. He’s a perfectionist. While we were doing it, Dr. Dre was sending beats and music and stuff over. I got to the studio at 1 o’clock. If you pull it up and listen to the skit, it may be a 60-second skit. That skit took from 1 o’clock in the afternoon to probably 9 at night to perfect the way Em and Obie wanted it. [Eminem] was like, “No, Coco, I need you to do this and say this”, or whatever. He was so engaged. He was like, “You good? You hungry? You thirsty?” I said, no, I’m good, I’m good. After a while, we took a break, and then we came back. He was like, “Okay, so I need you to do this when you do this, I need to do this”… All the sound effects and everything they did in the studio. He said, “Okay, so when you do that, I need you to be a little more angry, and I need you to kind of fall back”. I said okay. Took literally eight hours. But when I heard it, I was like, wow, that’s me. That is really, really me. I was excited to be in the studio with Em. He’s just a really great person. He does a lot of stuff behind the scenes that people will never know about.
Coco’s experience paints a picture of Eminem as a supportive and detail-oriented collaborator. She highlights his ability to push artists to deliver their best work while also acknowledging his genuine care for their well-being.
[Eminem] was very, very kind, very exact. And I knew that he cared. He said, “Okay, when you get tired, let me know; we could stop, take a break, get some water, get some food”. And I’m like, okay, let’s go. I was determined to get it right. If it took me another 8 hours and I had to sleep on the couch or whatever, I was determined in that moment to get that. Because of their expectations. Because they reached out to me. It was a million people that they could have reached out to, but they reached out to me. My name came up on the table, and they like, “Yeah, this our girl, this our home girl, reach out to her”. And I did it.
Coco’s story goes beyond music. It reveals a side of Eminem that many fans might not see — a perfectionist who values collaboration and truly cares about the people he works with. It’s a reminder that there’s always more to the story than what meets the eye.
Watch the video below:
