Recently, Denaun Porter was streaming from his studio, chatting with followers, answering their questions, and sharing some of his work practices and habits. One of the most important, he said, is learning to keep track of ideas and return to them later. For this, Denaun credits none other than Marshall Mathers.
Mr. Porter gave Marv Won, who joined him on the stream, an example of how an idea might come back years later. He talked about was “Yah Yah”, from Eminem’s 2020 album Music to Be Murdered By, featuring Royce 5’9, Black Thought, Q-Tip and Denaun himself.
I did “Yah Yah” in 2012. That’s how old that beat was. I think it was around Slaughterhouse time. Em is the kind of person; he doesn’t forget ideas. I don’t know how he does this, but he was remembering stuff in his book. He can go in his book and remember something he wrote from I don’t know how long ago in a verse. He knows what book to go to. It’s wild. But it’s the same thing as I think about music.
The pruning of ideas can get brutal, Mr. Porter admits. As a producer, he has had to pull his own music from projects many times. Eminem is even harsher with his own songs and ideas, cutting from the album tracks hat everyone around him likes. But that doesn’t mean they disappear forever, says Denaun.
Technically, for The Death of Slim Shady, we might have had like three-four ideas, and some of those were songs. And sometimes they don’t work. Let me tell y’all something. Paul can attest to this. I had a banger for Kamikaze. It was a complete banger. I won’t tell y’all the title of the song or nothing, ’cause like I said, Em is the kind of person that goes back and listens to something. He’s a master at that. That’s one person that I know be able to go back.
That ability to pull an old idea from the library of books and make it work in a new setting is something Denaun learnt while working side by side with Eminem for years. Denaun described the process as losing the first rush of excitement, then returning to the idea with clearer ears and a critical eye.
Another thing about unfinished ideas – don’t be afraid to go back to them. Em taught me that a long time ago. He knows how to go and rework ideas. I learned that from him. That’s why I can keep music coming – because I know how to re-go. It’s like you have to remove the part of you that knew it was amazing at the time. Then the gas out where you don’t feel so gassed on it later, and you still can see the good in it. That’s talent in itself that makes him a genius even more so, because of the way he does it. It’s like he completely lets it go and strips it down. I was like, “Oh, I got to pick that up”. I’ve seen him do some magic.
Still, Denaun regrets that many songs are still locked in Marshall’s vault. Eminem is his own harshest critic; he meticulously selects only the tracks that make perfect sense in the tapestry he weaves with each new album. Everything else, however good, can be cut.
Now, there’s some songs I hate that he never released. Man, just give me the song! He’s got some songs where I’m so mad that you won’t put this out! And then he completely change it. He played me the intro to The Death of Slim Shady. The first intro he played me. I was like, man, what?! And I don’t know where that song’s at. He just murdered it! He didn’t even have a hook. He just murdered it and then was like, “Nope, nope”.
Every Eminem fan knows this feeling – understanding that Eminem has hours of incredible music in the vault and longing to hear it. Apparently, Em’s friends and colleagues might be just as frustrated, in their own way. They have heard these songs. And they still want them out.