Meeting your idol can be disappointing sometimes. For Jessie Reyez, a meeting with Eminem turned out to be a valuable lesson in precision and in taking control of your creative vision.
Over the years, Jessie Reyez has shared many stories about working with Eminem. However, this recent one does not focus on making music.
Speaking recently on the Robert Markman podcast, the young singer shared how simply watching Eminem work taught her a lesson she still uses today.
For Reyez, the experience was unforgettable. “It was nuts. Surreal. Very surreal”, she said. “A certified GOAT. A certified legend”.
Working alongside someone she had been looking up to for years felt like a full-circle moment. However, she walked away from this meeting with more than just memories; she picked up a new approach to working on music videos.
The Eminem method
Reyez pointed to the filming of the “Good Guy” video when she saw how much control Eminem exercises over the creative project. Instead of waiting until production wrapped to review footage, he watched takes as they came in.
“He’d be like, ‘Okay, this one – yes. This one – no’”, Reyez recalled. Meanwhile, an assistant sat beside him, taking notes.
Reyez noted that this is far from the standard approach. “For anyone who doesn’t know, that’s not the normal routine. Usually you shoot, and then you get a cut after the fact”.
But for Reyez, seeing Marshall at work had changed how she thought about collaborating on a video set. “When I saw his method, I was like, oh my god, I love this!”, the singer recalls.
Every day is a school day
For an artist who is never happy with a first cut, this method felt like a revelation. However, Reyez did not find full support in her team, and for a very pragmatic reason. She recalls, “I turned over to my team, I was like, ‘This method is it!’ They were like, ‘Yeah, this method costs money!’ It means more time on set and more meticulousness” .
Nevertheless, Reyez adapted the concept to fit her own projects. Now, whenever possible, she reviews footage during filming. She checks angles, reviews strong takes and keeps notes about what worked. As a result, she has clear reference points when the first edit arrives. “If the first cut sucks, then I know exactly what to reference”, she said.
A shared history
Reyez and Eminem first joined forces on “Nice Guy” and “Good Guy,” two tracks from his 2018 album Kamikaze. Both songs reached the Billboard Hot 100. A couple of years later, Eminem returned the favour, appearing as a guest on Jessie’s 2020 album Before Love Came to Kill Us.
Their collaboration, “Coffin”, continued to explore the topic of complex, destructive relationships.
Fans hoped the track would receive a music video, especially after promotional photos hinted at a deeper visual campaign. However, those plans never materialised. The song was never released as a single and did not receive official visuals.