Billie Eilish tried herself as an interviewer and discovered that Lana Del Rey grew up on an artist that terrified Billie — Eminem.
In that conversation, published in the Interview magazine, Billie, who is a huge Lana fan, especially praises her storytelling. This is something Lana has in common with Marshall, and she learned it early. Talking about how her music horizon expanded when she moved to a big city, Lana said:
I didn’t move to New York until I was 18, and that was when I first heard anything other than Eminem, country, and NPR.
Do not take this remark as disregard towards Marshall. On contrary, his music has taught Lana a lot. As she explained in her earlier interview, discovering Em’s records was a turning point:
“When I found Eminem for the first time, he really changed my life. I found out music could be intelligent. He was talking about his own life, he wasn’t just rhyming over music for rhyme’s sake, he was talking about the way things were. It made me think, like, I wouldn’t rap but I could talk about the way things actually were instead of just making stupid music and trying to sell it. And also he’s a genius. He just happens to be a genius. I love him…
Eminem is the master of lyrics whereas Frank Sinatra is the master of vocals… I fucking love Eminem”.
Eminem was not particularly kind to Lana Del Rey on his 2014 cypher and got a lot of backlash for it. It hasn’t changed her opinion though. She still enjoys his music.
Hopefully, Lana’s attitude can help Billie Eilish to overcome her fears. In an interview to NME she said: “I was scared of Eminem my whole life. Terrified. That dude freaked the fuck out of me”. Em even referenced this confession on “Alfred’s Theme” in the most gentle way: “Which is really childish and silly, but I’m really like this // I’m giving nightmares to Billie Eilish”. He even sent Billie and her brother Finneas presents when they had a show in Detroit!
