“Forever” has become much more than a soundtrack song because it brought together the biggest hip hop stars of the generation. This idea was wild, but an enthusiastic executive with connections made it happen.
Family business
The machinations behind putting together such an impressive line-up were exactly what The 3rd Verse podcast co-host wanted to learn about from DJ Mormile. It might not be the name that every music fan hears often, however, he has been playing an important role in running the business for years. Forbes profiled him several years ago, pointing out that his main inspirations growing up were sports and finance. Nonetheless, the internship he got was not in sports management.
While studying at Boston College, he interned at his uncle’s record company, where he landed a job after graduating in 1999. The company was Interscope Records, and Jimmy Iovine was his mother’s younger brother. DJ Mormile had spent 14 years at the label, working with Eminem, Will.I.Am, and many other household names, before moving to the senior VP of A&R position at Columbia Records. Then, Paul Rosenberg gave him the West Coast Executive Vice President seat at Def Jam. At the same time, DJ Mormile has been in the artist management business, having on his roster artists such as Mike Will Made It, YG, Soulja Boy, and Rae Sremmurd. Obviously, he has one or two stories to tell. And sometimes he does, and he is now co-hosting t The 3rd Verse podcast.
Backstory
So, back to 2009, when DJ Mormile was looking at the song draft for the LeBron documentary More Than a Game. It was also a year of Marshall’s coming back from hiatus with his new album, Relapse. For the first time in years, Eminem was open to suggestion and ready to put himself out there. Clearly, all this gave DJ Mormile ideas. “We were looking for another big song, and Gee [Roberson, film producer] played that record. When I first heard it, it was just Drake’s verse and a hook. I was like, ‘This is a record’. And Gee said, there was a version with Kanye West on it, and there was a version with Lil Wayne on it”, Mormile sets the scene.
Always a manager, he saw the commercial potential of the joint. But being a fan, he just wanted it to happen for the sake of it. “Gee is the original Stan, Eminem’s biggest fan. So I’m like, ‘Yo, this is it, man. This is the record. We need to get Marshall on this record. I can feel it. Let me send it to Paul’. And he looks at me and goes, ‘I already got Kanye. I already got Wayne. I got to figure out how to put the record together. If we’re going to use this like this, I’ve got to figure it out. And I was like, ‘Fuck it, man. Put all four of them on the record. Who cares? Who cares how long it is? This is a moment if we do it. It could be incredible. Just trust me’”.
Not only was Mormile’s enthusiasm contagious, but he also knew just the right person to talk to. “I remember when Paul hit me back, ‘Yo, Em fucks with it, and he’s going to do it. That was one of the days when I was like, ‘I’m going to retire because if this comes out – I’ve peaked”.
Avengers assembled
At the end of the day, DJ Mormile was right. After everything was done and cleared, he got a song on his hands that was unique. “Drake went crazy, Ye’s verse was great, and Wayne’s, but Eminem comes from Mars. And the beat switch! It was fantastic, and it was great for Boi-1da”, the executive looks back on the day that he still remembers in vivid detail.
“Forever” is also one of those songs where the discussion about who, out of all the stars involved, dominated the flow is basically non-existent. Drake hailed Eminem as the greatest, Kanye had to pull his verse out and rewrite it, and Marshall remained unbeatable.