A new song featured Eminem came out with a mini-documentary about IDK’s trip to Detroit for a record session with Marshall. The conversation two rappers had in the studio deserved to be shared.
IDK documents the creating of his upcoming album, letting the audience in on the complex network of decisions and actions that brought him to this point. The Detroit section is not an exception. There, he muses about the way we move through life without knowing where or what the finishing line is, and still, breadcrumbs lead us to the goal. He visits Motown landmarks and stops at Melodies & Memories, a long-running independent record shop in Eastpointe. A co-founder of the shop shows him Eminem’s and J Dilla’s signatures on the wall, and IDK adds his own.
In a way, his journey to Detroit started many years ago, when he began learning how to rap by studying Eminem’s rhymes. And this is what he tells Marshall when they finally meet at Effigy Studios.
IDK: This whole shit – full circle. This was supposed to happen. You know what I’m saying? My first rap I ever memorised was your shit. I remember being locked up, like, I’mma try to make a mixtape when I get out. I got into this. I stopped going to school. I would just not go to my classes.
I’ll be in the cafeteria looking stupid. I have my headphones on. But I knew. Anyone who was laughing at me – I knew that at a certain point it would make sense. I don’t care that you’re laughing at me.Eminem: Same here. Same feeling. When the world starts beating you down, you want to prove them wrong. Like, I’mma show you. Keep laughing. But I’mma show you. It’s funny, when you start out – you suck. You’re like, I love this, but I’m not good at it yet. And then you start rounding a corner, like, oh, that’s a good line. And that’s a good line. You start getting better and better, and then you decide, I’m going to put all my eggs in one basket. That’s it. I ain’t good at nothing else. I ain’t good at shit else.
IDK: Right. It was similar.
Eminem: It’s wild when you round that corner and you’re like, okay, I’m doing this. No plan B.
IDK: No plan B. That’s literally it. No fucking plan B, bro. It was just like you.
Eminem: And if you want it bad enough, you can’t have a plan B ‘cause you ain’t got time for a plan B. All your time is going into this.
IDK: Facts. And not having a plan B brought me here.
This is the first time in my career where I feel like I got a team. I’ve been doing this shit, figuring it out.Eminem: My first album I had to figure out on the fly. I didn’t know how to make beats. I started making beats, and Dre was like, “You’re producing”. And I’m like, am I? ‘Cause I just sit with the MPC, make the beat pattern that I like and the tempo. You start learning on the fly. But I knew. When Paul sent me the Dilla song, I was like, “Does he produce, too?” And he was like, “Yeah”. And I was like, “I could tell”. ‘Cause I knew – that beat switch up was you. I just had a feeling. That’s dope because you know what you want your shit to sound like. You take control of it all. you know it’s like
IDK: Thanks. I appreciate just taking notice, man. This is amazing. Let’s kill it.
And with that, they get to work on ‘WELCOME’, their J Dilla-produced single, released on 13 November.