It took Dr. Dre months to finally agree to perform at the biggest televised event in the US. He looked for advice from his friends and colleagues, including Marshall.
Paul Rosenberg revealed the conversation between two GOATs in the new episode of his “Curtain Call 2” podcast. This time he invited Adam Blackstone, a musical director who has been working with Eminem for years. He is responsible for all Em’s recent live shows, the seamless blend of Em’s and Rihanna’s styles on The Monster tour, multiple SNL performances, and sets at the Grammys and Oscars. And most recently, the Super Bowl Halftime show. While nobody knows the music part of this show better than Adam, Paul had some backstage knowledge of how Dr. Dre finally decided to take up this mission and got Eminem involved:
Dre came to Marshall. I don’t know if he’d really talk to him about it prior to this or not. He said, “What do you think about me doing the Super Bowl?” And Marshall was like, “Hmmm, I mean, I don’t know. Do you think you should do it? Because if you want to do it, you should do it”. And [Dre] was like, “Well, if I’m doing it, you’re doing it”. And [Em]’s like, “Oh. I don’t know”. So, it basically boiled down to, you know, Marshall’s never gonna really say no to Dre. If Dre needs him, he’s going to be there. And vice versa. So, Dre decided it was the right thing for him. He came to Marshall and said, “Hey, I’m doing it. You’re with me, right?” And Marshall was like, “Well, of course, I’m with you, I’m not going to say no to Dre”. Did he want to do the Super Bowl? You’re gonna have to ask him.
The whole episode is a treasure trove of knowledge about how live hip hop shows work and what a music director does to make them unforgettable.
