Moby reflects on how Eminem’s “Without Me” affected his career

NME magazine has recently started new campaign where they quiz an artist on their own career to see how much they can remember. This week: the musician, songwriter and documentarian, Moby, takes the ultimate test where he talks about Eminem and what was the advantage of Eminem dissing him on “Without Me.”

“The only time me and Eminem ever ran into each other was famously documented at the 2002 MTV Music Awards when my friend Robert Smigel, who voices Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, thought it would be funny to speak to Eminem and I together – Eminem spent the evening scowling at me and got so upset he punched the puppet! I hope if we met up now, he’d laugh about that because it was bizarre and strange!” said Moby.

Then he continues: “Half-way through the awards ceremony, he told me ‘You’re dead’ and gave me an unusual drawing. I kept the picture — I had it framed! He handed me a drawing of him strangling me, and it was a really great illustration! What was endearing was that on the back-side of the paper, he had started drawing it then decided it wasn’t good enough. So he had a first draft on one side and then the fully-executed version on the other.”

“For the longest time, no matter where I went, someone would yell out of a car window: ‘Nobody listen to techno!’. So I’d like to thank Marshall for introducing me to his legion of 13-year-old, future-Trump-supporting fans. None of these people were running out to listen to my music, so it did in a negative way introduce me to a weird demographic of right-wing Americans who otherwise I would probably have had no contact with.” he added.

Eminem dissed Moby back in 2002 on a song “Without Me” which later become the biggest hit of the year. In the song, Em raps: And Moby? You can get stomped by Obie / You thirty-six-year-old baldheaded f–, b–w me / You don’t know me; you’re too old, let go / It’s over, nobody listens to techno / Now let’s go, just give me the signal I’ll be there with a whole list full of new insults.”

For the full interview, Check NME magazine here.