Mix Master Mike reveals why Beastie Boys turned down Eminem collaboration

The Beastie Boys have consistently been listed as one of Eminem‘s major influences, and a close friend of the hip-hop band has now claimed that the Detroit icon came within a whisker of recording a song with the two surviving members a few years ago.

During a recent interview with AllHipHop longtime Beasties collaborator Mix Master Mike revealed that he was close to orchestrating a collaboration between Eminem, Mike D and Ad-Rock following the 2012 passing of MCA.

“I actually reached out to Eminem. I called him and Paul Rosenberg and I pushed for a song. I had the beat made and everything. It was gonna be Beastie Boys, Eminem and a Mix Master Mike track. Eminem was like, ‘Let’s f–king go.’ I was spearheading this, so I brought it to Mike and Ad-Rock’s attention.” said Mix Master Mike.

“They were like, ‘It’s kind of weird we don’t have Yauch anymore, so we feel a way that out of respect of Adam that we don’t do it.’ I’m like, ‘What are you talking about? Adam would love this.’

“I was really trying to push this. It would have been f–king insane. I was like, ‘Mike just give me 32 bars. Just rap.’ But I respected their wish to not do it. Our captain is not here anymore. But maybe if I push it again, who knows?”

“I was in the process of getting bars from Eminem. He was so pumped cause these are his heroes. I was kind of fulfilling his dream. I’m the gatekeeper of his dream. I felt that was a responsibility on my behalf to present that to him. The great white hopes of Hip Hop [laughs].” Mix Master Mike added.