Dr. Dre has just inducted Eminem into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.
“Over 20 years ago, Jimmy Iovine, who is also one of tonight’s inductees and one of my best friends, played a demo tape for me from a guy who called himself Eminem. The first thing I said when I heard it was, ‘what the f— did he just say?’ I loved it so much that I couldn’t stop listening to it.”
“A few days later, Jimmy called me and said, ‘you know he’s a White guy, right?” F—ed me up! The last thing I was thinking about when I was listening was that he was White. It never even crossed my mind. Looking back, I don’t know why it didn’t cross my mind. He certainly didn’t sound like a Black rapper, especially because of what he was saying. I guess it was my ignorance at the time, thinking that if you’re a really good rapper, you must be Black.”
“Not too long after that, we met for the first time. We hit it off and the next thing you know, we’re at my house working. The first time I put on a beat, he gets on the mic and says, ‘hi, my name is.’ Boom! And that was the beginning of what became an amazing creative collaboration.
“Then came the backlash. ‘Look at him, Dre! He has blue eyes! You can’t sign him! There was a massive amount of resistance from my own team and from a lot of people around me: people who had never even heard the music, but didn’t want me to sign him or work with him simply because he was White.
“While everyone else around me had their doubts, I knew that his gift was undeniable. His raw, dark, and humorous lyrics coupled with an impeccable cadence stood out from anything I had ever heard before, and he was hungry. Both of us were. We were two artists in do-or-die situations: he was desperate to find a way to feed his family and I was searching for something to sink my teeth into creatively. Each of us was exactly what the other needed and I was willing to bet my entire career on it.”
“My rebuttal to those naysayers went something like this: ‘he’s going to be the biggest selling artist on our label.’ Little did I know he was going to be one of the best-selling music artists of all time.” said Dre.
Aside of the induction, Slim Shady performed “My Name Is,” “Sing For The Moment” with Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, “Rap God”, “Stan” with Ed Sheeran, “Forever” and lastly “Not Afraid.”
You can check the videos and photos below:
Eminem with Steven Tyler!!! What a night. pic.twitter.com/5QOnlqjc7k
— Jamie Iovine (@Jamie_iovine) November 6, 2022
