Ben Hoerster
It would be difficult to argue with anyone positing Eminem as one of the greatest rappers of all time. Even music fans who are turned off by certain controversial aspects of his lyrical content, his distinct vocal tone, or perhaps even the color of skin, are at the very least going to be able to recognize his athletic, almost gymnastic, abilities as a rapper. His vocal delivery conveys a sense of lyrical dexterity matched only by the greats. He creates intricate, mathematical rhyme patterns and makes it look easy. Given the tremendous scale of his talents as a vocalist and lyricist, not to mention his oversized persona, it’s easy to see why his skills as producer and beatmaker are overshadowed. However, an examination of his work in this realm reveals Eminem as a talented producer with a plethora of skills, that he has honed to create monster hit records in three decades and multiple eras of hip hop.
Eminem’s skills as a producer are different than those that make him a great MC. On the mic, Eminem is a singular entity, presenting his personal stories and sketching ideas that are integral to his own narrative. In contrast, his musical productions throughout the years are almost always the result of collaborations. As an MC, his dexterous vocal delivery is matched by few (Naughty by Nature’s Treach and Jay-Z, both stated influences, come to mind). As a musician, he doesn’t possess those abilities. He can create a complex, racing lyrical passage and perform it, making it look easy, but he doesn’t have the “chops” to pluck out a guitar phrase or bass line in the same way. He nonetheless has found success working with other musicians and producers to construe his musical ideas. He possesses other tools as a producer that have contributed to his successes, including an ear for catchy melodies and a fair amount of perfectionism that binds him to the studio, where he patiently and meticulously tweaks sounds to create unique tones.
Eminem’s strength in, and compulsion for, collaboration has been the key element of his success as a producer, demonstrating the powerful effectiveness of working together. The coherent musical statement presented in his music is created by him shaping and being shaped by his collaborators. From his earliest days working with fellow Detroit citizens Proof and Mr. Porter in the early 1990s through the following decades creating music with Luis Resto, Eminem has used his collaborative skills to push new boundaries musically and sonically while maintaining certain musical elements that define his unique sound.
At this point, identifying Eminem-involved productions is an easy task. There are several elements consistently present in his works that help define his sound. His revelatory, political, and confessional tracks use brooding, minor chord phrasing to amplify his intense emotional tenor. When he’s not exploring these darker themes, Eminem relies on pizzicato instrumentation and bubbling, bouncing melodies to back his humorous anecdotes and pop culture takedowns. The meticulously crafted, deliberately artificial tones he creates add the important sonic dimension to the surreal environment he inhabits. His warm, thick synthesized bass lines roll and pulsate during up-tempo numbers and trudge when he slows things down. These musical elements didn’t manifest in a vacuum. His development as a producer took shape as a result of the work and influence of two key collaborators.
Dr. Dre would eventually play an enormous role in shaping Em’s aesthetic, but before connecting with him, the Bass Brothers were key influences in the development of Eminem’s signature sound. The Bass Brothers, Jeff and Mark Bass, recognized Em’s talents early on, first signing him to their label in 1992 after hearing him freestyle on a Detroit radio station and inviting him to their studio for free recording time. At this time, the Bass Brothers were working with local Detroit artists on demo recordings, including early Em appearances on Basement Production (later Soul Intent) albums Steppin onto the Scene, Still in the Bassmint, and Soul Intent. In addition to their work capturing the burgeoning hip-hop scene in Detroit, the brothers also worked with funk music legend George Clinton and electronic group Tycie and Woody. The Bass Brothers as well as Eminem’s friends Mr. Porter and Proof helped Eminem record his earnest first attempt at an LP, Infinite. The Bass Brothers were the executive producers of Infinite, which was released in 1996. Eminem had two co-production credits on the album, for “Maxine” and “Jealousy Woes II.” In addition to their work early on, the Bass Brothers have remained consistent collaborators throughout Eminem’s long career. These early recordings give a glimpse into the influences they were absorbing and exploring at that time.
Stylistically, the music Eminem is credited with shows tacit influences of beats made by early ’90s production teams like Da Beatminerz and Tribe Called Quest and producers such as Pete Rock and Detroit’s own J Dilla. In this era, these producers and others were mining old jazz records looking for rich, warm tones to sample like the sounds made by the Fender Rhodes electronic keyboard, and mid-tempo musical phrases to loop. Laid back melodies were often matched with sharp, snapping snare drums, crisp high hats, and booming kick drums. This was a change from the de rigueur in production aesthetics present in the early ’90s when producers such as The Dust Brothers and the Bomb Squad were cramming as many samples as they could into their compositions and creating hectic, claustrophobic soundscapes. These warm, airy samples were perfect templates for the new breed of virtuosic MCs led by Nas, Biggie, and members of the Wu-Tang Clan.
Earlier productions from Eminem’s collaborators at this time explored those warm jazzy sounds, occasionally filtering them through their own lenses but usually just composing near facsimiles of works by other artists.1 For example, the song “Maxine” from Infinite is very similar to AZ’s song “Rather Unique” produced by Pete Rock, recorded in 1995. Both songs have at their core a sophisticated musical phrase employing the signature Rhodes keyboard, propelled by a sharp crack of the snare and warm thump of the kick drum. Eminem and his collaborators weren’t only exploring this contemporary sound. They were also looking back and experimenting with sounds and techniques from different parts of the country and from previous eras. On Soul Intent’s self-titled third album, one can hear homage to Public Enemy producers the Bomb Squad as well as influential West Coast producers the Boogiemen and DJ Muggs. These efforts demonstrated the ability of Eminem’s crew to effectively use the same hectic, dense drum loops and multilayered sounds and songs with high BPMs. But at this point, Em’s music had not yet developed a coherent sound. His team was showcasing their ability to produce music with diverse influences. And rap music as a whole was beginning to change stylistically. Eminem and his collaborators were able to adapt to these changes effectively.
Hip-hop artists near the close of the century began to abandon the use of samples more and more. This change was partly driven by artists and record labels fearing litigation from copyright holders and partly driven by the abuse and overuse of certain sampling techniques by producers such as Diddy (Puff Daddy at the time) sampling entire phrases of musical compositions that were top ten hits barely more than a decade prior. One egregious example is Puff Daddy’s 1997 single “Been Around the World.” On that track, he conspicuously cribs the Nile Rodgers guitar hook from David Bowie’s smash hit “Let’s Dance” from the mid-’80s and then interpolates the chorus from Lisa Stansfield’s hit single “All Around the World” in the same song.
The move away from sample-based music was also instigated by other factors, including the rise in popularity of southern music. Southern rap music is a diverse segment of the culture, but one characteristic largely consistent across its constituents is that it doesn’t rely on samples the way rap from the West Coast and East Coast has. It is unclear why southern music developed this way, but several influential production crews from the South helped shape the style. One of these groups was Organized Noize; they used live instruments and programmed drum patterns to create hits for Outkast and Goodie Mob. Other key artists who contributed to shaping this southern sound of hip hop were 2 Live Crew, DJ Spanish Fly, a legendary Memphis DJ who is credited as a forefather to crunk and trap music, and Mannie Fresh, a workhorse producer and DJ from New Orleans who was strongly influenced by early 1980s electro-hop coming out of L.A.
Producers such as Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo of the Neptunes, Timbaland, and Dr. Dre began to experience success using original compositions as well. Likewise, the Bass Brothers increasingly began to move away from using samples. Because they were already adept at playing instruments and were plugged into the larger music scene in Detroit outside of rap music, they easily made this transition. Another factor that contributed to their success was the opportunity they had to work with engineers who collaborated with Motown artists and producers during the height of the music label’s success. Working with these musicians gave the Bass Brothers the tools that allowed them to recreate some of the desired sounds and tones they and other producers had previously captured via sampling.2 The beats credited to them on The Marshall Mathers LP demonstrate their ability to recreate bass and keyboard tones with the same warmth and smoothness as those made during Motown’s heyday.
The Bass Brothers (consistent with hip hop as a whole) didn’t completely abandon sampling and although their use was far less frequent, they went on to have great success using samples. For example, their well-placed usage of Aerosmith’s popular “Dream On” for Eminem’s song “Sing for the Moment” helped ground his message in a familiar context. Sampling this classic arena rock song also helped bolster Em’s crossover appeal and the song’s anthemic feel added some firepower to his live show setlist. Not satisfied with merely sampling the tune though, Eminem hired Aerosmith’s guitarist Joe Perry to play the guitar solo that closes the track out.
Early on, during the production of The Slim Shady EP in 1997 and LP in ’99, Eminem began expressing a clearer message to his collaborators about what he wanted his music to sound like. Luckily for him, the Bass Brothers were more than capable of helping him achieve that. Eminem told Mix magazine in 2000, “They came up with fatter, thicker-sounding beats than anything I’d had before.” At the same time, Dr. Dre was moving toward production techniques that eschewed the use of samples, although for Dre this was more of a return to form. Before his work on The Chronic and subsequent work with Death Row artists, Dre was a member of World Class Wrecking Crew, where his productions were largely sample-free and were firmly planted in the West Coast electronic scene populated by other artists such as Egyptian Lover.3 But by the start of the ’90s, his use of samples was significantly increasing. Dre began demonstrating an ear for discovering compelling funk samples and matching them to the right artists, as evidenced by his production work for the D.O.C. on his song “Funky Enough,” which samples the opening bars of the Sylver’s song “Misdemeanor.” By the time of Dre’s solo debut, The Chronic, he had plunged full on into sample-based music and completely changed the aesthetic aims of the style by adding sophisticated engineering touches that added sparkle to the source music, a contrast to other contemporary producers like the Bomb Squad and Cypress Hill, who were still emphasizing the gritty, dusty elements of their sourced materials.
The early ’90s saw Dre continuing to develop and grow this style, but in just a few years he was already moving away from sample use. His earth-rattling song “Natural Born Killaz,” featuring former N.W.A. groupmate Ice Cube, showed the success he was capable of while avoiding samples. Again Dre developed and honed this style during the late ’90s on albums by Nas and Nas’s ill-fated group, The Firm, as well as on compilation albums produced by Dre and his newly formed record label, Aftermath.
Aftermath is where Eminem would ultimately land after Dre heard Eminem’s demo tape. When Eminem debuted on Aftermath with The Slim Shady LP, Dre fluently demonstrated his masterful production, which he subsequently further showcased on his own much-delayed sophomore album, Chronic 2001. It’s worth mentioning here that Dre, too, was a producer whose effectiveness as a collaborator was key to his enormous success. Eminem had opportunities to watch this and learn from Dre’s collaborative process with other artists.
Now that Eminem had hooked up with Dre and brought his collaborators the Bass Brothers with him, the three entities blended and melded their styles together to create a coherent vision in The Slim Shady LP. Eminem was involved in the production in multiple ways. Jeff Bass, in an interview with Mix magazine, described Eminem’s influence over the direction of the compositions by humming phrases for bass lines or guitar licks. It’s true that Em was collaborating with two accomplished producers, not to mention Dre, but it’s clear that they were open to taking cues from Eminem. Em used these experiences to learn more about production techniques and song composition.
Music created for The Slim Shady LP was designed to match Eminem’s energy at the time. And because that energy could change in an instant, the album featured a dynamic blend of sounds reflecting the polarities of Eminem’s psyche. The Bass Brothers, already used to crafting songs with Em in mind, were now somewhat freed from the financial constraints involved in making music and were able to devote more time to crafting songs and working with engineers to tweak tones that more successfully complemented Eminem’s moods and themes. Dre too worked to match Em’s sound.
Given the task of creating what would be Eminem’s momentous debut, Dre found an obscure sample tailor-made to soundtrack the arrival of a transcendently skilled rapper seeming to come out of nowhere. Labi Siffre’s buoyant phrasing on his song “I Got The” crept along at a snail’s pace and provided plenty of open space for Em to insert his personality and charisma throughout his debut single, “My Name Is.”
Subsequent releases increasingly featured production work from Eminem. He maintained his collaborative relationship with The Bass Brothers and Dr. Dre but also sought out new musicians and songwriters as he developed as a producer. On this journey he would ultimately plant himself at the dead center of popular music, producing some of the biggest hits of the decade.
Eminem’s skills and prowess as a producer seem to have developed in service to two simultaneously occurring needs. First, Eminem—who was already expanding his empire into other ventures (artist development, cinema)—knew that producing music for both himself and artists in his stable would lead to more revenue. Second, and perhaps more importantly, Eminem needed to create beats and rhythms that would help match the intensifying intricacies of his flow. Songs like “Without Me” and “Cleanin’ Out my Closet” are examples of his efforts to create beats to synch with his rhyme patterns.
By all accounts, Em is a studio rat. Numerous reports speak of the time and care he puts into crafting his verses. In an interview with Zadie Smith, Eminem dismisses the notion that some rappers are able to write verses in twenty minutes.4 Em says that although he may get a rough draft down quickly, he will continually revisit and revise the rhymes and couplets over days and weeks. It seems likely that he would take as much care with his musical compositions.
Creating his own soundscapes allowed his verses to merge with them more completely and discretely. For someone who pioneered a rhyme style and thematic oeuvre, it is a testament to his abilities as a producer and musician that he was able to craft music that would complement it. By 2002, a year that featured the release of both The Eminem Show and the soundtrack to the movie 8 Mile, Eminem was taking more control over the production work and hitting his stride as a producer. Still maintaining his habit for collaboration, the Grammy-nominated The Eminem Show had him collaborating with his usual cast of characters: Dre, The Bass Brothers, Luis Resto, and others.
Eminem wasn’t satisfied working the boards only on his own solo efforts, though, and started to create beats for other artists. His production work on two pivotal albums in the early 2000s is demonstrative of his status as a heavyweight producer at the time. Everyone knows about Em’s verses on “Renegade,” the song he constructed for Jay-Z’s return-to-the-foundation-themed album, Blueprint. According ex–Jay-Z-rival Nas on his song “Ether,” Eminem “murdered” Jay on his own track. No easy feat for any rapper, especially considering Jay-Z was hitting his own peak right about that time. Nas wasn’t the only one who felt Em outshined Jay on the track. But it was not just his stellar verses that piqued the listener’s attention; the music Em laid down for Jay was well suited for both artists. The dark, brooding, menacing melody builds and crescendos repeatedly throughout the song. The instrumentation used here was smoother than on other tracks he produced at the time. This may have been the result of mixing and mastering, which would have required the composition to fit more with the soul-sampled aesthetics of the other beats on the album.
Blueprint is often noted as a return to form for rap as a genre. Moving away from the style of synth-heavy electronic music popular in rap at the time, Jay-Z’s fourth album was seen as reminiscent of the Golden Era (’92 – ’96) sound molded by Dr. Dre, RZA, DJ Premier, and many others. It showcased beats from Kanye West and Just Blaze featuring glimmering soul samples, sped up and bolstered by additional drums. Blueprint was a statement. Jay-Z wisely tapped Em to contribute to this album as well, despite Eminem’s disparate musical style. The beat Em delivered ran counter to the album’s core narrative. However, its appearance on the record isn’t forced. It fits in the album, and credit should be given to Em for his ability to give Jay a song that would work in the context of such a soulful, return-to-form album.
Perhaps flattered by Nas’s declaration of him as victor in the imagined competition between Nas and Jay on “Renegade,” Eminem agreed to produce a song for Nas’s album God’s Son the following year. “The Cross” doesn’t have a place in hip-hop lore the way “Renegade” does but its dynamic, epic musical qualities helped it go toe-to-toe with the other tracks on God’s Son. Producing tracks for Nas and Jay-Z during their feuding years served several purposes. Em demonstrated that he could deliver productions that were clearly in his own style but that were also myopically designed for the artists he was giving them to. He effectively revisited this feat again, and even upped the ante, when he created the music for Tupac’s emotionally heavy track “Runnin’” featuring the Pac-foe Notorious B.I.G. Both rappers had been deceased for several years and hearing them together on a song over Em’s melancholic composition had a healing effect on listeners and fans still grieving over the loss of these two iconic rappers. These two high-profile placements set Eminem up to be one of the most highly sought-after producers of the mid-’00s.
Throughout the decade, Eminem produced a plethora of songs for himself, for artists affiliated with his label, including Obie Trice, 50 Cent, and D12, and for other major stars in hip hop such as T.I., Jadakiss, and Akon. One assignment in particular that indicated his ascension into the company of hip-hop’s elite producers was when he was tapped in 2004 to produce Tupac’s posthumous release Loyal to the Game. He worked with Luis Resto to produce every song on the album outside of the bonus tracks. Eminem successfully met the daunting task of creating compelling music for lyrics recorded over a decade prior by hip-hop’s most iconic figure. Noah Callahan-Bever, in his review of the album for Vibe magazine, described beats that “oscillate from dark and brooding to spine-tingling and epic” and lauds his efforts by calling his production choices “an ideal fit for 2Pac’s impassioned, if at times grandiose, lyrics.”5
What Em brought to the table during this period was an ear for unique, unconventional sounds that he would manipulate and compose to create music that resonated with both rap fans and pop fans. The Eminem Show released in 2002 was the most concentrated demonstration of these elements. This album was stuffed with compelling musical compositions tailor-made to support and add context to the subject matter of his raps. There is no nuance here. His song “Square Dance,” with lyrics of frustration and adversity is placed on top of a beat full of unrelenting tension. His confessional lyrics on “Cleanin’ Out My Closet” are presented on a busy, loose drum pattern and wandering piano loop, which combine to add dramatic weight to his words. “Hailie’s Song” uses a similar formula to great effect. The fact that some beats on the album are repetitive is not necessarily a weakness. On the darker, edgier songs, repetition gives the listener an effect similar to that of a march—it’s easy to imagine an army of Stans or the group of wannabe Slim Shadys from his MTV Video Music Awards appearance marching along to songs like “Square Dance,” “Sing for the Moment,” and “Till I Collapse.” And the use of repetition on the more confessional songs urges the listener to lean in and become captivated by Em as storyteller. Of course Em is a man of contrasting moods and he balances the darkness with the fun “Without Me,” which features synthesized tones grounded by a pulsating bass line.
The Eminem Show and his production work on the 8 Mile soundtrack demonstrated that he could make music fit certain moods, and he did so for many artists throughout the first decade of the millennium. He showed he could create a beat tailor-made for a certain artist that remained permeated by his DNA as a producer. This is most evident on Jay-Z’s “Moment of Clarity”—even when completely redone by Danger Mouse for his Grey Album, it is clear that its genesis is thanks to none other than Marshall Mathers. At this time, Eminem was also cultivating a collaborative relationship with his touring keyboard player Luis Resto. Outside of Em’s monumental work with Dr. Dre, his collaborative relationship with Resto has given life to some of the most compelling and successful music of Eminem’s career. The monster smash “On Fire,” created for Lloyd Banks, showed his ability to match contemporary tastes while still maintaining a strong musical identity. This song also showcased his ability to craft party songs. Later in the decade he would do himself one better with the pop radio staple “Smack That” with Akon.
During this period, Eminem also focused on creating more dynamic songs. His collaborations with Resto allowed him to craft songs with more complex phrasing and song structure. These two would ultimately work together to create Em’s most popular songs, too, including “Lose Yourself” and “Not Afraid.” Producing smash hits in 2010 required more than just an ear for beats and a decent reputation. To have a song played consistently on the radio requires focus groups and rigorous testing from radio program directors. Surviving in this era means Em has developed all of the tools necessary to be a producer: the ability to find samples, program drum beats and create sounds; knowing which artists to work with; finding talented musicians to help you realize the sounds in your head, and developing and maintaining relationships with other producers and studio engineers to stay on the cutting edge of production techniques. For Eminem, it also requires staying true to his roots. His loyalty to early collaborators such as Dre and the Bass Brothers is clear, as he has collaborated musically with both throughout his long career.
It’s difficult to anticipate how Eminem’s career will develop moving forward. He has left himself with little to prove. He has demonstrated an ability to produce commercially successful hits, reaching the top quarter of Billboard’s Hot 100 chart more than twenty times. Perhaps more impressive than his commercial feats has been his ability to produce several iconic songs that have connected strongly with music fans and have made room for themselves in a hip-hop canon staunchly defended by hip-hop classicists with little interest in productions made after the Golden Era. However, rap music continues to progress. In the past Eminem adapted cleverly by finding new songrwriters and producers to collaborate with. Rap music continues to transform and is shifting into a new era. The genre’s current aesthetic characteristics reveal an accelerated move from its organic roots toward a sound increasingly defined by synthesized instrumentation and mechanical beats. This is a sound Eminem has helped to shape and define, so it is likely that he will continue to find success in the current soundscape. Little is known about his next album, projected to come out in late 2013. One intriguing development is that he has been collaborating with No I.D., a veteran Chicago producer who got his start producing soulful, sample-based music for the rapper Common. Throughout his long career No I.D. has developed into a versatile artist; he has a great ear and is a master with a sampling machine. He also is adept at working with musicians, utilizing them to add texture and bolster his sample based music as well as creating original compositions. The pairing of these two seems promising, and working with a new producer who has stylistic differences but a similar pedigree to past collaborators should serve to reinvigorate Eminem. Once again it appears Eminem will lean on his skills as a collaborator to find his way back to the top of the charts.
Chapter Notes
1. This isn’t to say there is anything wrong with this. Artists in all forms hone their craft by working through the influences of their predecessors. Eminem has acknowledged that he developed his skills as a rapper by rapping along to his favorite artists.
2. Gary Eskow, “The Bass Brothers and Eminem,” Mix (August 2000).
3. Dre Productions at this time include seminal electro-hop song “Supersonic” by JJ Fad.
4. Zadie Smith, “The Zen of Eminem,” Vibe (November 2002).
5. Noah Callahan-Bever, “2Pac Loyal to the Game Review,” Vibe (March 2005).