During our interview Eminem dispelled a lot of negative perceptions I had of him. Initially I thought he was gonna be some arrogant kid who was using some sort of gimmick to get over in hip hop. We chopped it up for more then an hour and he came across as someone who's funny and his really into hip hop. As he noted that while he's enjoying his current success, he wanted to make it clear he is by no means a bubble gum rapper and that a lot of fans are gonna be quite shocked when they get his new album. 'My lyrics are sick and there's nothing nice about them' he explained. When asked why he changed the lyrics to his current single 'My Name Is Slim Shady', he explained that his record company wanted something for the radio so that caused him to tone things down. But he ran into another snafu when he attempted to clear the sample he used as his rhythm track. The owner of the song was a gentleman who now lives in Africa and his a gay activist. He took great offense to several of Shady's lyrics where he talk about raping a lesbian among a few other things. He was not going to grant a sample clearance unless certain verses were taken out of the song. Shady said he was upset but wound up complying.

I asked him about the current Detroit underground scene and if knew some the old schoolers like Kid Rock, Mystro and Kaos, Awesome Dre among others. He explained that Detroit has an up and coming scene that's real small and close knit. It isn't always supported. He never kicked it with Awesome Dre from back in the days. He like Mystro and Kaos and he looked up to Kid Rock who made himself known by getting a major record deal and dropping a cut called Yodeling In The Valley'. He also spoke about a rival emcee named Cage who had been going around dissing Slim Shady. 'Every time I've showed up to battle him he's never been around', at this point in time I don't want to give him any more attention', he explained. He concluded by talking about a partner of his named Royce who just got signed to Tommy Boy Records.

On the question of race, Eminem explained that he was tired of it. 'All my life I've been dealing with my race because of where I grew up [Detroit] and being in the rap game' he noted. 'I'm at a boiling point...Anybody who pulls the race card is getting it right back in their face' he said. He emphasized that it's all about the music and while image has a lot to do with things, he feels that people are really into what he's saying. He spoke on how a lot of journalist insist on focusing on the whole racial aspect of him being in the game.

I challenged Eminen and told him how his record reps were calling up djs and marketing him as a 'dope whiteboy' who can rap. He felt that was foul and whoever did that should be fired. He hoped that approach was limited to a few individuals who took it upon themselves to do that..and that it was not what he wants to happen.'. He didn't like the fact that people were seeing him as getting over because he was white.. 'You can't control who likes you' he explained. 'If I got Backstreet Boy fans what am I supposed to do? Turn them away?'. Eminen added. 'Whoever likes my stuff, likes my stuff but just know Slim Shady is hip hop, I grew up on hip hop, it's the music I love and it's the music I respect. I respect the culture...that's me'.

I asked him about Vanilla Ice and Eminem explained that he felt Vanilla Ice has nothing against the Ice Man but he ruined it for white emcees all over. He gave people the wrong impressions of white emcees because he lied and was fake. 'No one can help their color and no one can help where they grew up.. that's your parents doing.. If you grew up in the suburbs be proud and don't pretend you came from somewhere else'.

On battling, Eminen noted 'I'll battle anybody who calls me out and people better know that'. He explained that he doesn't take battling as serious as he once did, but it's all done in fun. He also noted that he doesn't wanna be labeled as a battle emcee because it essentially limits people's perceptions of you. Eminen sees himself as someone who is an all round emcee meaning he can write songs and flip different styles.

I asked him about his thoughts on collaborations with other artists. I asked him jokingly if he wanted to do a song with Lauryn Hill, KRS-One or Public Enemy. I was surprised how he got real serious when I mentioned Lauryn's name, 'The first word you said is a dirty word to me', when I asked if he meant Lauryn and I asked why.. 'I heard a lot of stuff about her and how she is toward white people and I heard she's racist. I can't prove it, but I heard a lot of stuff and there's a lot of controversy.. so if she's like that I don't wanna get down like that.. I don't believe in all that.. That's her business if she doesn't like white people..everybody has their preferences..'. At the time of the interview, I didn't know.. but I've since heard the stories surrounding Lauryn hating white folks were nasty rumors that had been circulating. Eminen concluded that he's not really a collaboration type emcee. He wants people to enjoy Slim Shady and he doesn't want to play himself out by having folks get sick of him.

Slim Shady along with Defari and Fat Joe will be featured guests on this week's Friday Nite Vibe Hip Hop Show which you catch throughout Northern and Central California on 94.1 FM or on the web at http://www.kpfa.org starting at 11pm-2am Pacific Standard Time. Peep it out.