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TheMotto No. 20 is dedicated to Marshall Mathers and the classic second album that bears his name. Blame Noah Callahan-Bever, the former chief content officer at Complex who worked at Blaze til the end. Noah popped up in my XXL office in May 2000 with a fresh and early bootleg of The Marshall Mathers LP (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope). He warned me that I was in for a big surprise. And as soon as we threw the CD on, I knew it was something special. I was stuck on Side A. The slapping snares and word wizardry of “Kill You.” The demented storytelling genius of “Stan.” The bravado manifesto “The Way I Am” was mesmerizing. But nothing prepared me for the title track. Everyone on Slim Shady’s shit list was catching slugs, and he kept his biggest blast for last.
And then to top it off / I walked to the newsstand / To buy this cheap-ass little magazine with a food stamp / Skipped to the last page / Flipped right fast / And what do I see? / A picture of my big white ass / Okay, let me give you muthafuckas some help / Uh, here, “XXL! XXL! / Now your magazine shouldn’t have so much trouble to sell / Aw, fuck it, I’ll even buy a couple myself.
The biggest rapper in the world dissed us.
top billin:
Looking back, we deserved it. But be clear: when I took over XXL in the fall of 1999, I inherited the conflict. An anonymous article had run earlier in the year that was critical of Eminem’s sudden rise with The Slim Shady LP (Aftermath/Interscope). The article (which I’m struggling to find on these internets), addressed Eminem’s race and what role it played in this multi-platinum success? Why weren’t other talented MCs from that moment — like Queens’ own Pharoahe Monch, in particular— getting Slim-type opportunities and exposure? He had a Rawkus joint called “Simon Says” that was one of the best songs of that year ⏬
It wasn’t until his appearances on Dr. Dre’s Chronic sequel, 1999’s 2001, that Eminem began being fully embraced by many in the hip hop community. So from when I walked in the door of XXL, my mission was to make peace with his team. I attempted, and was rebuffed. So with a hurt ego, I signed off on the below. It embarrasses me to this day.
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I was a new editor-in-chief and I went from one blunder to another. The below was my response to Marshall Mathers LP’s massive success: An unauthorized cover of Eminem. Trolling in the print era. I even ran posters. SMH ⤵️
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Finally, the mistakes of a hot-headed inexperienced editor came to a close. I realized we had to earn the respect. My strategy was simple: put personal shit aside, and to make a better issue than The Source every month. Stay consistent. Slowly, I started hearing that Em’s camp was taking notice. This due in large part to Riggs Morales, then Shady’s A&R lead, who had been my assistant when I was music editor at The Source. Morales, now VP of A&R at Atlantic, wrote Em’s Unsigned Hype in March 1998.
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But it was 50 Cent’s emergence that played a major role in bridging the gap between XXL and team Em. We were wild supportive of 50 — covered him in the magazine extensively while he was still unsigned, and when he inked with Shady, we were worried that 50 would sever ties with us. But then Noah blessed me again. He brokered a meeting for me with Eminem’s manager, the great Paul Rosenberg. My goal going in was to convince him to let me do a 50 Cent cover. Paul said, “how would you like to do an Eminem, 50 Cent, and Dr Dre cover?”
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It was the Em, 50, Dre XXL issue that outsold The Source on the newsstands for the first time. But you know what’s underrated? Em’s diss records towards The Source. Both “The Sauce” and “Nail In The Coffin” are at “Hit ‘Em Up” or “No Vaseline” status to me. It was unprecedented: the top MC in the game taking an aggressive stance against the hip hop bible.
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On “Nail,” Em closes things out with: I don’t need your little fuckin’ magazine. I got XXL’s number anyways. And y’all can’t stand it cause they’re getting bigger than y’all. I sat at my desk and cried.
The biggest rapper in the world bigged us up.
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