According to MTV, “We Made You” co-producer Doc Ish (no Dre) claims he played Em’s first single for another MC first. Here’s a hint: What Else?
“He [Doc Ish] originally shopped the record — with the same hook, sung by Charmagne Tripp — to Red Café, before D12 member Bizarre picked it up.
But after writing his own version of ‘We Made You,’ Bizarre called Doc Ish with news that Eminem wanted the record. Because Bizarre is such a jokester, though, Doc didn’t believe him. So he hung up on him.
He called me at a bad time, so when he was like, ‘Marshall wants the record,’ I was like, ‘Yeah, right,’ Doc told MTV News. ‘He was like, ‘No, seriously, I’m not playing.’ And Bizarre is a comical dude, so it’s hard to know if he’s playing or not. I didn’t have time that day; I was busy mixing a record for Saigon. So I basically hung up on him. So he called me back with his cousin, Gambino, from Hartford, and he’s who I know Biz through. And [Gambino] was like, ‘Ish, he’s for real, he’s not playing.’ So they put me in touch with [Eminem’s] management. I was still like, ‘OK,’ ’cause Bizarre plays jokes on people. But within five minutes, his management called, and they said they wanted the song. I believed in that song, but I didn’t know it would make it to where it did.”
Guess one man’s ceiling is still another man’s floor.
That blog post perfectly captured the raw intensity of Joell Ortiz’s performance at Guz Sports Bar! His delivery of Battle Cry was absolutely electric, making the whole room feel like it was vibrating with pure, unfiltered energy. It reminded me of those high-stakes moments during a intense word guessing game with friends where the pressure is on and every single syllable counts. Seeing such a lyrical powerhouse perform in such an intimate, gritty setting was a legendary experience. If you weren't there, you truly missed out on some masterful storytelling. I'm still buzzing from that incredible night of hip-hop excellence!