Akon recalls getting multiple beats from Eminem during “Smack That” sessions.
Akon was a recent guest on Bootleg Kev Podcast, where the “Trouble” hitmaker talked about the time when he recorded the hit “Smack That” with Eminem and received multiple beats from the Detroit rapper.
“When I went to visit Em in Detroit he was like so what you wanna do?” he said. “I say I want to do whatever you want to do, I want to come into your world because if I bring you to my world it won’t be no different from what’s out there. He said alright I got some beat. I said ni**a you produce, he said yeah, I said play me some tracks.”
He continued, “He gave me a folder with like 30 tracks on it and out of the 30 I picked five and I recorded all five but the one that stood out, Smack That. I was like bro this is it. One Eminem heard my concert to it, then he was like yo I’m jumping on this one. I said if he jumps on this one, this is the single.”
“The last two records he was putting out for “Detox” were the records that I produced. I was lucky, I was blessed, both of them were released. One of them was me and Snoop, and Dre, “Kush”. And the second one was just Dre and Snoop, and I was on the chorus. Dre is such a perfectionist. I think he’s too perfect for himself. There was a lot of fear involved as to not being number one. I’m not speaking for him, and I could be completely wrong, but from the outside looking in, it felt like he put too much on himself to succeed and be successful. I believe he doesn’t need it. He has nothing to Cprove to anybody. To me, he’s the greatest producer out on the West Coast and influencer when it comes to hip hop and gangster music. No matter what he would have dropped, everybody would have thirsted it up, they’d have to take it in. ”
Akon Shares A Hilarious Story About How Eminem Works in the Studio
The collaboration was one of the biggest hits of 2000s and was released as the first single from his “Konvicted” album on September 26, 2006. The single peaked at number 2 on Billboard Hot 100 and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.
Check out the interview below.
