Eminem wrote & Recorded ‘Zeus’ in less than 24 hours, Says White Gold.
Bronx singer White Gold who recently collaborated with Eminem on the song “Zeus” which appeared on the latest deluxe version of ‘Music To Be Murdered By‘, sat down with Gibran Nassif for an interview on Keyed Up Podcast. On the show, he was asked about how did his recent Eminem collaboration happen.
Eminem starts by slamming Tekashi 6ix9ine and Machine Gun Kelly, who have been feuding with Em since 2012. Eminem winds his way through a plethora of topics, including references to The Roots’ Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, Chris Brown and Rihanna’s 2009 feud, Snoop Dogg’s 2020 Breakfast Club remarks, a brief tribute to victims of police brutality, and callbacks to his October 2013 hit single, “Rap God,” among others, all set to stellar production by T-Minus and Luca Mauti.
“So you’re on Eminem’s latest ‘Music To Be Murdered By’ Side-B, on the ‘Zeus’ track, what inspired that and kind of how did it all happen,” asks Gibran.
“Yeah I was on facetime with my friend T-Minus who produced it,” says White Gold. “And we were just kicking it and just talking and he was like, he was telling me how he was proud of me for getting on the album. And I was like have you ever worked with Em, he was like Nah never, I would love to and I was like I bet you I could get you on the album. So he sends me like four beats and that was the first one I heard it and I was like, I’ll be back. It took me 5 minutes to come up with the hook and 15 minutes to cut it, it was ready. I sent it to him and he was like yo this is actually f**kin hard.”
The song’s chorus is performed by White Gold. But for these lines, he adopts Eminem’s point of view. Zeus, the Greek deity of the sky and lord of the gods, is compared to Eminem in these lyrics, making him appear to be a god. He is supposed to live atop Mount Olympus, looking down over the planet. Eminem is comparable to the status of god in the rap game in terms of his grandeur. Em seldom participates in collaborations or social gatherings and stays to himself, isolated in his house in Detroit. This is analogous to how Zeus only intervenes in Earthly affairs when it is absolutely essential.
White was talking about the same Zeus that has stirred controversy with Snoop Dogg. Eminem released a new album, Music to Be Murdered By – Side B, on Dec. 18, 2020, as a follow-up to his January 2020 album, and fans couldn’t be happier. However, it appears like Eminem is once again using his music to address his disagreements. In Eminem’s Zeus, Snoop Dogg was dissed. In his song, the rapper lashed out at Snoop Dogg, two months after the “Gin and Juice” musician mocked Eminem’s abilities on The Breakfast Club in July 2020 calling him “The Great White Hope“.
He continues and revealed how Eminem wrote all the verses in a couple of hours. “The next morning I sent it over to Royce and he was like ‘holy sh*t this is a banger’. I went to bed and woke up and Em was like, yo is this for me, this is crazy, can I have this. Two hours later he hit Royce, he was like ‘yo I’m done, tell him to send the files.’ He cut everything, he cut all those verses in a couple of hours and that was it. It didn’t take a day for the placement, between my conversation and the song being done, it took less than a day.”
On “Zeus,” which also featured White Gold, Eminem expressed his thoughts about being let down by Snoop. Blanco discussed this on The Black Spider Podcast. He is aware that both of the rappers involved have large personalities, but he feels there is no long-standing hostility between them: I don’t think that was a diss. What I heard on Shade45, that was a tone that was bothering [Eminem]. Snoop is who he is, and he’s allowed his opinion.
“Zeus,” which includes New York recording artist White Gold, contains some of Eminem’s most savage verses and name-drops from “Music To Be Murdered By: Side B”. This is the album’s fourteenth song, and the second to feature White Gold. He also appears on “You Gon’ Learn” with Royce da 5’9.” Eminem begins by criticizing Tekashi 6ix9ine and Machine Gun Kelly, two rappers who have been warring with Em since 2012. Eminem weaves his way through a variety of topics, including The Roots’ Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, Chris Brown and Rihanna’s 2009 feud, Snoop Dogg’s 2020 Breakfast Club remarks a brief tribute to victims of police brutality, and references to his October 2013 hit single, “Rap God,” among others, all set to stellar production by T-Minus and Luca Mauti.
On the track Eminem disses Snoop Dogg. “As far as squashing beef I’m used to people knocking me/But just not in my camp/And diplomatic as I’m tryin’ to be/Last thing I need is Snoop doggin’ me/Man, Dogg, you was like a damn god to me/Meh, not really (haha)/I had dog backwards,” Em raps on the track. Because Snoop is from his own camp, Em feels deceived. In an interview with the Breakfast Club, the Doggy style rapper stated that Em would not be among his top ten rappers of all time.
“Eminem, the great White hope. White rappers had zero respect in rap. Let’s keep that one thou-wow. None. He [Dr. Dre] has probably put Eminem in the position to where he could be one of the top 10 rappers ever. I don’t think so, but the game feels like he’s top 10 lyricists and all that that comes with it. But, that’s just because he’s with Dr. Dre and Dr. Dre helped him find the best Eminem that he could find”, Said Snoop.
In the opening lyrics of the same song, Eminem also mocks 6ix9ine: “She says I’m trash, but she listens to Tekashi,” he raps.
In an interview with Genius, White Gold reveals how he got involved with Eminem and Royce da 5’9″. “I got involved with them through Royce’s manager Kino [Childrey],” he said. “He hit me one day, and was like, “Yo, I heard a song that you did. Would you want to work with Royce?” I thought he meant as a producer because he knows me primarily as a producer. And he’s like, “Nah, Royce is actually producing his stuff. Do you want to go and write hooks and stuff for him?” And I was super surprised because that’s probably one of the first times people were like, “Yo, go write for an artist of Royce’s caliber.”
I went to Detroit in 2018 and I spent like three days with Royce. We started on some ideas, but nothing really came out. I was just being very reserved. I came back in January, and that’s when conversations opened up and we started talking about our kids. We started talking about life more. And that’s when the “You Gon’ Learn” song was made.”
It was for Royce initially. I think it was like six months later, Kino called me. He’s like, “Yeah, bro. Em heard it and was like, ‘Yo, I want the record and I want the dude that’s on there as the hook.’” And that was it. I had to keep the secret for six months or so, man. That was one of the hardest things to do.”
