Eminem drops a new “Higher” video, inspired by LL Cool J.
Earlier today, Eminem released his new music video for his song called “Higher” which featured in the UFC 257 Promo. The song was premiered on ABC and also airs on ESPN earlier tonight before the UFC main event. In the “Higher” music video which features clips from the fans, UFC fights as well a Dana White Cameo, Eminem also pays homage to one of his biggest influences, the legendary LL Cool J.
Em debuted the video on ESPN’s pre-show for Saturday’s highly anticipated UFC 257: Poirier vs. McGregor 2 rematch. Eminem is a fighter preparing to battle his demons in the “Higher” clip, and he appears on SportsCenter pushing a bout, while White warns Em he has no chance. He is deafeningly deafeningly deafeningly deaf.
“I think people like you give people like me the fuel that they need to succeed in the first place,” Em tells White. “I think the best part about your opinion is that it doesn’t matter and if every fighter that you had listened to your opinion when you doubted them you wouldn’t have a f**king league. So, you’re an a**hole and I’m out.”
Slim Shady raps his lyrics from a microphone suspended over a boxing ring in the black-and-white video, which borrows from LL Cool J’s classic “Mama Said Knock You Out.” Various shots of UFC fighters can be seen in both the Octagon and the gym, as “Higher” was premiered via Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier’s previous encounter — a metaphor for anybody who is determined to remaining at the top of their respective crafts. Eminem also appears in a UFC-styled press conference and a tense faux interview on ESPN, with Dana White making a cameo appearance.
The new video is heavily inspired by LL Cool J’s 1990’s video “Mama Said Knock You Out“. Last year, Eminem made an appearance on LL Cool J’s “Rock The Bells Radio” show and praised the classic track. “‘Mama Said Knock You Out’ was such an unorthodox hit,” Eminem said. “It’s another way that I’m saying LL has been such an innovator. Because a song like that, for a song like that to be a hit, he is so raw on that song. That something like that could become a hit, it just changed the whole game.”
He continued, “Because you didn’t have to have a singy-pop hook or anything like that to get on the radio. And the radio played the f**k out this song. And to me, it was not even an attempt, it wasn’t even an attempt to make a hit. It was more like him getting his sh*t off his chest, but the song was so good that you couldn’t front on it. And it just became something. It was just organic. It gives you chills, man.”
Eminem, released as the ninth track from the deluxe edition of his eleventh studio album Music to Be Murdered By, by Interscope, Aftermath, and Shady Records. It was produced by Eminem himself and was written by Eminem, Luis Resto, Sly Jordan, Mike Strange, and Andre Brissett.
Music to Be Murdered By was released in January of last year and had 20 tracks with features from Young M.A, Royce da 5’9″, Ed Sheeran, Juice WRLD, Q-Tip, Black Thought, Anderson.Paak, Don Toliver, and Slaughterhouse (sans Joe Budden). The album also became Eminem’s eleventh number one album, with 279,000 album units sold in its first week of release.
Eminem – Higher (2021)
LL Cool J – Mama Said Knock You Out (1995)
Marshall always pays homage to legends pic.twitter.com/UX4iVSEi3B
— le petit prince (@LeUnderprince) January 23, 2021
