Fat Joe talks about ‘Lean Back’ Remix with Eminem.
Fat Joe recently appeared on The Quarantine Champs on Revolt TV to talk about the ongoing Verzuz battles on Instagram. On the show, Fat Joe talks about his 2004 Billboard hit ‘Lean Back‘ which later had a remix with a guest appearance from Eminem.
Fat Joe has lately teamed up with other music giants to discuss their experience in the game and reminisce on some legendary and never-before-heard stories. Joe has since been joined by DJ EFN, N.O.R.E., and Lenny S to discuss Eminem’s possible Verzuz battle. He spoke with Ashanti about how she was almost cut from his song “What’s Luv?” with her and Ja Rule, and Joe has since been joined by DJ EFN, N.O.R.E., and Lenny S to talk about Eminem’s possible Verzuz battle. They also discussed who they’d like to see him face off against, as well as some memorable Slim Shady anecdotes from the booth.
Joe also mentioned how concentrated and attentive Em is during recording, citing a time when Marshall emailed him 30 distinct versions of his “Lean Back” remix, many of which were just slightly different.
“I don’t know who want[s] to battle Eminem. I don’t think nobody can f**k with Eminem,” Fat Joe said. “DMX got the biggest hits in the world, one of the greatest rappers of all time. Legendary, iconic, superhero. And everything I’m saying is understating, he’s bigger than that.”
“But there’s something about that white boy and his fans – nah bro, you want to see something cracking the internet? That n***a David Koresh, that n***a different!”
He revealed that Em sent him the 30 different versions of the same verse. “Eminem sent me that same verse 30 different times, saying it with a different tone, lighter tone,” said Fat Joe. “He wouldn’t make up his mind. 30 different takes (for) the same verse! Same verse! Different flows, different high or low. I don’t know what to tell you. This dude is such a perfectionist. It was like, ‘Alright, we know the verse! Can we let it go? We’re running down to the wire.’”
Fat Joe went on to say why he thinks Eminem and anyone else would be an absurd battle. “Eminem was hot when we came out,” he said. “His fans from day one are 40, 41 years old. These white people teach their kids that Eminem is the greatest. You go to the airports and 10-year-olds are playing his sh*t. … There’s a big difference with his boy. When you say generational wealth, they keep teaching their kids that he’s the man to the ultimate science.”
This isn’t the first time Fat Joe talked about Em’s work ethic. Back in 2011 in an interview with Complex, he revealed that Eminem sent him 10 verses for the ‘Lean Back’ Remix. “Eminem (actually rapped at first) on the original,” said Joe. “And he was asking me, ‘Yo, why did you change the beat?’” Joe remembered. “And he’s another ni**a (like Nas on ‘John Blaze’) who sent me mad verses. He did like 10 ‘Lean Back’ verses. He’s a perfectionist. It was incredible already. I didn’t understand why he would keep sending other ones.”
