Variety interviews Eminem on his Oscar Performance.
Eminem surprised everyone with his appearance at the Oscar 2020 event last night where he performed his iconic track ‘Lose Yourself‘, which won the Academy around 17 years ago.
After the Academy Awards event, the Detroit rapper got on the phone with Variety for a new interview where he talks about how the Oscar appearance came together, why he decided not to attend the ceremony in 2003, what was he doing that day, whether he would do acting again, his favorite new artists and much more.
Eminem received a standing ovation from the entertainment industry’s who’s who, including Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Gal Gadot, Oscar winner Billie Ellish, and Anthony Ramos, for his Oscars performance on Sunday night.
The rapper said in an interview with Variety that he was told the Oscars were planning a tribute to past Best Original Song winners, with 8 Mile being included in a montage introduced by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Eminem was approached by the producers and agreed to perform; the timing was ideal, as Eminem had just released his eleventh album, “Music to Be Murdered By“.
Check out some of the questions/answers below.
Variety: Last night’s performance certainly was a surprise — how did it all come together, and why this year?
Eminem: I kinda figured maybe since I didn’t get a chance to do it at the time, maybe it would be cool. Back then, I never even thought that I had a chance to win, and we had just performed “Lose Yourself” on the Grammys with the Roots a couple of weeks before the Oscars, so we didn’t think it was a good idea. And also, back at that time, the younger me didn’t really feel like a show like that would understand me. But then when I found out I won, “That’s crazy!” That to me shows how authentic and real that award is — when you don’t show up and you still win. That makes it very real to me.
Variety: Were you disappointed that you missed it?
Eminem: I don’t know that I was disappointed, I was blown back by the fact that I won. I don’t even think I understood back then that you could get an Oscar for a song, and I remember being kinda confused about why I was even up for one because as a kid with the Oscars, it was like a vacuum.
Variety: So what did you end up doing that night?
Eminem: I think I was just at home with my daughter — and I didn’t watch it, either. At that point in time Hailie had to be at school early in the morning, so (I was sleeping). Luis Resto, my keyboard player who produces records with me, went up and accepted it — and I know people were probably like, “Who the f**k is this guy?” So he called me, and I remember the phone kept ringing, and I’m like “Motherf**ker, I’m tryin’ to sleep!” But (I answered) and he’s like “Hey man, you won!” “I did? Sh*t! Cool!” But that was a different time and I was in a different place in my life.
Variety: At the time some reports said you didn’t perform because the Oscars wanted you to do a censored version of the song?
Eminem: Oh no, that wasn’t the case at all, because there’s not even that many cuss words in it — there’s only a couple. That’s not true at all.
Variety: Back to last night, did you enjoy it?
Eminem: Absolutely. I got to hug Salma Hayek.
Variety: You just put out an album three weeks ago, but can you say what you’ve got coming next?
Eminem: I don’t really have anything coming up next, to be honest, just working this album and whatever videos come along next. But we don’t have anything written in stone just yet.
Variety: Any new artists you’re particularly impressed with?
Eminem: Well, we had Young M.A. on the album, and she’s definitely one of the new artists that I’m super excited about — every time she puts something out, I listen. And the guys we have signed to our label, [Buffalo, N.Y. rap trio] Griselda, that’s exciting. YBN Cordae, he’s dope.
Variety: Okay, last question: You’ve gone after President Trump really hard in your lyrics and freestyles and even got interviewed by the Secret Service. Why do you think other major artists aren’t doing the same?
Eminem: In the hip-hop world, there’s definitely some people that have gone at him. But I kinda feel that I’ve said what I had to say and people know where I stand on it, so … [dead silence, publicist wraps up call].
Check out the full interview here on Variety.
