Beef, Power, Respect: Paul Rosenberg On Shady Records 15th Anniversary
It was 15 years ago, in the aftermath of Eminem’s first major-label album,
The Slim Shady LP, when Em and his manager Paul Rosenberg launched Shady
Records in conjunction with Interscope. In the decade and a half since,
the label has put out 14 projects from the likes of D12, Slaughterhouse,
Obie Trice, Yelawolf and, most significantly, 50 Cent, who signed a
record-setting million dollar label deal with Shady/Aftermath/Interscope
in 2002. Those 15 years saw both Em and 50 rise to become two of the most
successful rappers in the history of the genre, with tens of millions of
records sold between them, while the label as a whole (not counting
Eminem releases) produced six No. 1 albums and a further five that debuted
in the top 10 of the charts, a run that can stand up next to any other
label in the genre.
Last month, on the night of the MTV Video Music Awards, Eminem tweeted to confirm that Shady Records would be celebrating 15 years in the game with a double album called Shady XV, which will be released on November 24 and will include a greatest hits collection on one disc and a label compilation featuring new music from Eminem, Bad Meets Evil, D12, Yelawolf, and Slaughterhouse on the second. XXL talked with Shady Records co-founder Paul Rosenberg ahead of the company’s 15th release about the label’s highs and lows over the years, the accomplishments and beefs that came with signing 50 Cent, and where the label is heading in the future.
Ahead of the label’s 15th release SHADY XV , XXL spoke to Shady Records
co-founder Paul Rosenberg about the label’s highs and lows through the years,
the successes and beefs that came with signing 50 Cent and where the label
is headed in the future.
Paul Rosenberg says one of the label’s greatest moments came when they
signed 50 Cent to the imprint.
“It was game-changing,” Rosenberg says in an interview with XXL. “We kind
of knew what we had in 50, and when we brought him to [Dr.] Dre to see if
he wanted to do it with us, Dre immediately got it as well. We all knew
it was gonna be big and it was gonna be sort of a land shift in the culture
because of what he was doing, but we didn’t know just how massive it was
gonna be. But I’m not gonna sit here and tell you that we didn’t know that
50 was gonna be enormous from the beginning. I mean, look, that was huge
for us, that was huge for 50, it was huge for XXL, frankly. It was massive
all around, and it was one of the most exciting things we’ve ever done with
the label.”
While 50 Cent left Shady Records earlier this year, Rosenberg “It was a
very friendly and, frankly, supportive departure, where we told him, ‘Look,
if you don’t feel like this is the place for you anymore, we feel like
we want to support you in any way we can be able to do what you want to do.’
So behind the scenes, we were trying to make sure that the transition was
going to be as comfortable for him as possible. And you know, Eminem and
50 continue to have a great relationship, and that’s not gonna change.”
Eminem and 50 Cent have gone through a lot of things together in their careers,
including beef with others, such as Murder Inc. When Rosenberg looks back
on this, he says it was “a hectic time.”
“There’s a lot of it that I look back and I don’t miss,” he says. “But it
was also very exciting and it was part of the package. I mean, we knew when
we were signing 50 that we weren’t signing a choir boy, so it wasn’t a huge
surprise when things got a little bit hectic. We just didn’t know exactly
how hectic it was gonna get and where it was gonna go. There was a lot of
bad shit that happened that I really don’t look back that fondly on, but
like I said, that went with the game at that time.”
Last month, on the night of the MTV VMAs, Eminem tweeted to confirm that
Shady Records would be celebrating their 15 years in the game with a double
album, called Shady XV, out on Nov. 24, which will be comprised of a greatest
hits collection on one disc and a label compilation featuring new music from
Eminem, Bad Meets Evil, D12, Yelawolf and Slaughterhouse on the second.
Source : www.xxlmag.com
