Eminem's 'Bad Meets Evil' Preview: Producers Speak

Eminem and Royce are ready to bring their lyrical wordplay to the masses. For this weeks "Behind The Beats" edition of Mixtape Daily, we go inside the upcoming EP Bad Meets Evil with a few of Hip-Hop's most celebrated producers.

Eminem is looking to thrill hip-hop fans once again. Earlier this week, it was announced that Shady Records will release a joint EP featuring Em himself and fellow Detroit lyricist Royce Da 5'9", under the group moniker Bad Meets Evil. But a href="http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1663032/eminem-royce-da-5-9-bad-meets-evil-mixtape-daily.jhtml">fans aren't the only ones excited about the upcoming project.

Producers Denaun Porter, Mobb Deep's Havoc, DJ Khalil and Bangladesh have all been tapped to provide beats for the project and seem to be pretty pumped for the final product, which is set to drop June 14.

"The album is dope. That's all I can tell you about it," said Porter when Mixtape Daily caught up with him at his Detroit studio. (Big Mixtape shout-out to photographer Patrick Daly.) The idea for a Bad Meets Evil EP first came about while Porter and Royce were working on Royce's solo album.

"We had one song and it turned into, 'Yo, what do you think about getting Em on this record?' " Denuan recalled. Soon, Royce and Em were bouncing ideas back and forth, and more producers were eventually brought into the fold.

Havoc, who also worked on Eminem's Recovery, submitted a number of tracks to the Shady camp, but initially had no idea what Em and Royce were cooking up. "A couple

of months ago I got hit up and they told me that they're using another track for some future project," he said. "So I found out along with everybody else what it was actually for, because they like to keep things top-secret."

West Coast beatsmith DJ Khalil has been a longtime fan of the Bad Meets Evil duo and has fond memories of buying Em and Royce's first collaborative 1999 single, "Nothin' to Do." "I remember buying the 12-inch back in the day when I was DJ'in'," he said. "It's like a classic; I still have the vinyl."

Bangladesh, like Havoc, didn't learn that he was going to be on the EP until recently. "I ain't know that [Eminem] even had this beat, I didn't even know he liked the beat. I ain't know I was gonna be on this EP until probably like two weeks ago."

The producers couldn't say much in terms of song detail, but Bangladesh did confirm that his track has a vocal sample in the hook, while Havoc said his beat has an eerie feel and sounds like, "You're going down a dark hall with a whole bunch of monks just screamin' at you."

Denuan, an original member of D12 and a longtime friend and collaborator of both Em and Royce, is perhaps the most thrilled about the upcoming Bad Meets Evil project. "I was happy to see it because I thought the songs that they did back in the day was dope."

For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines.

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Bad Meets Evil, 'Hell: The Sequel': The EW Review of Eminem's latest project

Recovery saw Eminem finding the more dynamic moments hidden between his blasts of bluster. Sure, there was still an awful lot of shouting, but even full-throated rage-athons like “Cold Wind Blows” allowed a lot more Marshall Mathers to show off his full skill set while Slim Shady was catching his breath. It was a revelation that lead to the best work of his career.

Hell: The Sequel, his release under the moniker Bad Meets Evil (a tag-team with friend-turned-foe-turned-friend-again Royce Da 5’9″), finds Em returning to mostly eye-popping intensity. That doesn’t necessarily make Hell: The Sequel a step backwards—Em remains the finest battle rapper on the planet and proves that he’s the Michael Jordan of MCs (in the sense that he turns Royce from a perfectly acceptable spitter into a lyrical beast, especially on the hard-hitting single “Fast Lane”).

The pair spew acid-tongued battle raps that shout down celebrities (Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber join the hit list) with obsessive conviction, and though they spend most of their time boasting about their greatness, they manage to do it with enough invention to keep it fresh; the brevity of the EP keeps it from overstaying its welcome.

They even leave room for two breaks in the action: The first comes in the form of the Bruno Mars-produced pop nugget “Lighters,” which makes the rest of the EP’s dark leanings all the more fulfilling, while the second drops in on the album-closing “Loud Noises,” allowing Shady Records signees Slaughterhouse do most of the driving and spins the bombast in a more sideways direction).

Unlike some previous Eminem releases, there are no greater statements embedded in Hell: The Sequel, but it does serve to remind the world that Eminem remains one of the best rappers alive. As Jay-Z once said, sometimes the world needs a reminder. B+