With "Shady XV" coming out Monday, Eminem talked to Adam Graham of The Detroit News about his record label's hits and misses
Eminem released his first album "The Slim Shady LP" in February 1999 and quickly became a worldwide superstar. Shady Records, which is distributed through Interscope, was born shortly afterward as an opportunity to grow the Eminem brand.
"(Paul) came to me with the idea of starting the label, and at the same time I was looking for a home to do something with D12," says Em, referring to his six-man, Detroit-based rap crew. D12's "Devil's Night" was released in June 2001 and it debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top 200 albums chart.
"Based off the success of things starting to happen with the D12 record, it was like, 'Wow, we could actually do this,' " says Em, who turned 42 last month. "I wasn't sure if it could be possible or not, if we could actually have a label and be successful with it. ... We were trying, and it was cool that it was actually working. So at that point we were like, 'What's next?' "
What was next was a whirlwind. The "8 Mile" soundtrack was released in October 2002, featuring songs by Eminem, Jay Z, Nas and a young up-and-comer named 50 Cent. It was a monster success, selling more than 4 million copies. Em signed 50 Cent to Shady Records and watched as 50's debut album "Get Rich or Die Tryin' " became the fastest-selling debut album in Nielsen SoundScan history, racking up 872,000 sales in just four days.
