DX: A not-so-new artist you worked with in recent years was Eminem. A lot of people thought “Toy Soldiers” was down to you when it first hit radio because of the sound. What’s it like to help him build his third evolution in sound?
Just Blaze: I was just honored to be there. I guess what had happened, I was doing a few records that he liked at the time and he would ask who had done the song and it was me. It was the right time. A lot of people in both our camps had tried to get us together for a lot of years, pretty much ever since [The Marshall Mathers LP]. For one reason or another it never really worked out and I think now was the time it was supposed to work out. He was supposed to go and do what he did, become the superstar he became. And when I think how he solidified things with [Dr.] Dre, I think about that he had to go through what he went through so that he could come back and be the even bigger success story that he is now. I am just happy to have been a part of that success story. He is very much a creature of habit and keeps the same people around him that have been there from the beginning or people who he trusts and they’re the people he works with. I was jus happy to be one of the first people brought into the fold from the outside. Once again, I didn’t know what was going to come out of it. He’s extremely talented and it was an honor to be there and the result was awesome.
DX: How did the process of actually working with him go, being that you were not part of his inner circle?
Just Blaze: I went out to Detroit and I played him some ideas. I had brought about 15 tracks with me; he picked one which he wrote the vocal to right away. That was like our introductory single, the record didn’t make the album, it was just us kind of figuring out. It’s about more than just whether you like his person’s beat or if you like this person’s rhymes, it’s about if you gel. You can have the greatest song writer, the greatest artist and the greatest producer in the word, it doesn’t mean that when you get all three in the same room it’s going to work out to be magic. We see plenty of examples of that. Just imagine, and I’m not comparing myself to Quincy Jones at all, but just imagine if Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson didn’t get along, you wouldn’t have had “Thriller.” Quincy Jones would have still been as talented as he is, Michael Jackson would just still be as talented as he was, but if they didn’t get along and weren’t able to communicate in the studio, then we wouldn’t have had the albums that we’ve had. Thriller wouldn’t have been made. So when we first started out it was a matter of getting our feet wet and seeing how the vibe was and if the vibe went well, we started on something fresh and something new. It was a great experience. It was real easy in the studio, me and him got along well and we had a lot more in common than I would ever have realized. It was a great time.
Source
