Eminem has received love back from Juvenile and Mannie Fresh after he sampled their timeless song “Ha” for his latest album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce).
Em heavily samples the 1998 record on the second half of “Road Rage,” which subsequently included JAY-Z on the remix.
The legendary New Orleans rap group discussed Slim Shady’s use of samples and their opinions on sampling with DJ Drewski of Hot 97.
“Dedicated to Eminem. He simply accepted “Ha.” juvenile got started. “I applaud the artists, especially the really talented and accomplished ones, because we can’t do anything with these songs just sitting down and make no money with them.”
And then Mannie Fresh added his two cents: “I believe it’s the greatest tribute somebody can give you when it’s a reputable artist. It’s like, “Wow,” when someone like Eminem plays your song or when Jay jumps on “Ha.”
It’s amazing because, during a conversation while seated in a barbershop, you can protrude your chest and inquire, ‘But did Eminem ever rap on any of your beats?’ [Giggles]. “Has Jay ever performed rap on any of your tracks?”
Juvenile also talked about his friendship with Eminem and how he discovered the rapper was using the song: “Eminem is my dude.” Em is my guy because he was one of the individuals who first reached out and showed us love when my career was just getting started. That was unexpected, though. I wasn’t aware that it was coming out, but we did.”
Juvenile’s most well-known song, “Back That Azz Up,” was sampled by Ty Dolla $ign and Kanye West earlier this year for their Vultures 1 single, “Do It,” which also included YG and the late Nipsey Hussle.
The former Cash Money Millionaire loved that Mr. West was still using his old song.
He said to TMZ, “I give everybody a chance, man, and Kanye’s a good dude.” He was one of those guys that really showed a lot of support when we published the Juvie, Wacko, and Skip CD. I’m a little honored that he picked me to have a song sampled.
“I try to keep things positive, especially with the new artists and the ones that came after me,” he concluded. I’m honored that Drake [on “Practice”) sampled my song as well, and I gave him the same respect. It’s all love between us.
