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FROM OUR
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Hi Stan!

This is ePro and Issue #33 of our magazine

EJ.

We dedicated this special issue to the 15

years anniversary of Eminem’s most con-
troversial album — “Encore”. This issue is
designed completely in the style of the album
cover. We have used exclusive 2004 Encore
promotional photo shot pictures of very high
quality. We would recommend that you zoom
in when reading to take in all the details you
might not have noticed before.

This issue consists of exclusive articles our

editors wrote for the Encore’s anniversary.

Our big review of Eminem show in Abu

Dhabi on October 25, 2019 is one of the main
features of this issue.

Read on and enjoy!

— Editor-in-Chief
Igor Basenko

DOWNLOAD
APP AT
EMINEM.PRO/APP
 INTERVIEW REQUEST
Hello Marshall!
We’re the Eminem.Pro team, which is the biggest fan-base project dedicated to
Eminem and Shady Recodrds’ artists. Our project started as a hobby and grew into
a media platform. We have created a unique and convenient resource for your fans
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various hip-hop portals, watch videos, interviews, performances, discuss them. Along
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own material such as reviews, articles, magazine and video digest (all our content is
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— speaking part of your fan base deserves to be heard and to ask their questions.
Our project is 100% non-profit and every person working with us is a volunteer,
we do not benefit from it, on the contrary — for 8 years we have been investing
our own resources to support it. We kindly ask you to find an opportunity to have a
conversation with us using any platform or messaging service convenient for you.

Sincerely yours, ePro team.

[email protected]
“ENCORE” —
THE FIRST STEP
FROM THE ABYSS
EXCLUSIVE ARTICLE FROM KATERINA MALIK
ON THE 15TH ANNIVERSARY OF “ENCORE”

Who is Eminem for you? An come desirable and beloved.

idol? Anathema? A clown? A However, the finale is tragic:
monster? the crowd intoxicated with
the enticing perfume tore his
What would you do if you body to pieces and devoured
met him in the street? Would it, craving its magic.
you remember that he is a
human with a right to pri- Marshall Bruce Mathers III
vacy? Or would you chase comes from the background
fame and money? In the era that is difficult to leave
of social media, the concept of behind. His genius is compat-
privacy is slowly dissipating. ible with the perfume genius
We all are both witches and of this book character. The
hunters now. Being exposed genius that let the white boy
to breaches of privacy, we from Detroit leave his name
in turn intrude into other in hip hop history. The genius
people’s privacy, sometimes that became the foundation
unwillingly creating monsters of his life and then — his
on our way. downfall.

Set aside your pitchforks The contract with Interscope

and torches, let’s talk about Records took Eminem to the
monsters. heights of fame. Three albums
in a row (“The Slim Shady LP”,
Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, the “The Marshall Mathers LP”,
main character of Perfume “The Eminem Show”) can be
(the story of a murderer by easily labelled as sensational.
Patrick Süskind) was born All three have Grammys as
with a unique gift: an absolute The Best Rap Album Of The
sense of smell and absence of Year. At some point Marshall’s
his own odour. He was either life started resembling the
ignored or feared. Having story of Grenouille. Having
accepted his perversion and come on top, Eminem experi-
his gift, Grenouille worked on enced the love of the crowd:
creating a perfect perfume destructive, erratic and even
that would attract people to irrational. Neither his evil or
him. Leaving in his way dead goofy alter ago nor his pure
bodies of the girls from whom sincerity could help him to
he extracted their scents, escape the corrosive adora-
he reached his goal to be- tion of his fans.
I am not a music critic and everything I write here is could relate to the author of “Encore” – we all bend un-
my personal opinion, but I have always associated Emi- der circumstances and sometimes are crushed by them.
nem’s fifth album Encore with pain. Its inconsistency The difference is that the stories of our downfalls do
reflects the artist’s tumult. The album features the not sell millions of copies. Feeding insatiable consum-
songs filled with contradictory polar emotions: from ers, showbiz invented more and more new ways to pry
goofy “Big Weenie”, “Rain Man” and “Ass Like That” on artists until we started seeing it as our birth right.
to deep and personal “Mockingbird” and “Like Toy Encore is an example of how love can be destructive.
Soldiers”. Recorded at the apex of his addiction, Encore
can hardly be named as his most successful creation, Today, as 15 years ago, we better remember that Emi-
but today, at the 15-year anniversary of its release, nem is the artist who gave us the chance to live his life
we can say with certainty that this album marked the together with him (and his amazing music). He became
beginning of Marshall’s therapy. His first step to adult- the painkiller of our generation. The only pain he could
hood. not kill was his own. And we still lack empathy. Fans,
reporters and critics keep tearing Marshall apart and
“Encore” is Eminem’s catharsis. The emotional release he keeps giving himself away. Mean, funny, aggres-
of tension that built up under the pressure of expecta- sive, confused, wise and talented self. Happy birthday
tions and demands from everyone around. Many of us “Encore”!
ENC O R E : EXCLUSIVE AR
ON THE 15TH
TIC
A N
L
N
E
IV
F
E
R
R
O
S
M
A
L IL IT SAGATELYA
RY OF “ENCOR
E”
N

REMEMBER EM ON DRUGS?
15 YEARS PAST
“Encore” (2004) — Marshall’s fifth studio when others were too scared. He says
album — approaches its fifteenth anni- “Fuck Bush” on “Mosh” and declares that
versary this year. One of the most contro- he “would rather see the president dead”
versial Em’s albums that did not find a on “We As Americans” — Em disagrees
warm reception from critics but became a with Bush’s politics and talks about it
commercial success. What impression has openly, voicing the opinion of thousands
it left? who share his dissatisfaction. It led to
Marshall being marked out as a threat and
“Encore” is what is said on the cover, an investigated by the Secret Service. Maybe
encore to Marshall’s previous album “The they still investigate him as he keeps being
Eminem Show” (2002). It continued to vocal about Trumps’ politics as well. And
explore the topics of hate, politics, love and for that we really love and respect him.
celebrity culture that Em ridicules all the
time (and we love him for his courage). It The album was commercially successful
seems like there was nothing new, every- but received a negative response. What
thing was as usual. However, the front cov- expectations were set by “The Eminem
er presents Slim Shady’s final bow. Having Show”, the most successful Marshal’s al-
said “Bye-bye!”, Shady shot himself, and it bum? Very high. Having received “Encore”
is obvious that Em’s alter ego left us. Well, that did not reach the same level of success
almost on every album Em “promises” that but became a pale copy of the previous
this is his final project and he is leaving the album, people split into two camps. Some
stage. It goes on and on for 20 years. And were glad to get something new, others
Slim Shady goes out to take a bow again on fiercely criticised the release.
“Relapse”.
Media mostly criticised. The review on
I would not say that I remember this re- Genius: “Big step down from his normal
lease as a consistent record. Some tracks, level and was his only album not to win
such as “Like Toy Soldiers” and “Mosh”, him even one Grammy, despite being
became classic. However, the album was nominated for three”. Similar thoughts
not successful and was left ignored by all were expressed in other reviews. Some
major awards such as GRAMMY and AMA did not like the lyrics, some did not like
(both did not award “Encore” in The Best Dre’s simple beats, angry opponents of
Rap Album category). Interestingly, the Marshall’s new “accent” emerged, some
album was seen as having good prospects: disapproved weird background noises
more than 800 thousand people came to (especially on “Puke”, when Em was vomit-
the album launch in New York, making this ing in the toilet. Not the most pleasant of
event a Guiness Record. An absolute peak experiences, I agree). “This was the begin-
of popularity of the artist. ning of Eminem’s down-fall”, — stated
Focus Hip Hop.
The album spent eight weeks at the top
of the Billboard Top 200, the global sales Indeed, at that time Marshall’s career
were high. Everyone wanted to hear Em was going downhill. He became addicted
who had never been afraid to tell the truth to drugs, lost his best friend and isolated
himself from the music scene for several years.
Probably, having received such harsh feedback,
he also lost faith in himself and his music.

The lyrics style became threadbare as many

drew comparison with his previous albums
and the repetitive mock-ery of celebrities,
politicians and critics. “Just Lose It”, where Em
parodied and mocked Michael Jackson (well,
not a smart move Marshall...) was heavily criti-
cised. Everybody was especially annoyed with
his new East Eu-ropean accent on “Ass Like
That”, where he raps in the voice of the pup-
pet Triumph the Insult Comedy Dog, the dog
smoking a cigar and ridiculing famous people.
The music side of the album did not help the
situation. Eve-ryone was disappointed not
only with how Eminem produced it but also
with Dr.Dre’s beats. Not that it was bad, but it
was not exciting, the audience was offered the
same sound on three albums in a row (we do
not count “In-finite” in).

Still, there were moments that impressed ev-

eryone. “Like Toy Soldiers” and “Mockingbird”
are deeply emotional and personal tracks
where Em laid his heart bare. He touches on
the topics of friendship and fatherhood in all
his albums including this.

Multiple reviews point out that “Encore” was

just a failed sequel of “The Eminem Show”,
and very few appreciat-ed the level of artistry
he maintained. Rap Reviews published this
response: “Nevertheless, “Encore” does prove
one thing: that even half-trying, Eminem is still
better than most of the rappers beside him
with plenty of personality to spare. “Encore”
actually imitates Eminem’s manic, moody per-
sonality, shifting as quick as his temper from
“Puke” to “Crazy In Love,” or from “Mosh” to
“Mockingbird.” Em spends half his time burn-
ing bridges and the other half rebuilding them.
Overall the album is really just an encore of
the manic-depressiveness you heard on “The
Eminem Show.” It’s just more of that rambunc-
tious, raving maniac insulting everyone within
ear shot, but hey, isn’t that what you buy an
Eminem album for anyway?”
Indeed, no matter how hard critics tried to
criticise the album, Marshall played them all
on his following albums, we know that now,
five albums later. “Encore” has become a
Slim Shady classic and has got platinum four
times. On this record Marshall said whatever
he deemed important without any fear to be
forced out of the game. Many declared that he
was just allowed more freedom because he
was a “white” rapper, but we think that this is
a result of his gift to hit the mark with every
word. People exclaim “He’s naughty!”, but deep
inside agree with his every sentence. He does
not pretend, he is honest.
We do not see this album as the peak of
his career. Yes, these beats are already
familiar (“Never Enough”, “Yel-low
Brick Road” — we heard something
similar on “8 Mile” soundtrack and it’s
catchy) but admit that you feel goose-
bumps when “Evil Deeds” starts play-
ing. Marshall’s lyrics on some tracks
(“Ass Like That” and “Puke”) are not up
to the standards of the talented hip hop
artist. You expect to see powerful lyrics,
but this is just not up to par. Until you
hear “Mosh” or “Like Toy Soldiers”. The
album is not consistent, some tracks
just call to be skipped. However, we
liked guest features (and we would like
more of that). We have been missing
this massive hip hop support for quite
some time. Fyf, Dre, Nate... Featured
guests: 10 out of 10.

Would this style be relevant nowadays,

15 years later? It’s difficult to say.
Tastes and trends keep changing. How-
ever, it is clear that the album is worth
remembering even after all these years.

I wonder if there are people who ap-

preciate “Encore” strongly enough to
consider it the best work in Marshall’s
career.
ENCORE:
WHAT
IF?
 EXCLUSIVE ARTICLE
FROM DANNY MCFARLANE
ON THE 15TH ANNIVERSARY
OF “ENCORE”
I GUESS ENOUGH TIME JUST
AIN’T PAST YET A COUPLE
LESS TRACKS THAT SHIT’LL
BE ILLMATIC
It has been fifteen years since “Encore” was un-
leashed on the world. It’s had its fair share of criti-
cism particularly upon its initial release including
even Slim himself during the Kamikaze interview
with Sway Calloway in September of 2018.

Overtime it has still managed to go multi platinum

in several countries, including going quadruple
platinum in the US with the album selling 710,000
copies in its first 3 days, then leading to the first
full week sales of 1.5 million copies. It was also the
first digital album to sell over 10,000 digital copies
in its first week. However, could it have been better
if history was different and a few of the original
tracks from the album didn’t leak months before its
scheduled release date? This led Eminem to fly back
to LA to Dr. Dre’s studio and record 3 on the spot re-
placements in order to catch the album’s November
release date. During this time, Eminem’s prescrip-
tion drugs addiction started. In Recovery track
“Talking To Myself” he raps: “This time around it’s
different, them last two albums didn’t count Encore,
I was on drugs; Relapse, I was flushing them out”.

Here we take a look back at what tracks were

rushed tracks and what was leaked in the months
leading up to the release.

LEAKED TRACKS MEANT

FOR ENCORE
Monkey See Monkey Do:
The first track on the mixtape of leaks, it is more a
generic warning to anyone who might think about
coming after Eminem, lyrically or literally. Basically
a “don’t fucking mess with my crew” statement.
D12 & G-Unit Vs Everybody. As Em says on the track
“Bring it”.

Love You More:

A sensational track that was added to the Deluxe
edition of the album. The song begins with a fantasy
shooting scenario and is about Eminem and his
sad-masochistic relationship with Kim. “The more
you put me through, The more it makes me wanna
come back to you” as he melodically raps during the
chorus.

We As Americans:
Eminem’s very own NWA inspired the “Fuck The
Police” stop and search theme. “You wanna harass
with this limo tinted glass flashing this flashlight
on my ass, where was you at last night? when them
assholes ran up on my glass”.
It was written while Em was on a two-year break up of the marriage while on prescrip-
long probation after he allegedly pistol- tion pills, and Kim allegedly being high on
whipped Bouncer 6’2 John Guerra whom he coke. This track seems to be a reaction to these
saw kissing Kim outside a nightclub. events as he repeatedly calls her a cokehead.

Fan account @MainlyEminem on twitter ran

POTENTIALLY RUSHED a poll asking the question, if the leaked tracks
TRACKS were added and the rushed tracks taken out,
would Encore have been regarded as a strong
Eminem’s studio album by fans and critics
Big Weenie:
alike? Over 200 fans voted and 86% agreed
A straight up diss track to Ray Benzino who
that it would have been. Fellow fan account
co-owned “The Source” hip-hop magazine.
Shady Times added “It would be a near classic,
Em mocks the fact that Benzino can’t make as
it would have been received positively and
much money as him and doesn’t even have the
wouldn’t have been criticised the way it is
skill to rhyme the same as he does, delivered in
now”.
a childish tone. Benzino is just another name
to the long list of unfortunates Em has lyrically
Mainly Eminem & ePro worked together to give
crucified.
you the “what if” track list:
My 1st Single: 1. Curtains Up
This was one of the rushed tracks that Em
2. Evil Deeds
recorded to fill the void left by one of the
3. Never Enough
leaked tracks. It is very tongue-in-cheek and
4. Yellow Brick Road
pokes fun at a variety of victims, with jokes
5. Mosh
being made on every other bar. If you can’t find
6. Like Toy Soldiers
humour in this track you can dial 1-800-IM-A-
7. We As Americans
DICKSUCKER.
8. Love You More
9. Paul (Skit)
Rain Man: 10. Monkey See Monkey Do
With direct references to the film “Rain Man” 11. Em Calls Paul
starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman, this 12. Just Lose It
is another track that plays on Em’s comedic 13. Ass Like That
side with lesbianism being discussed along- 14. Spend Some Time
side Dr. Dre and Christopher Reeves (again) 15. Mockingbird
being swiped at. This track feels like it was 16. Crazy In Love
almost being rapped on autopilot with nothing 17. One Shot Two Shot
substantial to go down with in rap history. It 18. Final Thought
works as a fun light-hearted track. 19. Encore

Puke:
Marshall shows his disgust towards his ex-wife
Kim Mathers. The pair got married for the
second time in 2006 without any success. The
marriage only lasted 4 months from January
to April of 2006. He wrote this song during the
“DEVIL’S” ADVOCATE:
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
WITH ANTHONY BOZZA
The other day we had a conversation with Anthony ePro: And what do you think about “Revival”?
Bozza who wrote a new book about Eminem “Not
Afraid. The Evolution of Eminem”. He is an incred- Anthony: It seems to me that this album was
ible and very open person. Read our interview, misunderstood. There were very strong tracks, for
there is a lot of interesting stuff about the new sure, but it did not feel consistent. And the way it
book and other things! was being promoted was… weird…

This story started in 1997 when an intern at the ePro: What about “Kamikaze”?
legendary magazine Rolling Stones Anthony Bozza
came across a young white rapper from Detroit Anthony: Well, I love Slim Shady and it was his
who was not even signed to a record label. His comeback. Cool, strong, angry, talented. Every-
editor was so amused with the enthusiasm of the thing has changed in music journalism now, and
young journalist that two years later, when this for some reason Eminem’s music is judged by his
rapper already had his contract with Interscope, appearance, his personal life. If somebody treated
Bozza was assigned to work on the article about any female artist in the same way that would be
shooting the video “My Name Is”. A short piece scandalous. They don’t talk about the music and
planned not to exceed 250 words blew up to 6000 what makes Eminem create it, they were just:
and became a cover story, a breakthrough for An- “Here he is. He’s angry again. He’s rapping very fast
thony Bozza and an important milestone for Mar- again, it’s the only thing he knows how to do now”.
shall Mathers’ career. Back then, in 1999, Anthony And it’s certainly not fair.
could hardly know that in just 4 years his book
about Eminem “Whatever you say i am: The life ePro: How did you prepare for writing the book?
and times of Eminem” would become a bestseller Where did you get the material?
at The New York Times and will be translated to
14 languages. This book approached Eminem as a Anthony: I’ve got some new stuff from Em. Every-
phenomenon that reflected the racial, cultural and one, Paul and Em, knew that I was going to do that.
class essence of the United States on the eve of the I wrote about Proof, I had interviews with Eminem
new millennium. Now, 16 years later, Anthony pub- through these nine years and I had bits that have
lishes his second book about Marshall. Before the never been published. The thing is, when people
release date, our editorial team had a lucky chance become sober it makes them much more sensitive
to have a conversation with the author. to reality. Em is sober for more than 10 years and
because of that, I believe, he’s become reclusive.
Eminem.Pro (Katerina Malik): Hello Anthony! He only does several concerts a year. He has a lot
The first and the most obvious question is: how do of money so he doesn’t have to work that hard
you feel about Eminem? any more. And he likes working in the studio. But
something else has also happened. He’s become
Anthony Bozza: Oh, of course I am his fan! Some very good at not saying anything he doesn’t want
people try to catch me but there is no need, I am to say. He’s basically very good at doing interviews.
ready to confess – I am a real fan. Of course, as a Even for me, who has been doing it with him since
journalist and writer I try to keep an open mind, 1999, it’s not easy. He knows the game. And I
which does not prevent me from admiring his mu- understand that. As somebody who is so personal
sic. I still remember how I heard him for the first in his music, who was personal in his interviews
time in 1997 and wanted to write about him imme- before, he’s done with that. The best way to get the
diately. But sadly, it was impossible to write about most personal stuff for the book was to talk to his
an artist who was not signed to a label. However, as best friends. I talked to Mr. Porter, I talked to Royce,
you know, it became possible after he was signed to to Paul Rosenberg. Em told Denaun and Royce to
Interscope records. give me as much time as I wanted and tell me liter-
ally anything I wanted to know. Those interviews
ePro: What is your favourite album, favourite were the best, they were better than him. I spent all
track? my time with Paul Rosenberg basically just trying
to figure out what is gonna happen now, focusing
Anthony: *names albums and tracks* …I can talk on future. ‘Cause we all want to know what is com-
about Eminem’s music for hours but if I had to ing next. So, let’s try together to figure out what he
choose only one album and one track, I believe it is saying in that interview.
would be “MMLP2” and “Stan”.
ePro: Did you get any information about his personal
life?

Anthony: He said it very clearly in 2010 that he’s not

talking about his kids any more, personal life has to
remain personal. He said to me a couple of things off
the record, but nothing major, nothing sensational. He
does not let anyone in any more.

ePro: How do you see your reader? Is your book for

fans or is it for a bigger audience?

Anthony: Definitely I wrote it for fans first, because I

am one and I wanted to talk about that period of time.
When I wrote my first book it was picked up by a lot of
different people. In 2003 Eminem was the biggest mu-
sical artist in the world. Everyone knew him, “8 mile”
was out, Oscar nomination was out, everybody was
talking about him. And a lot of people were hearing
about him for the first time. So that book was more of
a general interest and there were a lot of details of his
origin story. At this point everyone knows that story,
so I don’t want to go over that stuff again. Let’s say, this
book is for people already familiar with his story: mu-
sic fans, Eminem’s fans. For the people who has never
heard of him, I don’t know who that would be, there is
at least enough recap so they could get the backstory
and learn how the sudden fame almost killed that guy.
I talked to a couple of substance abuse experts, had
a really great interview with the psychologist who
specialises in fame and has a lot of celebrity clients
who became famous quickly and tries to keep them
from spinning out. They get me some amazing insights.
Even insights on how our social media, Instagram
culture have the same effect on people, just everyday
people. That stuff I feel will culturally appeal to a wider
audience. And also, I included information specifically
for music fans. There is a chapter called “Shady’s kids”,
it’s about how Eminem opened the door for all these
white rappers. In America at least now no one wants to
talk about race. While when he was coming out it was He was from Detroit, so if you insulted him, he would
all about white guy doing black music. I also included probably punch you but he wasn’t’t like 2Pac or anyone
some things that would appeal to people interested on Death Row [records]. So, I would say the biggest
in pop-culture. For instance, the history of Autotune. revelations are probably in the chapter on Proof’s
I think a lot of kids do not understand that there is a funeral.
software that makes everything you listen sound the
same. They cannot understand all nuances of music ePro: And the last question: will this book be trans-
and do not appreciate mistakes. There is some com- lated to Russian?
mentary on the state of music today, hopefully people
will like that part too. Anthony: I hope so. You know, the first book was
translated to 14 languages. I have all these books here
ePro: Should we wait for some new information in the on my shelf. There is no Russian. 15 years ago, the pub-
book, something new that we’ve never heard before? lishing world was different, Eminem was in a different
place, his popularity was different. Even though people
Anthony: For the article I wrote about Proof’s murder say he is not that popular, but every album proves it
I found out a lot of stuff from people who were there wrong. I think he is just as popular. Publishers want to
that was not in any newspaper, so there is a lot more release the book in English and see. Meanwhile, I am
detail about that. I stayed in Detroit for a couple of getting tons and tons of messages from people from
days and talked to people who were in the club, saw Brazil, from France and they are excited about English
the shooting… ‘Cause it mostly was related in the one, but they want to know whether it’s gonna be in
national press as it was like Proof was a thug-rapper their language. So, I’ve been telling them: here is my
who just got out there and shot somebody, and he was publisher, email them, say: we need a book. You know,
furthest thing from the thug-rapper. if enough people do it – they’ll buy it.
Thank you for this con-
versation Anthony! We
are looking forward to
reading your book!

The book by Anthony

Bozza “Not Afraid. The
Evolution of Eminem”
is out today. You can
order it on Amazon or
look at your closest book
retailer.
AVAILABLE NOW ON AMAZON.COM
EXCLUSIVE ARTICLE FROM IGOR BASENKO
AGAINST ALL ODDS:
EMINEM’S ABU DHABI
SHOW REVIEW
Recently MTV shared the compilation of old real fans from different countries. And they
Eminem’s interviews taken in the early years of met others. We all know each other one way or
Marshall’s career. When I was watching it, I had another. We might not know everyone by their
this feeling that I like “new” Eminem intro- names, we might not stay in touch in between
duced to us in the “Revival” era much more than the shows or send birthday messages but we
“early” Eminem of years 1999-2006. Currently recognise each other and see each other at the
my favourite track is “Walk on Water” and my shows.
favourite album is… As I wrote in my review, I
really liked “Revival” and I had “Kamikaze” on
repeat, and in general I feel that Eminem’s work
THE WORST ORGANISED
now is more mature as the author is himself. SHOW
He does not pursue high ranks in charts, he is
not interested in industry awards, but he keeps On October 25, the ePro team and 50 fans came
mastering rhymes folding layers of meanings in the early morning to find their place in the
in them, keeps offering his perspective on the queue to Eminem show. We had designed and
reality he lives in. Yes, he has changed. As well brought with us cool queue number cards and
as we have in these 20 years. We have grown organised an orderly queue, having agreed, not
up, we have stepped into adulthood, many have without issues, with all fans on the procedure —
changed their points of view, habits, music taste, entering the gate according to a queue number,
social circles and friendships. set the rules of conduct based on mutual respect
to fellow fans. We wanted all the fans to get
Back to Eminem, not only he has changed, the into the arena peacefully, without incidents
attitude towards him has changed too both and stress, and enjoy Eminem show. For many
from fans and from the general audience that Eminem fans who came to his show for the first
consumes music and media content. Witch hunt time that was a dream coming true. The dream
against Eminem is only getting worse recently. that was ruined by the show organisers FLASH
Media keep chewing on him. Fans became Entertainment and their contactor G4S Security.
insatiable. Just in several days so much content We gave out special queue number cards and
was dumped into the internet, but they cannot presented the first hundred fans with a special
have enough. Some fans get excited and some gift from our editorial team. Everything was
get upset. fine. The queue was organised, the fans were
enjoying themselves, chatting and waiting for
How does the prime Eminem’s support, his the gates to open.
fandom, look now? The Abu Dhabi show that
took place on October 25 at Du Arena gave me At 4 pm a G4S Security team arrived with a
a chance to think about it and to come to some Flash Entertainment manager. They started to
conclusions. move the fan queue pushing people back. They
didn’t pay attention to the fact that there was
Many fans, not necessarily Eminem, the fans already no space to move, they kept pushing
of many artists of many genres, follow their people into the crowd that had been packed
idols on tours. There are even special tourism already, in the afternoon heat of one of the hot-
programmes called Music & Travel. Being a test countries in the world. “Don’t care” was the
keen traveller with strong music allegiance, I motto of Flash Entertainment on the day of this
often see the shows of my favourite artists and show. Or maybe ever.
bands all over the world. For instance, I was at
Eminem shows 15 times. At these shows I met
We referred our concerns to the FLASH Enter-
tainment manager, inquiring why they were
disrupting the well organised queue and behav-
ing aggressively towards the fans. Their response
was: “It’s impossible to organize such a big crowd,
we don’t care if you run, it’s up to you”. Damn, ev-
erything was organised already. They did not care
about people, about our safety, our well-being,
anything. They only cared about the money they
had got from ticket sales.

For the organisers of the show of one of the most

famous artists you were behaving unprofession-
ally, and your attitude towards members of the
audience who came from all over the world was
below adequate. We paid for the most expen-
sive tickets, but we only got a disgusting level of
service and awful experience. At one point the
staff, unable to control the situation in the venue,
decided to make an impression producing trun-
cheons. What the fuck were you going to do with
them? Beat the girls at the front of the queue who
could not step back because of people behind
them? Who gave you the right to behave like this,
you complete morons?

We were forced to spend an hour cornered in the

dense crowd by FLASH Entertainment staff. It
seemed like they did not understand what they
were supposed to do and why they were there.
They were not able to deal even with standard
issues. For instance, somebody from the audience
complained to the member of staff about cigarette
smoke that caused them respiratory problems.
This member of staff just said that he did not care.
He did not even try to resolve the situation. We
asked the person who was smoking to stop, and
he stopped, that was not that difficult. This is a
standard situation the staff should know how to
deal with.

There were plenty of glitches with letting fans in

and ticket scans, many people were let in without
their tickets having been scanned. In the arena we
were guarded into another fenced area where we
spent an hour and a half. Apparently, the stuff that
was supposed to work at the event just was not
at place. We saw them hurrying through the gates
while we were standing there in the heat, covered
in sweat and deprived of water.

When we were allowed to move to the stage we

had to run. You know what, it had been a while
since I dashed to the front row with VIP tickets.
Usually, early entrance ticket holders are let with-
out jumble, to avoid stampede, fuss and possible
injuries, but here organisers just did not care for
our safety, as they told us openly.
Truncheons and neglect were not the only
issues fans had to face. Organising the event
in one of the hottest countries on the planet,
FLASH Entertainment did not bother to
provide water to the fans in a way it is usu-
ally organised at such events. Just imagine:
35 degrees centigrade, unbearable heat, tens
of thousands people are locked in a dense
crowd and there is no water because it was
confiscated at the entry gates. How do you like
it? After 30 minutes people started fainting
of dehydration, they were evacuated from the
crowd. After an hour dozens of fans fell victims
of dehydration and exhaustion. People were
begging for water, but FLASH Entertainment
just shrugged it off, stating that there was no
water. We could not get water at the place, we
could not leave the place to get water. Ironi-
cally, the venue staff was provided with water
and they were not shy to drink it in front of the
parched audience.

You know what was even more ironic in this

shitty situation? This circus was sponsored by
Lay’s, Pepsi and Du. Pepsi especially should
be ashamed of being involved in this. The
company producing soft drinks sponsored the
event where tens of thousands of people were
deprived of water and were fainting of dehy-
dration. You should think twice before working
with FLASH Entertainment again.

When we got to our places in the front row, I

had a look around and spotted familiar faces.
Almost everyone who was queueing with us
from the early morning managed to get to the
front row.
OPENING ACT
About an hour after we got to the stage the open-
ing act started. That was the worst warm up I can
recall. A small DJ table was placed in the corner of
the covered with a white curtain stage prepared
for Eminem. At 7pm a local DJ came to it and
started playing somebody’s tracks. He did not try
to engage the crowd, he did not try to warm us up
for the headliner. He just played records for two
hours. While we were standing without water in
the packed crowd in the 35 degrees heat. That
was bad. Very bad. I had not seen a warming up
act worse than that.

In addition, at 9 pm, when Eminem show was

supposed to get started, there was an announce-
ment that the show was being delayed. The
entire arena was filled with booing and dissatis-
fied shouts. It became known later that at that
moment there were thousands fans outside the
arena who could not get through the entrance
gates. This demonstrates the absolutely appalling
level of incompetency of the FLASH Entertain-
ment staff in all aspects from organising access to
the venue to security checks to scanning tickets.

After that announcement the DJ decided to utilise

Marshall’s spotlights and started projecting light
spots on the curtain. We all know what these
searchlights mean. It’s a damn Bat-Signal that
marks Eminem’s entrance. Thousands phone
cameras were aimed at the stage with no Eminem
in sight.

In our Twitter feed someone said that according

to a backstage crew source there was a possibility
of cancelling the show. That made me worried. Is
it really possible to cancel Eminem show? For the
first time in years? That was a gloomy prospect.
White searchlights kept dancing, and when the
fifth beam joined, the feeling that there was no
show to come became even stronger.

Suddenly, the curtain fell. It was taken away

clumsily and not without issues, in the same man-
ner as the entire show was organised. For 20-30
second the stage was completely empty and dark.
Then musicians, back-up singers and DJ Alche-
mist took their places. Then the opening video
of giant Eminem destroying a city was projected
on side screens. The organisers failed again, and
the main screens on the stage came to life with a
noticeable delay.
HIS SHOW CANNOT BE
WRECKED!
With more than an hour delay the show started,
but Eminem, of course, saved the day. Whatever
happened before, he came to the stage and deliv-
ered.

A helicopter was successfully smashed, a broken

glass web appeared on every screen and the stage
lit up. The mysterious sound of the show intro
marked Eminem’s entrance.

He started rapping while being backstage and

stormed the stage spilling out his rage with
“Greatest”. At some point he came to the very
edge of the stage as to show to everyone worried
by the long delay that he was there in all his glory.
He was in a white hoodie (the one from the col-
laboration with Rag&Bone, very cool and of high
quality), black Nike trainer bottoms, his signature
Kangol baseball cap, a gold watch and a bracelet,
and a white t-shirt with Kid ‘n Play debut album
“2 Hype” cover print. Back at his show in Wel-
lington Eminem explained why at every show he
wears a new t-shirt with some album cover print.
This is him paying respect to great names in hip
hop who contributed to the genre and inspired
him. So, as Eminem said, if you don’t know what is
on his t-shirt, go back and listen to it and under-
stand how hip hop has evolved.

The heat was extreme. Still, Em and Porter were

running around and jumping on the stage add-
ing to the heat. I could not help but notice that
Eminem was especially emotional and emanated
anger. It was evident on the transition to “Won’t
Back Down” that was filled with fury. Damn, that
was the best live performance of “Won’t Back
Down” in my experience. You can watch out con-
cert video to feel it.

Pay attention to Eminem’s face. He clearly en-

joyed the performance as much as we did listen-
ing to him. It seemed like Marshall was missing
live shows in these months the same way the fans
were missing him.
Before “White America” Porter mentioned fascinating. But this time the bad organ-
the show delay: “Abu Dhabi! I say Abu Dha- isation of the show resulted in a glitch.
bi! How are you doing out there? Is every- Right in the middle of the verse something
body here? We were set to wait to get you happened to his mic and in-ear piece and
everybody in here. Hey y’all, everybody’s it threw a spanner in Em’s delivery. Watch
here in this bowl, have a look!”. “How y’all the beginning of this entry on our channel
in the back? We can’t here you back there. to notice how in the very beginning of the
What’s up? Okay”, — joined Em. song Eminem fiddles with the ear-piece
and flicks it. However, being a professional,
“I know we won’t want start the show he powered through the song despite the
without everybody’s being here. So. I issues.
don’t know what is happening but that’s
good to see you everybody here. How you People who goes to Eminem shows often
doing?”— Mr. Porter continued talking know his set-list and how he performs and
about the delay. It was good to know that how he works on stage. I could feel that
guys had waited as long as possible to let even beside these ill-fated glitches he was
all the fans to see the show. It again shows not satisfied with the organisation and it
that Em and his team work on making our certainly affected his performance. Maybe
show experience the most enjoyable. it was not obvious for everyone, but dedi-
cated fans who saw many of his shows also
“Hey yo Abu Dhabi! It’s been seven years noticed that. Take for instance the ending
since we fucking was here last. Did y’all of “Rap God”. Usually, having finished rap-
miss us? Cause we missed fuck out of you ing, he turns his back to the audience and
man. We love y’all so much. Me and Mr. spread his arms as it pictured on the single
Porter we don’t really like taking planes cover. This time his arms stayed down. A
and we are not really crazy about hot-ass tiny detail but it made a difference.
weather but we said fuck it because we are
going back to Abu Dhabi, we’re gonna see When performing “Sing for the Moment”,
y’all, the people of Abu Dhabi! So I didn’t Eminem, who came on the stage with a
fly. I jumped from the States and landed black towel around his neck, threw it to
on stage. So Abu Dhabi, since we missed the front rows. Of course, a battle ensued
y’all so much man we sat on this 14 hour to get hold of this artefact. It has been a
plane ride that sucked ass. So let me tell while since Marshall threw something in
you a little something about where we’re the crowd. And it was funny.
from” — this is how Em introduced “White
America” to the public. In the beginning of “Like Toy Soldiers”,
following the tradition he set, Em asked all
I told you, I bloody told you that live intro the fans to shout “Big Proof, we miss you!”
to “White America” gives me an eargasm… paying respect to his best friend murdered
It sounds so cool. in 2006.

After the first part of the show that The highlight of the show was the perfor-
Eminem usually delivers without breaks, mance of “Lucky You”. The track from the
Porter announced the arrival of Rap God. tenth studio album “Kamikaze” is loved by
Marshall rushed out of the stage to the the fans and it was performed live for the
wing where he dropped his hoodie, had first time for the fans in UAE. The crowd
a sip of water and got ready to shoot his went nuts listening to it. On “Lucky You”
epic supersonic verse. When you watch the Marshall rapped his fast verse flawlessly to
video of this performance recorded live the happy and noisy crowd.
from the front row where he is standing
there and raps at supersonic speed — it is
On “Forever” Eminem almost never left the stage
front and was bursting with energy giving his all.

Having finished “Forever”, Eminem left to the

wings to have a water break. His hype man took a
place at the DJ table and struck a long conversa-
tion with the audience. “Abu Dhabi, y’all still with
us? I don’t believe you. You ain’t loud enough. I
said, Abu Dhabi, are y’all still with us? Hold on
man, on the count of three I need y’all to let me
know, to let us know, to let Em know that y’all
are still here. One, two, three. [YEAAAAAAAHH-
HHH!!!!!] I checked this up, I checked this up. So,
how many real Eminem fans are here tonight?
How many day one Eminem fans is in here? Okay,
let me do a test. How many of y’all here get The
Slim Shady LP? [A massive response from the
crowd.] Okay, hold on. How many of y’all here
get The Marshal Mathers LP? [AAAAAAHHHH-
HHHH!!!!!] Oh-oh, there are some. How many
of y’all get Relapse? How many of y’all here get
Recovery? Y’all don’t really sound like fans, you
sound more like… What is the word I’m looking
for?” - Mr Porter asked Eminem who got back and
kept quiet taking the interaction in. “Family, —
chimed in Eminem. - You sound like family to us
in here tonight”.

“Okay, look family, - Porter took over the con-

versation again. — If y’all go around with us
since day one then I know that you noticed that
motherfucker’s shoot. Right here.” And that was a
transition to “Just Don’t Give a Fuck”. Just imagine,
this is the one of Eminem early tracks from 1998.
Most of us were knee-high to a grasshopper back
then. And he can still perform it live on stage,
more than 20 years later. “Abu Dhabi, you know
what time it is? Everybody put you motherfucking
middles!”, — Em threw himself in “Just Don’t Give
a Fuck” rapping aggressively.

One more surprise came to UAE fans with “Fall”

that Em performed only at early “Kamikaze”
shows. This is one of the major album singles and
in the video for this track it was presented as a
link between “Revival” and “Kamikaze”, the story
that continued on the video “Venom”.

Marshall even mentioned attention seeking

Lord Jamar who recently tried to question Em’s
position in the hip hop game. “I had a dream last
night”, — started Eminem just to be interrupted
by Mr. Porter: “You had a dream and it was… it
was hot?”. “No, listen, — Eminem kept talking. —
I had a dream that I was a fucking nobody with no hesitation. Nowadays, my number
who sucked at rap. And when I woke up one is “Walk on Water”. I love every single
you know who I thought I was Mr. Porter?“. line of this song that is full of meaning.

Mr. Porter passed his: “Who?”. The meaning and the main topic of “Walk
“Lord Jamar!!” — Em delivered the line on Water” are inflated expectations from
with such comical horror that you could all successful artists which resonates not
only appreciate his acting talent. only with Em and Skylar but also with all
Mr. Porter: Really? this situation around Abu Dhabi show.
Eminem: But I don’t really care Mr. Porter. People on social media started blaming
Do you know why? Eminem for the bad organisation of the
Mr. Porter: Why? show. Of course, we only expect from him
Eminem: Because I’m a Criminal… the best shows, the best service and the
best performance. However, we should not
And Eminem went into Criminal’s intro. forget that he is human just like the rest
of us. He is not impervious to mistakes, he
Rewatching live videos, one can notice can forget a line just like any other person.
how expressive Eminem is on stage. His Also, he has no power over everything that
performance is thought through up to the is going on around him. Let’s not get riled
tiniest detail — facial expressions, ges- up about it.
tures that correspond with the narrative,
body movements. Maybe that was not that Interestingly, Skylar Grey, who had writ-
noticeable before because it is difficult to ten the chorus for “Walk on Water”, said
spot from a distance, but modern cameras in an interview that it was the song she
capture everything and make it clear to had been trying to write since age 6, when
everyone to notice. This is high-end acting she first took up the piano. Every time
performance. Watch, for instance, the live she wrote a song, she hoped it would be
video of “The Way I Am” and you will see this good. It is symbolic that Eminem and
what I mean. “Abu Dhabi, y’all still with us? Holly perform this deeply personal song
We need y’all help us sing this motherfuck- together on stage, that both of them have
ing please” — asked Eminem before “The gone through what they sing about.
Way I Am”, and thousands of fans joined in
the chorus. Skylar Grey was standing in the limelight
oozing sensuality. As my friend and ePro
Eminem’s band deserves a special men- colleague Katya Malik noted, Skylar is
tion. They added even more life to his at the top of her form. This entry was a
performance. The final multiple guitars delight, her voice was beautiful, and I
solo in the “The Way I Am” ending flagged couldn’t take my eyes from her.
the finale of the second “act” of the show (I
believe that any Eminem show can be seen Eminem delivered “Walk on Water” in a
as a four-part play). very calm way, he was just standing by the
mic stand and rapping allowing the public
“BITCH, I WROTE ‘STAN‘“ to enjoy the moment and take a breath. But
everything changed in the end, when rap-
ping the final line “Bitch, I wrote ‘Stan’!”,
The third part of the show was my favou-
Em threw away the stand and transitioned
rite. It started with “Walk on Water” with
to the next number.
outstanding Skylar Grey on the chorus.
Back then, before the “Revival” release,
In addition to “Walk on Water” Eminem
when ePro readers asked me about my
performed two more songs with Skylar -
favourite track, I would say “No Apologies”
“Stan” and “Love the Way You Lie”. They go
so well together. The intro with the sound After “Majesty” Eminem just smashed the
of the falling rain was epic in the scorching stage delivering one after another his most
desert heat. For many year Eminem tells fiery and aggressive tracks — “Berzerk”,
his audience the story behind one of the “‘Till I Collapse” and “Cinderella Man”. I
most successful of his tracks that put the wish he had used here the same video with
word ‘stan’ into dictionaries and gave it a mini guns firing from the giant boom-box
life if its own. he had used for one of his promo shows for
MMLP2.
The next song had also been created with
Holly, and it was clear even before she Between “Berzerk” and “‘Till I Collapse”,
started singing that she liked performing Mr. Porter started shouting “Fuck You”
that track. She started “Love the Way You from the stage, it matched the beat and
Lie” alone on stage, beautiful in the red soon all the fans joined, echoing his words
beams of searchlights. And then Eminem and clapping hands. I think these words
stormed in the spotlight with his t-shirt were addressed to Flash Entertainment
sleeves rolled up showing his tattoos and that failed to organise the event properly.
transferring the stage into the scene from
the “Love the Way You Lie” video. Their Before “‘Till I Collapse” Eminem paid
chemistry on stage was palpable. respect to Nate Dogg who passed away
By the end of the song they moved to the in 2011. And after that song DJ put on a
centre of the stage, so close to us, and Emi- sample from “We Will Rock You”, the recog-
nem called “Abu Dhabi, make some noise nisable beat by Queen. It was an epic mo-
for Skylar Grey!” And we made that noise ment when thousands of fans joined the
because she deserved an ovation. Later rhythm, repeating historic unity between
their photo was shared by every fan-page the band and the audience familiar since
because they looked great together. Queen shows. This moment cannot leave
anyone unmoved.
“Hey ladies, are y’all here tonight? — Mr.
Porter stepped forward while Eminem After “Cinderella Man” Eminem left for
had a short break backstage. — Okay, I’m a short break and Mr. Porter started to
gonna make a check. On a count of three, entertain the audience.
ladies, I need each of you to make some
motherfucking noise, just ladies. Ladies, “Just do a real quick soundcheck one more
one, two, three! Wow, hold on, alright, I time. How y’all doing in the back? Y’all in
need to do it one more time. One, two, the back, y’all over here, y’all over there, I
three! [To Eminem:] Do you wanna do it?” count to three, make some motherfucking
An exciting new addition to Eminem’s set noise. One, two, three!.. Honestly, listen,
list at the Kamikaze Tour is “Majesty”, and I have a question for y’all. How many
Mr. Porter flagged up a transition to it. motherfucking real hip hop fans are in the
Eminem followed the suit with: “Hold on, house now? Who’s here for hip hop? I am,
hold on, hold on. What about the fellas? because I love hip hop. We love hip hop
Fellas, where you are? Okay, we see ya. But all our life. And she brought us all the way
ladies, I just want to ask the question. Is over here to be in front of y’all beautiful
it cool if I dedicate a song to ladies right people [...]. But I have a question for y’all.
now? Okay. Fellas, don’t get mad cause My name, if you don’t know, is Mr. Porter
every other song is y’all. I’m kidding”. AKA Mr.[…] AKA, I don’t know what else
Thousands of phone cameras turned to to say on AKA. But that’s our DJ, his name
the stage to capture this moment, capture is DJ Alchemist. I feel like I need another
Eminem rapping his fastest verse, the one AKA, I’ve got short cause I got caught up
that he raps even faster than supersonic in the moment…” That day DJ Alchemist
“Lucky You” and “Rap God”. celebrated his birthday and of course his
bandmates took the chance to send him moments that cannot be repeated, the salt
birthday wishes from the stage. “You have of live performances.
a lot of AKAs”, — mused Alchemist over
Porters statement. Mr. Porter did not After “Nuthin’ but a “G” Thang” Mr. Porter
argue: “I do. S’up, listen, we with Alchemist pulled Eminem into the conversation: “Hey
were having a long debate earlier today Eminem, we are in the right place!” “Yes,
about what was the greatest hip hop song we are, — agreed Em. — Ladies, there is
ever created, one of my favourite hip hop one more song I want to dedicate to y’all”,
songs ever. And we couldn’t narrow it and “River“started with Ed Sheeran’s verse
down. But we could pick one and I want while Eminem was entering the stage to
see what y’all think cause I was saying, and rap his verse from the popular single from
he was saying, that you probably know “Revival”. I would not say that it is my fa-
that motherfucking song. ‘You wanna vourite track, but it sounded amazing live.
check it out with me real quick? I think “The Monster”, however, which Em now
y’all know it. Hold on, if you know it, you sings with Skylar Grey, became the hottest
gotta say that you know and I win it. Y’all number — virtually and literally. Fire col-
ready? Hold on, hold on. AL, drop that shit umns of stage pyrotechnics were spilling
on” — signalled Mr. Porter and the beat heat into the front rows making this very
dropped – the greatest hip hop hit of all hot day in Aby Dhabi even hotter. Another
time “Nuthin’ but a “G” Thang” that Alche- reminder about Flash Entertainment that
mist and Mr. Porter performed together. I tortured the audience depriving it from
love these moments at live shows, unique water. You are disgusting.
I used to think that only the front row credible time for us because I believe when
could feel the heat from pyrotechnics, but we used to do shows back then we couldn’t
now, having seen the proper fire show by remember shit ‘cause we used to be so
Rammstein this summer, when the fire fucked up we couldn’t remember nothing.
heat was noticeable even in the bleachers, So tonight is special because we get to re-
I think that “The Monster” got fried every- member how motherfucking incredible all
one at the show. y’all motherfucking was in Abu Dhabi.

Finishing “The Monster” Eminem once Eminem: Is there anybody’s in here who
again asked to make some noise for incred- might be fucked up? On some kind of
ible and wonderful Skylar Grey. She said something? We gotta say don’t. ‘Cause you
thank you to everyone, hugged Em and left gonna be mentally, mentally fucked up too.
the stage. How many people in here are mentally
fucked up? Abu Dhabi, can we take you
Hold on, did I mention that it was Alche- back to a motherfucking time… Abu Dhabi,
mist’s birthday? Yeah, I did. So, after “The can we take you back to when we used to
Monster” Eminem and Mr.Porter started get fucked up? Can we take you back to
wishing him happy birthday. Flustered when I first started becoming mentally ill?
Alchemist was grinning. Porter asked to Hold on, one more time. Abu Dhabi, can we
make some noise for Alchemist and all take you back to that time?
three of them made a selfie on stage. Em,
as usual, made a funny face. Em did not even finish his line when “My
Name Is” started. We went right to 1999,
WILL THE REAL SLIM to the beginning of Eminem career when
he just got famous. Everybody knew that
SHADY PLEASE STAND UP? track and everybody rapped it together
with Em and after that without missing a
Having finished with birthday fun, Em and beat moved to having fun to “The Real Slim
Porter moved to their playful routine with Shady” and “Without Me”.
the audience that led to the final part of
the show. And don’t even try to tell me that you have
never mimicked the lines “May I have
Mr. Porter: All the way over here, every- your attention, please? / Will the real Slim
body all the way back on this side, they are Shady please stand up? / I repeat, will the
louder than everybody over there. Make real Slim Shady please stand up?” to “The
some noise up here. Real Slim Shady” or have never sung along
“Guess who’s back, guess who’s back” to
Eminem: Abu Dhabi, can I do my side real “Without Me”. I don’t believe you. Damn,
quick? you would at this show!

Mr. Porter: Which is your side? Don’t try to That cheerful “La la la la la, la la la la” was
come over here. You get it, this is the line. so catchy and uplifting… But a shot rang
Don’t cross it right here. Come on, where out and Em shouted his final “Kids!” and
are you going? Where are you going, where moved to a serious topic.
are you going? I’m sick of this shit y’all.
“That’s the best motherfucking crowd
Eminem: So my side from here, hold on, we’ve ever had”, - Mr.Porter went off. “No
from here [runs across the stage] to here. I disrespect to any other crowds we’ve
think we won. been with, - added Eminem. - You might
be louder now than y’all were last time
Mr. Porter: Alright, look. This is really in- we came here. … Right Abu Dhabi. Before
we get out of here man, I want to dedicate The band started playing a coda to “Not
this last song to anybody and everybody Afraid” and for a moment the stage went
who’s been through some kind of struggle dark.
and also even if you have it Abu Dhabi, this
song is for y’all ‘cause y’all helped me get
through mine”. The final entry started. The
ENCORE.
main Eminem anthem “Not Afraid”. Every- «…IN ONE MOMENT»
one who has ever faced some shit and has
gone through hard times can relate to this And suddenly all screens transformed into
track. an enormous universe filled with billions
of stars. A mysterious intro to the final
Eminem finished with: “Abu Dhabi, if y’all song of the show started. It was a magi-
motherfuckers enjoyed yourself as much cal moment. Simultaneously soothing and
as we did… Abu Dhabi, one more time, I exciting. When the band started playing
hope you had as much fun as we did. Abu “Lose Yourself”, everybody went quiet for a
Dhabi, thank you, I’m coming out man, moment. Eminem entered the stage, no, he
drive safe, we love you, we love you”. And stormed onto it, his sleeves rolled up, and
he left the stage. started rapping his main hit. Performing
an encore for all his fans who missed him
Eminem performed in UAE for the first in the long months of his silence.
time since 2012 and it looked like many
people did not even know what to expect. Recently Eminem tries to add some new
Some even decided to leave… details to each closing performance of
“Lose Yourself”. In Australia he added some funny
moves and in Abu Dhabi he decided to make
heart-hands to the fans. So passing by me, he no-
ticed my camera and made a heart right for it.

Just look at Eminem’s face when he was running

up and down the stage in the ending part of “Lose
Yourself”. He looks happy and excited. I believe
that he likes performing for us as much as we
like watching him, he gets thrills on stage and the
audience gets them too.

“We love you! — shouted Eminem to the crowd

and noticed that Mr. Porter was trying to make a
video of him. — Fucked you up with them...“. “You
got it, — laughed Mr.Porter who tried to capture
Eminem reflecting lazer beams pulsing in synch
with drum accents. — Pull for the break! Do it
again, do it again, do it again! I’ve got ya, I’ve got
ya!”. He had got him, you probably saw the result
already.

“Abu Dhabi, god damn, y’all are incredible, make

some noise for yourself y’all. Abu Dhabi, every-
body make home safe. We’ll be back” — shouted
Eminem leaving the stage.

Hold on, did he forget something? Of course, he

had to make his signature gesture, his middle fin-
gers… “In the back, I see you, I see you, on top, on
the sides. We love you, we outta here, until next
time Abu Dhabi, peace”, — Em popped in the back
on stage for a moment showing his middles.

At his recent shows the set-list is not different

and I tried not to repeat myself in this review
focusing on the most exciting moments of the Abu
Dhabi show. Hope you liked it!

GAVE HIS 101%

Just 10-15 years ago it seemed impossible to see
Eminem show, not even to mention to see him,
one of the most mysterious and removed from
the public eye artists, at a distance of a couple of
meters. I said it before in my articles on ePro and
I will say it again, Eminem shows are incredible,
thought through down to the tiniest detail, it is
exquisite and you have to see it at least once.
In recent years I have been to more than a hun-
dred concerts all over the world from small gigs
of local acts to the shows of the most best-selling
artists, including several Eminem shows in differ-
ent countries. This experience allows me to form
and express my competent opinion on what was
going on at Du Arena. I have never faced the shit
I saw at the event organised by FLASH Entertain-
ment. This Abu Dhabi show is the worst organ-
ised event I have been to, and only because of
Eminem’s talent we were able to forget this mess
and seize the night.
FLASH Entertainment keeps pretending
that everything is fine, that everybody is
happy. They post photos in social media
with cheerful captions, describing their
success in putting up an “amazing show”.
But if you open the comment section in
any of these posts you will see many and
many Eminem fans leaving angry com-
ments and describing the way the show
was organised as “the worst” and “awful”.
And I can relate to the anger and disap-
pointment of the people whose night was
ruined by this company.

Many people on social media started

blaming Eminem for the badly organised
show, which is not fair. This is abso-
lutely not his fault. He came on stage and
delivered, he gave 100 percent. Mean-
while FLASH Entertainment have not
even apologised and now they just delete
comments from the public, trying to mask
their incompetence.

I hope that our experience that we share

with your through our writings on ePro
will help you one day to get to Eminem
show, or any other show, safely and with-
out issues.

#SHADYFAMILY
Hold on, there is one question left that I
asked in the beginning of this article. How
does the core Eminem fandom look now?
Eminem fans have changed in these 20
years. However, I am glad to see that the
fandom core that was built a long time
ago still supports Marshall. For instance,
at this show we met a girl who went to his
show in 1999 and now, 20 years later, she
is grown up but she still listens to his mu-
sic and goes to the front row at his show.
In the entrance queue we met a girl who
grew up listening to Eminem music and
kept listening to it since. She was in a
beautiful dress from Shady branded fab-
ric she had made specifically for the show.
Tens of fans who had dreamed to get to
Eminem show since they were kids, came
together with us from Russia.
For many of them that was a challenging task fan from South Korea, entire families that
both financially and emotionally. However, all came together to the Eminem show. The unit-
of us, with all our differences, we were togeth- ing power of Eminem music never ceases to
er in that queue finding a common ground, we amaze me. It is incredible how many people
were communicating and helping each other. we met at the shows and became friends with
We became friends with many of those we during these years, people who stayed in our
met at that trip and we stay in touch. lives. It is truly incredible.

Marshall’s fandom has changed in these years, So what is Eminem fandom now? The answer
it has grown bigger. Now it consists not only is simple — it is family. When Flash Enter-
of American or English-speaking European tainment held us packed in the 40-degrees
audience but also of people from tens of other heat, everyone supported each other, nobody
countries. Seriously! You would be surprised stomped over their fellow fans, nobody (but
to learn about people standing in the same a small number of sad exemptions) tried to
show queue with you. They came from dif- jump the queue. I saw this support on social
ferent countries, from different lines of work, media where people shared their stories
they were of different ages and they spoke about what they had faced at the show. I saw
different languages. There was a grandad in this support when dehydrated fans shared the
the head of the queue who was around 70 only water bottle so that people next to them
years old (you can see him on the photo on could get at least a sip. I am happy to be part
ePro Instagram), there was a girl from China of this fandom. Peace.
with her mum, a guy from Poland, a hardcore
 CREDITS:
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Igor Basenko

EXECUTIVE EDITORS
Katerina Malik
Lilit Sagatelyan
NK
Alexey Zakharenkov
Danny McFarlane

COVER DESIGN
Olga Olegovna

SPECIAL THANKS TO
Alla Yusupova

PHOTOS:
Anthony Mandler: «Encore Album
Shot» (p.: 1-4, 6-25, 28-57, 60)
Juliya Podoskaya: (p.: 26-27)
Jeremy Deputat: Eminem Abu Dabi
Live Shot (p.: 5, 58-59)

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