Hip-hop fans weren't just traveling to Detroit, they were making a pilgrimage. It was their last chance this year to see Marshall Mathers step onstage in the United States for a full-blast concert. You could not call yourself a diehard fan of Eminem and not be in town attending at least one of the two sold-out dates starring Slim Shady, 50 Cent and Missy Elliott on July 12 and 13.
Sway goes backstage with Eminen and 50 Cent
This was a show that Em's faithful will tell their children about 10 years from now. It wasn't just the biggest two days in hip-hop this year. It was history (see "Eminem Gets Some Hometown Love, 50 Cent Makes Em Fans Believers At Rare Show").
MTV News was in the building and had all access to the show's performers. Here's some of what took place backstage, before and after the concert on Sunday, July 13. ...
6:35 p.m.: And You Are With ...?
Security backstage at Ford Field is harder to get past than the Secret Service. Without a sticky pass or laminate you're not going to get far, not even if the security guards saw you onstage with Eminem the night before.
"I'm just hanging out here because they wouldn't let me in my dressing room," D12 member and Em's hypeman Proof, who lacks the proper credentials, says while in a backstage greenroom.
6:56 p.m.: Ride Or Die
Em and Obie hit the road
"We don't have a very big budget for the show so they told us we couldn't get a limo," a deadpan Eminem says.
In an hour and change, Em will be making his way to the stage in a Hummer H2 with 50,000 fans surrounding him with a wall of deafening shrieks. But until the curtain opens on the Eminem show, the night's headliner has to roll Tiger Woods-style.
"We had to come in a golf cart. This is gangsta, right?" Em jokes backstage, riding shotgun with Obie Trice at the wheel.
Em and Obie could've used a chauffer, though, because Obie, who says he doesn't have a driver's license, isn't nearly as swift at the wheel as he is on the mic. At one point he speeds, then he doesn't put the pedal to the metal fast enough.
"Every time he f---s up driving, we push his album back another week," Em laughs after he and his artist have a disagreement about when Trice's debut, Cheers, is supposed to drop. Em says September 15, while the LP's author swears it's September 9.
"Obie's on punishment right now," Slim Shady continues. "If he does this and he don't wreck [the cart], it will come out as scheduled."
"This is how you roll in the 'hood, though," Obie says in his defense, spinning the wheel 360 degrees.
7:43 p.m.: What Up, Gaaangstaaa?
Em and Trice walk into 50 Cent's dressing room and are immediately greeted by all, including the youngest member of the G-Unit, 50's 5-year-old son, Marquis.
Em and 50 "meet"
Little Marquis is showing that he can do it all — yesterday he went onstage with his dad, and now he's working a digital video camera that looks longer than his arm.
"What's up, Em?" the shorty, dressed in a white and orange Houston Astros jersey, says to Slim Shady.
"Where's your dad?" Em asks him.
"He's over there, he's in the bathroom," Marquis informs him before leading the way.
"I never met him, I'm trying to," Em, doing his vintage straight-faced joking, says of 50 while waiting for his signee to put on some clothes. "I'm trying to see what all the big deal is about. I've heard [of his music], there's a big commotion, but I'm trying to figure out what it's about."
"I hate when this guy's around," 50, now fully covered with jean shorts and a number 50 Detroit Lions jersey with "G-Unit" on the back, yells with a half smile as he comes toward Em. "When this guy's around I don't get no attention."
"50 Cent, what's up, they told me a lot about you," Em, keeping the straight face and the charade running, says, extending his hand to his friend.
"I love you, man, I'm a big fan," 50, holding back a smile, tells Shady before the two hug, causing people in the room to burst into laughter.
7:50 p.m.: Good Luck
At the Apollo Theater in New York, amateurs rub that old tree stump at the side of the stage for luck prior to performing. 50 Cent gets his luck by touching the world's most famous MC.
"Before I go onstage, I rub the back of his neck," 50 says, slightly rubbing his hand across Eminem's neck, causing his blond boss to hunch over with a giggle.
"That's his mojo," 50 adds, now showing that famous grin as he walks out of the dressing room into the hallway. "He even does that too, watch him. [Em] rubs the back of his neck with his right hand."
7:54 p.m. Ready To Roll
As he heads to the stage, 50 looks like a heavyweight fighter just before he enters the ring. He's surrounded by video cameras, photographers taking pictures, bodyguards who rival sumo wrestlers in girth, pretty women, staff from Violator, the company that manages him, and of course, the G-Unit.
50 prepares to hit the stage
All except for G-Unit members Lloyd Banks and Young Buck leave 50's side as he gets into place, directly behind the stage set of New York City skyscrapers. The last of the last-minute preparations is grabbing an old dirty T-shirt that's lying around to blow his nose.
"I have a cold, man," 50 rationalizes of his ghetto fabulousness, wiping his nose with the shirt.
"It's show time!" a stagehand yells before 50 gets onto a platform that will eventually lift him 10 feet into the air.
12:09 a.m.: Wild For The Night
You can't have the after-party after the show if you can't leave the venue. Fans have surrounded the barricades that block them off from the backstage loading area. 50 Cent has just stepped out of the stadium, and instead of going directly into his tour bus, he walks over and throws a hat to the fans and lets them touch him.
Some of 50's fans lose their minds
"I'm about to mutha----in' die! Who got the hat? I need the hat!" a hysterical teen named Jennifer screams. "I'm in love with 50 Ceeennttt!"
Having just laid all of one finger on 50's New York Giants jersey, she's somewhere between hysteria, panic and euphoria, feverishly calling for the hat he just threw out into the crowd.
"I need to catch my breath," she keeps yelling, hunching over as if she can't breathe. "I'mma calm down, but oh my God. He just touched my hand. Oh God! Woooo!"
Her sister then comes over and the excitement and shrieking begin all over again. These girls can be heard in Canada.
Sway goes backstage with Eminen and 50 Cent
This was a show that Em's faithful will tell their children about 10 years from now. It wasn't just the biggest two days in hip-hop this year. It was history (see "Eminem Gets Some Hometown Love, 50 Cent Makes Em Fans Believers At Rare Show").
MTV News was in the building and had all access to the show's performers. Here's some of what took place backstage, before and after the concert on Sunday, July 13. ...
6:35 p.m.: And You Are With ...?
Security backstage at Ford Field is harder to get past than the Secret Service. Without a sticky pass or laminate you're not going to get far, not even if the security guards saw you onstage with Eminem the night before.
"I'm just hanging out here because they wouldn't let me in my dressing room," D12 member and Em's hypeman Proof, who lacks the proper credentials, says while in a backstage greenroom.
6:56 p.m.: Ride Or Die
Em and Obie hit the road
"We don't have a very big budget for the show so they told us we couldn't get a limo," a deadpan Eminem says.
In an hour and change, Em will be making his way to the stage in a Hummer H2 with 50,000 fans surrounding him with a wall of deafening shrieks. But until the curtain opens on the Eminem show, the night's headliner has to roll Tiger Woods-style.
"We had to come in a golf cart. This is gangsta, right?" Em jokes backstage, riding shotgun with Obie Trice at the wheel.
Em and Obie could've used a chauffer, though, because Obie, who says he doesn't have a driver's license, isn't nearly as swift at the wheel as he is on the mic. At one point he speeds, then he doesn't put the pedal to the metal fast enough.
"Every time he f---s up driving, we push his album back another week," Em laughs after he and his artist have a disagreement about when Trice's debut, Cheers, is supposed to drop. Em says September 15, while the LP's author swears it's September 9.
"Obie's on punishment right now," Slim Shady continues. "If he does this and he don't wreck [the cart], it will come out as scheduled."
"This is how you roll in the 'hood, though," Obie says in his defense, spinning the wheel 360 degrees.
7:43 p.m.: What Up, Gaaangstaaa?
Em and Trice walk into 50 Cent's dressing room and are immediately greeted by all, including the youngest member of the G-Unit, 50's 5-year-old son, Marquis.
Em and 50 "meet"
Little Marquis is showing that he can do it all — yesterday he went onstage with his dad, and now he's working a digital video camera that looks longer than his arm.
"What's up, Em?" the shorty, dressed in a white and orange Houston Astros jersey, says to Slim Shady.
"Where's your dad?" Em asks him.
"He's over there, he's in the bathroom," Marquis informs him before leading the way.
"I never met him, I'm trying to," Em, doing his vintage straight-faced joking, says of 50 while waiting for his signee to put on some clothes. "I'm trying to see what all the big deal is about. I've heard [of his music], there's a big commotion, but I'm trying to figure out what it's about."
"I hate when this guy's around," 50, now fully covered with jean shorts and a number 50 Detroit Lions jersey with "G-Unit" on the back, yells with a half smile as he comes toward Em. "When this guy's around I don't get no attention."
"50 Cent, what's up, they told me a lot about you," Em, keeping the straight face and the charade running, says, extending his hand to his friend.
"I love you, man, I'm a big fan," 50, holding back a smile, tells Shady before the two hug, causing people in the room to burst into laughter.
7:50 p.m.: Good Luck
At the Apollo Theater in New York, amateurs rub that old tree stump at the side of the stage for luck prior to performing. 50 Cent gets his luck by touching the world's most famous MC.
"Before I go onstage, I rub the back of his neck," 50 says, slightly rubbing his hand across Eminem's neck, causing his blond boss to hunch over with a giggle.
"That's his mojo," 50 adds, now showing that famous grin as he walks out of the dressing room into the hallway. "He even does that too, watch him. [Em] rubs the back of his neck with his right hand."
7:54 p.m. Ready To Roll
As he heads to the stage, 50 looks like a heavyweight fighter just before he enters the ring. He's surrounded by video cameras, photographers taking pictures, bodyguards who rival sumo wrestlers in girth, pretty women, staff from Violator, the company that manages him, and of course, the G-Unit.
50 prepares to hit the stage
All except for G-Unit members Lloyd Banks and Young Buck leave 50's side as he gets into place, directly behind the stage set of New York City skyscrapers. The last of the last-minute preparations is grabbing an old dirty T-shirt that's lying around to blow his nose.
"I have a cold, man," 50 rationalizes of his ghetto fabulousness, wiping his nose with the shirt.
"It's show time!" a stagehand yells before 50 gets onto a platform that will eventually lift him 10 feet into the air.
12:09 a.m.: Wild For The Night
You can't have the after-party after the show if you can't leave the venue. Fans have surrounded the barricades that block them off from the backstage loading area. 50 Cent has just stepped out of the stadium, and instead of going directly into his tour bus, he walks over and throws a hat to the fans and lets them touch him.
Some of 50's fans lose their minds
"I'm about to mutha----in' die! Who got the hat? I need the hat!" a hysterical teen named Jennifer screams. "I'm in love with 50 Ceeennttt!"
Having just laid all of one finger on 50's New York Giants jersey, she's somewhere between hysteria, panic and euphoria, feverishly calling for the hat he just threw out into the crowd.
"I need to catch my breath," she keeps yelling, hunching over as if she can't breathe. "I'mma calm down, but oh my God. He just touched my hand. Oh God! Woooo!"
Her sister then comes over and the excitement and shrieking begin all over again. These girls can be heard in Canada.
