Marshall has been working with real news anchors for over five years to record one little skit for his 12th studio album “The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce)”.
Devin Scillian and Kimberly Gill are Detroit household names. They work on television station WDIV-TV, reading news on Local 4. Also, they are now officially listed as Eminem’s collaborators on one of the album’s interludes titled, “Breaking News”. They just did their job, reporting that Eminem has released a new album trying to cancel himself, and protests are developing outside his Detroit restaurant.
But this small piece took years to get its final shape. The TV presenters told the story during the programme:
Devin Scillian: It’s funny. Over the years, we’ve been called a couple of times, and we’d go do the stuff in the studio. He kind of gives us a general idea of what he’s doing. We never really fully know what he’s up to. And we’ll go record. But he’s very conscious of what we do. He seems to like us, which is nice. But he’ll say, you know, this is kind of in general. And then, how would you do this if you were new people? Which is kind of the most flattering thing. He’s looking at us and kind of like, how would you say this? Or, how would you write this? The funniest thing is, Kimberly and I, we’ll go into the recording booth and we’ll record our part and it usually takes one or two takes because that’s what we do all the time. We come back into the control room, and Marshall always acts like, wow, you guys, that’s amazing. And we’re like, if there’s a genius in this room, it’s probably not us exactly.
Kimberly Gill: But what an honour to be listed among the collaborators of Dr. Dre, Big Sean, and Steve Miller.
Devin Scillian: We are listed on the album credits under musicians. We’ll take that.
Kimberly Gill: The first time that I can remember, and this is the only time I’ve ever asked for a picture. This was 2019, right after I had my son. So that was, you know, five years ago, and from then, I don’t know how many times we’ve done. A handful. But we never know if it’s going to make it.
Of course, “Breaking News” itself is a callback to the “Yane Yamamoto” piece inside the “Forgot About Dre” video. But what is impressive about this backstory is the genuine respect and support Marshall shows to the people he works with.
Yes, Eminem is a plotting mastermind who has spent years in the studio crafting one of the biggest projects of his career. And Marshall is a quiet, hardworking man with a heart of gold. Ask anybody who worked alongside Eminem.
Watch the video below: