Simon Fearn
Eminem fans have been lapping up the rapper’s intensely awkward interview with Stephen Colbert, with one fan calling it ‘the weirdest s*** you’ll ever watch’.
The bizarre 2015 interview took place on Rewind 94.3, a public access radio station for the town of Monroe, Michigan, which has a population of about 20,000 people.
Monroe Public Access executive director, Milward Beaudry, admitted they didn’t even know Eminem was going to show up until the day of the interview.
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He told MLive: “We did not know anything about Eminem. We knew about Colbert, but not Eminem.
“Only when they gave us papers to sign on the day of did we learn who his guest was.”
For the segment, Colbert purposefully plays the role of an inept interviewer and pretends not to know who the rap giant is.
Em is clearly in on the joke - with him having previous for hilariously poking fun at himself.
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Bear in mind, the ‘My Name Is’ rapper is the second highest-selling singles artist in the history of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), only trumped by Drake.
Yet Colbert introduces the 15-time Grammy winner by describing him as a ‘local Michigander who is making a name for himself in the competitive world of music’ - and things only get weirder from here on out.
Later in the interview, Colbert asks: “Can we see [Eminem’s] face? He’s got a hoodie on.
“Have you thought about taking the hoodie down because you’ve got such a cute face - why hide it?”
Eminem - with his cute face looking rather stony - complies, only for Colbert to retort: “Yeah, you should probably put the hood back on. My mistake.”
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Then the conversation turns the negative effect Marshall Mathers’ music might have on kids.
Colbert asks: “Do you worry about kids listening to rap? Because some of it gets pretty rough with the ‘F-this’ and the ‘Sh-bomb’ that.”
Eminem responds: “I don’t do any of that. Keep it clean.”
For anyone who’s listened to any of Mathers’ music, he’s clearly telling porkies here.
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Colbert asks the rapper if he has a message to artists with x-rated lyrics, and he says: “You don’t have to do it. Watch your f**king mouths.”
Colbert then asks: “Where do you hope this goes? Is this a career? More of a hobby?
“It’s a pretty tough business. Do you have a fallback?"
Eminem responds: “I’m so confused right now. I’m trying to work out if you’re serious.
“I put out quite a few albums.”
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Colbert hits back: “I’m sure that feels good. Doesn’t pay the rent.”
Eminem - playing up his confusion - says: “It sort of does.”
Fans loved the awkward skit, with one commenting on the video: “Kudos to Eminem for virtually maintaining a straight face for the entire video. You can tell he really struggled not to laugh. This was hilariously awkward. Well done. Haha.”
Another joked: “Seems like a pretty decent young man. Wishing him a great career in the rap business.”