痞子阿姆：沒有你我何去何從

盡管艾米納姆(Eminem，下文簡稱阿姆)表示新專輯《舊病復發》(Relapse)無意超越之前的成就，他對自己過往所取得的成績已經挺高興了。但這位“黑白兩道通吃”的說唱天王幾個月前還出版了他的回憶錄《The Way I am》，該書的序言部分披露了他這些年來避開公眾視線原因之一：他多年來的摯友、曾引導并鼓勵他走向饒舌世界的說唱歌手Proof (Deshaun Holton)2006年4月死于一場槍擊事件。“After he passed， it was a year before I could really do anything normally again.”“If Proof hadn’t gotten me into the rap game， I don’t know where I’d be.” 當Eminem聽到噩耗的一剎那，他第一次在公眾面前留下了眼淚……

Interviewer: I think everyone needs a 1)confidant in their life， and sometimes that can be a parent or a brother or a best friend， and in the case for you it was Proof. Someone who 2)came through and， you know， saw you. For whatever reason， your paths 3)collided， you know， and you met each other and you rapped at each other and your life has never been the same ever since; neither was his， you know， and， you know， for you he was just early on in that part of your career. He was your confidant， wasn’t he? He was the guy that just…he was the hand on your back， pushing you to go.

Eminem: Oh， yeah. You know， whenever I thought， like，…if ever there…you know， Proof was the kinda…was the kind of person that I would go and play somethin’ for and I would get， like， immediately get the … basically the criticism that I needed. You know what I mean? He would tell me， like， if somethin’ was 4)wack， he would make fun of me for it， but he wouldn’t do it in a mean way. He would， like， we’d joke about it， you know what I mean， ’cause that’s kind how our relationship was， but， you know， when I did hit somethin’， when I 5)was on to somethin’ he would tell me， and he’d be， like， really 6)adamant about it， you know what I mean? He would just be like， “Yo， people need to hear this!”

Interviewer: And then he took you down the Hip Hop Shop， Mo Malone’s， man， which was an important part of your life. I mean， I know there was a story in the book where you talk about your first 7)rhyme experience in front of a crowd， which everyone is gonna be terrible. You’re never gonna get out there and8)smash the crowd apart， you know， it’s never gonna happen， but you took a few years away from that and then Proof was， like， “Come on!” dragged you down to the Hip Hop Shop and got you on the mic again.

Eminem: Yeah， well he didn’t， like，physically drag me， but he told me…he basically said， “Come down here tomorrow.” He had called me and told me， you know， “Come down here tomorrow， try it out， there’s gonna be this 9)battle goin’ on，” or whatever， and somethin’ was goin’ on down there. I’m not sure if…I think it was a battle， and he was tellin’ me， basically， like， “Wait ’til most of the people 10)clear out， like after the battle， and rhyme， you know， just， you 11)ain’t gotta really battle nobody， just rhyme and let people hear you rhyme， and if you…if you don’t like it， you ain’t gotta do it again.” So， like， “alright， cool，” so I ended up calling work and tellin’ them I was gonna be a little late.

Interviewer: Were you working at the time? Were you…what were you doin’?

Eminen: Well， Gilbert’s Lodge， I was a…chef.

Interviewer:(laughing)

Eminem: … a 12)short order cook or whatever， you know， but I went down there and I got， just from the few people there， it was like I got this response， it was like， it was crazy.

Eminem: That was， like， a turning point in my life. That’s when I， like， really， really dug down and got serious with everything， you know， 13)metaphorically， lyrically， makin’… payin’ attention to everything I said， you know， making sure， like， everything was a 14)punch line because， you know， in…in rap， especially back then， everything was punch lines; metaphors， punch lines， and you would try to get “oohs” and “aahs” from whoever was there.

Interviewer: Something that’s missing to me now， I wish more rappers were coming out and actually…and actually ended their four 15)bars with some power， you know， as opposed to just like a connection to the next four.

主持人：我想每個人都需要知己，這個人可以是父母、兄弟或者好朋友。而你的知己是普魯夫，他關照你，賞識你。你們的生活軌道因為某種契機而交匯——你們相遇，一起玩說唱，你的生活從此改變，他的也是。對于你來說，他就是你早期職業生涯中的一部分。他就是你的知己，不是嗎？他就是你背后的推手，推動你前進。

阿姆：是的，每次當我想到……但凡……普魯夫就是那種，讓我樂意前去給他唱幾段的人，然后基本上我就能立刻得到我需要的批評意見。你明白我說的嗎？他會告訴我，如果作品很爛，他會笑我，但他不會用刻薄的語氣。他會，我們會開玩笑地說，我倆的關系就是那樣子的。但是，當我來神了，當我的想法有點意思，他會告訴我，他會給予肯定。他會說：“喲，人們該聽聽這段子！”

主持人：后來他還帶你到蒙馬隆那嘻哈唱片店，這是你生命中很重要的一段經歷。我是說，我知道書中有個故事關于你第一次在人群面前表演說唱的經歷，那么多人很讓人怯場。你不可能一下子才華盡露，一夜成名，那是不可能的，但是過了幾年，普魯夫說一句“來吧！