Walk of Fame Speech
Eminem: So check it out. Of all the things that I don't remember about 2002 I have a very clear memory of the first time I met 50. What! And I think one of the things I noticed when he first walked into the room was his presence, right?
Because it just, kind of felt like he's gonna be a star. Like, just the way he carried himself, swagger, everything. Like, I don't know, it just seemed like he was the whole package.
That's that queen shit, right? Yeah. That's that queen shit. That's that queen shit.
And what's crazy about it to me is his the charisma and the personality, like, matched, everything matched the intensity of his music. That's real. You know? And that first album is so classic.
And the first time I met Fif, I was, you know, so excited to meet him, so I was just like, I started rapping all his songs to him and I didn't really let him talk. You know? And I kinda was trying to show him, like, how into him I was, right? But I think I mighta probably over-did it.
But at this time, 50 was like. At this point, I had considered myself driven, right? Until I met him, and I was like, "Yo, this guy," he was putting out mix tapes.
It seemed like every single week there was another mix tape. He was taking other people's beats and he was destroying them, right? Yeah. Yeah. 50 is the future.
So check it out. I just, I knew that the dude sitting in front of me, sitting across from me, was just different, right? It just seemed like, I don't know, man.
Something just, something about him just drew you in and I think Dre and me knew that if it was gonna work, if it worked on us, that it was gonna work on the rest of the world. And I'm glad we trusted our instincts. Whoo. So are we.
So yeah. So as we're leaving that meeting, me and Dre were talking and 50 was walking away, and Dre leans over to me and he's like, "Yo. You think, you think that limp is permanent?" "You should ask him."
And I was like, "Why I gotta ask him?" And we're glad it was not permanent. And I just wanna say, man, I'm here today because this is not only, like, a business partner to me, it's one of the best friends I've ever known in the world.
And I would say that it's much more fun to be his friend than it is to be his enemy. Amen. 'Cause this guy is relentless. And he won't stop.
And the same way that he's relentless in his battles, he's also relentless in his business. He's an artist, an entrepreneur- Whoo. An actor, a director, a producer.
He can juggle. He's great at Scrabble. He pretty much does it all. And he's also helped me through a lot of hard times in my own life, and he's always been there when I need him.
So 50, congrats on your star, man. Hollywood is making official what I knew from the beginning, and Dre knew from the beginning. Thank you. 50 Cent: Oh. I didn't know.
Wait. I had, I prepared a speech, but something must have happened to it 'cause the pages are blank. Michael Blackson is here. It's the little things I borrow from them, you know what I mean?
Like, I wanna say this first, I'd like to thank God for being here, for being able Whoo. To be a part of this. And Yeah.
I'd like to thank, both Em and Dre. You know, I don't think, I don't honestly think my career would've been what it was without their support. You know, like, Dre's a mentor for the whole squad, really.
Like, 'cause he's been doing it long before that. He's a, he was able to guide us in different ways. Without even knowing it, he's doing it.
At points I'd just watch him. When he go like this you know you got something.
You know? And this is for real, this is the real deal. Now, time, you know, it did different things to me that, not everyone goes through the same experience. And I didn't invite Jimmy Iovine and he should be here.
We needed the money for any of this to work, and Jimmy was the support and did it for me. And you know what? It was just one conversation that we had, and I thought, like, he misinterpreted some of my actions and he said to me, "You know I don't like you."
And I just kept him right there for the whole rest of my life. Like, it was like, "That guy just does not like me." You know? Like, and you know, I've said things that, about, even about Jimmy, that I didn't mean.
You know what I'm saying? So I don't know why I felt like he didn't like me the same way ever since he said that to me. I was wrong for not inviting him and having him here today, 'cause he's a big part of the success that I've had.
Even, he said, he told me, in the conversation, he told me, "I don't know, maybe." and he pointed at the TV. And when he pointed at the TV is when I started thinking I should do film and television maybe.
I'm dead serious. This really happened. As far as the film and television piece, like, as I started to work and make things happen there, like, it's just, you gotta just do shit. Like, I wasn't trained to do that.
I just got involved. I tried to do everything I could to learn information about it. The first season, I was getting paid, like, $17,000 per episode.
I'd get paid more to go to the nightclub and just wave. Right? But I said, "Let me get these people pregnant with my idea." "Then tell them I don't like this relationship."
"Maybe they'd be invested maybe." And it worked out perfect, you know what I mean? It came around. I look forward to.
It's funny, 'cause I told Em I felt like this was a lifetime achievement award for me, and it's because I didn't receive a lot of awards according to the success of the music. I got the highest, the largest first album, debut hip hop album. You got the largest debut hip hop album and you don't got no Best New Artist trophy.
I want this to be as exciting for you as it is for me. Whoo. Whoo. I had a conversation earlier today. Mary J. Blige, she called to congratulate me for the, getting the star on the Walk of Fame, Whoo.
I told her I was nervous, and she was like, "What are you nervous about?" Like, you know, like. And she was like, I said, "Just because it's starting to feel really important because of who's coming," you know?
You got it. This is a different experience. I've been to award shows, and when you win at the award shows, there's some people there that feel like they should've won.
Like, you know? So you're, like, in a room with people. It's important because to be with your peers and kind of feel that energy. But you know, this one is different 'cause everybody is in the same space.
Everybody feels the same way about it, you know? You said it. Yeah, I just want to say thank you man.
Thank, thanks for supporting me. Mm.
