Just the Two of Us.

Eminem is in a weird place. No, not Detroit-although judging from the strip off 11 Mile, where today's photo shoot is located, it is astrange place, indeed. No, the weird place 33-year-old M dot Mathers currently occupies is his own head. It's been a long ride. He ascended to the pinnacle of celebrity, thanks to his undisputed musical genius, and to the marketing genius of those behind him, and found it-unfortunately, if somewhat predictably-unsatisfying. But even as he's backed away from fame to focus on family, teasing retirement, he's remained mired in tabloid fodder.

His last two records, Encore, a studio release, and Curtain Call, a greatest hits collection, have both met with mixed response and modest sales (to be fair, modest for Eminem is a smash by other standards). In addition, Em abruptly cut short the Anger Management 3 tour, issuing a press release that he'd admitted himself into rehab for an addiction to sleeping pills. With his legacy on the line, Em is set up for either a J.D. Salinger-esque disappearing act or monster comeback.

As he contemplates his future, Em is now clean and sober-and happily re-married to Kim-and, frankly, quite placid. Where he once lived in emotional extremes, he now seems staid and detached, concentrating on launching the careers of Shady acts Obie Trice, Stat Quo, and Bobby Creekwater.

However, today Em's transitory energy is buoyed by the unabashed enthusiasm of protégé Obie Trice. You see, Obie has plenty of reasons to be excited. First of all, he's alive. After getting shot in the back of the head on New Year's Eve, young Trice is no worse for the wear, all praises due. Then there's that, through a combination of funny hijinx-like the Eminem-gifted sofa that he tried to sell on eBay-and quality material, Obie has created honest-to-goodness buzz. On top of which, there's his new album, Second Round's On Me, which is good, really good. Oh yeah, and finally, he's shooting a cover with his best bud.

The duo sat down with Complex to discuss all of the above, as well as Jimmy Iovine's bullshit detector, Obie's bubble-boy aspirations, and the mall in Eminem's house.

Let's get right into some social science. When rappers get shot and live-like 2Pac (the first time), 50 Cent, or Cam'ron-it seems to make them rap a lot better. Em, you've been in the studio with Obie: Is there any truth to this?

Eminem: [Smirks, not sure if the question is serious]

Obie Trice: I think I was always dope! [Laughs]

Em, a lot of rappers-turned-execs have had a hard time breaking artists out of their shadow. How do you plan on doing it with Obie this time?

E: I'm here to help, and I'm here to produce records and make the music all it can be, but they can do it themselves. 50 did it himself. All I did was put the push. And that's all I'm doing with Obie. All the listener has to do is pick up the album.

O: Marshall opened the front door, now I'm having a barbecue in the backyard. So it's just like, you have a plate of food, he set the plate for you, but you gotta pick up a fork and eat it. And I don't expect nothing else from this man. To me, he's been a great friend. He helped me out.

He gave you a couch.

O: He gave me a couch! [Laughs]

Buy it now! The sectional is still available-$2,000 on eBay.

E: [Laughs]

Who told you about that?

E: Uh, Obie. I don't look on the Internet. I don't go on-[gestures as if typing]-the computers. I'm not into all that stuff, because when you get into the chat rooms and you hear all this stuff that people are saying about you, you can get caught up.

O: I wasn't even really trying to sell the couch. That was one of my homies-we play crazy jokes on each other. So he put me on front like that. It was funny, I admit it.

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