When an artist is signed to a legendary act like Eminem, it can be hard for them to stray away from their mentor's advice. Yet, for Yelawolf, he claims there were plenty of incidents during his time at Shady Records that he and Marshall had creative clashes. The biggest of which came because of Kid Rock.
During an interview with HipHopDX, Yelawolf details how Kid Rock's feature on 2011's "Let's Roll" caused issues between him and Eminem.
"Just classic long conversations," Yelawolf said when explaining the song's creation near the interview's 15-minute mark. "Just mixing and being creative with Bob [Kid Rock] and how to get Bob to sing the words this certain way because Bob ain't got a Southern accent like I do. Whew, man. It was really, really difficult."
Although he's able to assert himself in the creative process, Yelawolf admits that it's hard to talk to someone who carries such an iconic status.
"I'm a fan still," Yelawolf continued. "It's hard to set out of being a fan and saying, 'I really need to make a decision for Yelawolf, right now.'"
"Let's Roll" was the second single off Yelawolf's Shady Records debut album, Radioactive. While some artists hold their debut project in high regard, Yelawolf feels like the hype surrounding him being Eminem's first white rapper ruined his perception of the album.
"It had a lot of fucking unnecessary outside influence outside of Marshall and I," Yelawolf said. "It was like, 'Oh Marshall signed a white boy.' Everybody wanted a piece of that fucking project. Producers were coming out of the woodworks, writers were coming out of the fucking woodworks, and all these songs were being pitched to me and Marshall."
Yelawolf added that his disagreements weren't just with Marshall, but a whole team of people. From this experience, Yelawolf was able to have creative control of his career.
"It gave me leverage to say 'No," he said. "'Cause the last time it didn't work. You wouldn't believe the suggestions... The label wanted Ed Sheeran to sing the 'American You' hook."
For more of the interview, you can watch it above.
