Kid Rock revealed this week that Eminem asked to swap songs on his faith-based album Halfway 2 Jesus just days before its Oct. 17 release, a last-minute change the Detroit rapper initiated himself after the tracklist went public.
Speaking to Billboard and other reporters during a visit to his Dixie Ridge farm outside Nashville, Rock said Eminem reached out on Oct. 11, weeks after the two had already agreed the rapper would appear on the track 7 Sins instead of Heal My Faith. The switch set off a scramble that ended with Lil Wayne filling the empty slot on 7 Sins in short order.
It is a story about friendship outlasting political division, and Rock, a vocal supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump, knows it. Eminem has spent years attacking Trump in his own lyrics. The two men, friends for about four decades, have never let that get in the way of the music.
How the Song Swap Happened
Rock first approached Eminem about a year ago with Heal My Faith, a track previously titled Lord Above and Show Me Love. The Detroit rapper initially preferred 7 Sins instead, so the plan was set. Then, after the Halfway 2 Jesus tracklist was revealed earlier this month, Eminem called and suggested going back to the original song.
What came back, according to Rock, was a verse tracing their entire shared history, from living together at the Oakwood Apartments to Rock showing up at Eminem's early Slim Shady release show when nobody knew who he was.
He nails the line, 'He's my brother, not my political enemy,' and it just sent these chills. I'm like, 'Man, this is so important.' I heard the (finished) mix, and grandpa was crying.
Rock said he resisted rapping the vacated verse on 7 Sins himself and instead called Lil Wayne and Chuck D. The Public Enemy frontman could not do it, but Wayne, a longtime friend, told Rock