While one may not expect it considering Eminem’s tumultuous upbringing, his friend/partner-in-tunes Denaun Porter seems to have a great relationship with his ‘rents. When explaining to MichiganHipHop why he operates the way he does, he’ll often say, “That’s how I was raised.” These days, Ms. Porter must be proud of her son: along with producing for his multi-platinum selling group D12, the Detroit native has become a go-to beatmaker for the likes of Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent, and helps music equipment company Open Labs develop sounds and keyboards. But Mr. Porter doesn’t let his big business get in the way of him making his stamp on the indie scene with artists like Royce Da 5’9” and Pharaohe Monch, and a consistent A-list clientele didn’t stop him from helping upstart artists with a web site that licensed his beats for as low as $50.
MichiganHipHop’s conversation with Mr. Porter was so packed with information that we had to split it into three parts. In Part 1 of this series, Mr. Porter talks vividly about his bond with Eminem. Check under the cut for how he stands by Em’s side as a producer, workout partner, hype man (in lieu of fellow D12 member Proof’s death), and as a friend.
MIHH: What is Relapse 2 sounding like so far, compared to the first Relapse?
Well what I’ve always tried to explain to people while he was doing the first Relapse, Relapse 2 was the first Relapse, I think. It’s really weird. Some of the songs that…the songs that went on Relapse 2…let me get it straight. The songs that they were doing when they did Relapse 1 were songs that they were working for the first set of songs, when he was coming out of…you know, just coming into a real clear state of mind. Being, I would say, a zombie for all those years, you know what I’m saying, you see the world through different eyes. So what Relapse 2 is, is totally a clear mind and a guy that’s really… looking at the world again. And he’s really enjoying himself. He’s stepping out of his shell when it comes to production. Like this will be the first time that I’ve produced on an album with him and it’s just me. Not like, I do something and it’s got something to do with D12. It’s like me saying “Yo Em, I got a great idea.” You know, like how Just Blaze and Kanye were doing for Jay-Z. You know what I mean? The only difference is that Jay-Z ain’t a producer. So Eminem being a producer, it’s a harder fight.
Plus we grew up together, so it was always a hard fight to impress him. He always knew I was dope, but it’s harder when you’re standing next to that person. I’m sure Kanye and Just Blaze might have the same problem, or Timbaland might have had the same problem. It was harder to impress, but it’s just fun, man. The songs we’re doing are different and people never heard Em on them. We did a joint that’s really crazy. I don’t know if it’s going to make the album because I don’t know if he really loves it, but it’s like me and him back when I was doing beats in the room, and he was writing in the living room. Like a Hip Hop Shop kind of joint. And he’s spittin’ crazy. Like the other songs, Dre’s phenomenal, you know he’s killin’ it. He’s got a lot of great songs. Relapse 1 to me was like him coming out of being a zombie, and this part 2 is like “Okay I’m back in it and here we go again.”
MIHH: So what do you think it is that’s made him so open towards other people’s beats?
Well I’m gonna be honest. …I think he was doing a lot of soul searching, after Proof’s passing. I was. I think we know that things evolve, and it’s just fun. The dude is writing like a fuckin’ maniac. Like, really. I don’t remember him being like this since we were kids. So when we were younger…it was me doing the beats, or DJ Head. So it went from that to Dr. Dre. And it was just Dre, Dre, Dre, Dre, Dre. And then Em started doing beats, and it was Em and Dre. And then now, it’s just like he’s open minded. Not to spill the beans, it’s a lot of people submitting songs. From what I’ve heard it’s just him and Dre right now, but I know he’s always listening to beats. We’re fans of a lot of different people, and Em is someone that’s always been on his own island. I think he’s seeing the world. It’s a blessing to come through what we came through and he’s just experiencing life to the fullest, so he’s just listening to anybody that’s sending him great music really.
MIHH: So what was it like working with him when it’s just you guys as opposed to working with him when it’s you and D12?
It’s kind of like taking a step to the past but then taking a step forward. Like, I’m a better producer than I’ve put forth. Like let’s say…I’m not a big mouth muthafucka. So I’m not about to run out here and say I’m this and I’m that. I know who I am, so I’m content when it comes to me producing for people who are able to have a conversation with me to see my talents. But with him it’s like, “Hey, I got beats.” I’m still giving him beats every week. But to me it’s like me and him doing what we’ve always done. You know, it was always that way. Through the years, it was harder I felt because he was hearing me in a different light, because he was going through so much shit. But I was even unaware of some of the things he was going through. When he explained it to me, I broke down into tears… this is my friend, and we just lost our other brother, and I didn’t even know he was going through all this shit.
…I was like “Damn, what do I got to do to prove to him that I’m dope?” So it’s always been that way. Ever since we were kids I was I like, “I gotta show him that I’m just dope.” I always felt like I had some shit to prove, but it was great because I was able to come in and say, “This is the idea that I think.” And then when I would get the song back, it was a totally different song. … It was really fun, man, because I’m still learning. He’s always teaching me some shit though, that’s what I love about our relationship. He trusts what I say. When it comes down to it, he believes that I’m dope. But we’re friends, so sometimes we ain’t even talkin’ about music, we’re talking about some other crazy shit. So to sit there and actually be able to work on a song, and then, he’s got me working out with him everyday. I told him, “I want to be fully dedicated to the things that I need to. Because I see that you’re in a different place—like Slim Shady with a new second wind, or Marshall Mathers with a new second wind, or Eminem with a new second wind.” So this is my opportunity to stand by his side like I’m supposed to.
MIHH: It’s been a few years since Proof passed. Where’s the group at? Whether it’s emotionally or music wise, where are you guys at?
It’s been a long, long road. It’s still never going to be adjusted to. … For me personally, I can only speak for me. I’ve had a moment of clarity just through that. You know, after Proof died I ended up in the hospital. Never really had medical issues, and I ran into a brick wall. In that time, I felt like the only way for me to get over it was doing music, ‘cause I didn’t do any music. The only thing I was working on at the time was Pharoahe Monch’s album, and that was the year prior so I was just finishing it. I was a zombie myself it was Jay Dee, then Proof. J Dilla was like a mentor to me because that was the only inspiration. I don’t know what the next move is because I don’t want to be the person that says, “Hey let me just take everything in my own hands and let’s do this, and let’s do this,” because that doesn’t feel right to me. And the only person that could do that was Proof. And the moves that people make, they have to be great moves. They can’t just be moves out of any sort of desperation or just being lost.
So I want to proceed and keep rolling, but I really don’t know. I haven’t been in that mind state. It’s just been about me trying to get myself together because I’ve created other avenues for myself, so D12 wasn’t the only thing I was going to do. So when the guys were there, and they weren’t really doing anything, I was moving. You know what I mean? I was always moving. I was always getting into something. So when they were ready, I’m like ‘I got so many things going on. I can’t run out to be on tour. I can’t do this, or I can’t do that’. So it’s been a tough thing for me because it looks like, “Oh, he don’t care.” That’s not the case. It’s just that I was already moving, and when they started moving again with the tours and mixtape, I was already obligated to a lot of things.
MIHH: You’ve also replaced Proof as Eminem’s hype man, right? So talk about how big those shoes are to fill and what you’ve learned from him that you incorporate when you’re rocking with Em.
Well, for one it’s never filling the shoes for me. It’s stepping up and taking on the responsibility. I think I’m the only person that [Eminem] felt could do it, because we had already done it before. Before, when he was doing Slim Shady, it was naturally there cause it was me and Brigade opening up for him, so it was natural to do it. But I can’t fill Proof’s shoes; it’s just a responsibility that I have to do. What I incorporate though, our voices and tones are the same somewhat, so it’s easy to match his voice. It’s easy to catch certain punches, certain words. But I could never do what Proof was doing. His energy was ridiculous. That’s why my ass is losing weight now, because I’m trying to move at least a little bit more. But I think the movement is a little different, we’re still getting the hang of it ourselves. But the more we’re doing it, the more comfortable we’re becoming. And people seem to be happy with it. Like, we’re always gonna miss that place where Proof is, because that’s Proof’s place. So I just pray before we go on stage, and we both pray and we do what we got to do. And we get off and analyze what we do, and we go from there. Like, we work out every day at the same time.
We’ve got a show coming up in October, the Voodoo Fest, where there are a lot more songs. This will be the real test, because we’re going to be doing the show. The energy is there though. We’ve got a lot of good energy and I’ve been known to get the crowd into things, so we’ll see what happens. We’re taking things one step at a time, that’s why he didn’t jump straight into a tour. He doesn’t know if that’s what he wants to do. But the more we get out here, I’m sure it will turn into something good. I would never try to fill Proof’s shoes. They’re just too, too huge. I would have to lay my body in one shoe. But I can wear mine, and be the little brother like I’ve always been. I’m the little brother. It’s Proof, Em, then me. So I’m the little guy who kind of grew into it. Now it’s like “Oh, now he can do it. He knows what he gotta do.” Or, “Yo I need you to do this.” And I’m like, “Cool.” It’s not a question. The only competition we have is for me to do my job, to make sure that he feels like that was dope. So every show, I’m like, “Was that ok? What did I miss?” I’ll watch it myself to get better and better. And the shows have been really dope. Like, we’ve really been doing a good job. … When he asked me to [be his new hype man], it was tough. Me wearing a lot of different hats already and being taught the right way, I stood up to the challenge and was like, “I’m never going to leave your side. You’re my nigga.”
MIHH: Now you were saying that it was a long process to convince Eminem that you were dope. What was the process like to convince Dr. Dre that you were dope?
[Laughs] That happened on its own. The teachers that I’ve had go from Proof to Jay Dee to Eminem to Dr. Dre…shit, sometimes even to 50 Cent. It’s a great story, I really should make a movie out of my life. We was in the studio working on something, and I played Dre some beats I was using for a skit. And he was like, “What the fuck is that beat?” I was like, “Oh I just made that for a skit.” And he was like, “You just made that beat for a skit? You have some more shit?” I went home and made a CD of some shit. Then we ended up going to Australia, and when we got there someone called my phone at like six in the morning and shit. And this lady was like, “Hey, Dre would like to speak to you.” I’m like, “OK, whatever. Fuck y’all. It’s too early for this shit.” So I hung up the phone. Then she called back and was like, “The phone got disconnected.” And I was like, “No it did not. I hung up because y’all bullshittin’.” And I’m sleepy as fuck, because I know we gotta get up and do something in a couple of hours. I’m like, “Come on Proof, quit playing.” [laughs]
So then I’m talking to Dre, and he’s like “What’s up?” I’m like, “Oh shit, what’s up?” I still don’t believe it. [laughs] I had given him a CD that only had ten joints on it, and he’s like “I want seven of those beats.” I’m like, “You want seven beats? Yeah, OK, cool. Where you want them at?” Just being sarcastic and shit. And he’s like “Nah, for real, I want seven of those beats you gave me.” So I’m like, “Wow! OK. You like all of those?” So he said “How much you going to charge me?” I’m like, “Well shit, I never sold a beat, so…$2,500.” And he was like, “What? Nobody does $2,500 no more. I’ll give you $15,000 a beat.”
MIHH: Hold up. So the first beat you ever sold was to Dr. Dre?
Yeah, that was the first beat I ever sold.
MIHH: [Laughs]
When I first went out to start selling beats, I knew I was dope back then. Because Proof used to diss me all the time, and was like “Yo, you’re drums are whack. They gotta sound like this.” And Em was like, “Yo we gotta get drums like Jay Dee. We gotta do this, this and that.” And I started focusing on that so much. But I didn’t know I was good like that. I was like, “OK, I make beats for D12 and Em from time to time, and whatever.” You know, my biggest goal was making a beat for Proof [laughs]. And Jay Dee was like ‘Is this nigga dope?’ because that’s what Proof told him. And then I got to meet Jay Dee, and then I met Pete Rock. But I didn’t think I was no good. I never played Pete Rock a beat. I played Jay Dee some shit. Then Dre was like, “Yo!” So the first beats I ever sold were to him. And ever since that day, I’ve been consistently able to give beats to people and it’s always been something special in it for them, even if it’s for a hard artist. Sometimes, making a great song for the artist is making a great song for the fan. So that’s the lane that I’ve been in, and I’ve been able to stay in for seven or eight years now.
And I’ve still never went out there and really mashed, man. Like, I’ve still never done that. Not because I’m scared to, but just because I’m so humble. My parents raised me to be that way. So I’m not fin’ to go out there and be like, “Man I can do what these niggas is doing. This shit is bullshit.” I learned how to do beats that are totally different than this. So that was the first time I sold a beat and I’ve been going ever since. Everything happened for me at the beginning of everything, when it was the D12 tour and the Eminem tour.
MIHH: You said that you’ve had some great teachers, so talk about some of the different things that you’ve learned from specific teachers that you’ve had.
I learned not to be a hot head, a long time ago, and I still use that [laughs]. I speak my mind real quick, but you can’t be a hot head and talk to some of these people like you want tobecause you’ll mess up your business. That was one of the main things I learned. But in the studio, just being able to check yourself, and not think that you’ve just got it. I wrote a hook for a song we’re working on now, then I brought the writers in and I was like, “You know what? I think y’all should write the hook.” I worked so hard on the beat, but I’m not in love with it. I think I’ll be in love with it if the right hook is there. So I’ll give people an opportunity to write something to it and write for me, if that’s the case.
What I learned from Dre is…I’ll listen to a song that I’m doing and the beat is incredible, and then I’ll listen to the song, and I’ll say, “Man I want to say this, or I want to say this.” It’s easy for me to say, “Hey Royce, why don’t you write this for me?” I know how to step back and let people critique me. Not have such a big ego. I learned that from Em. If I tell Em, or if Dre tells Em, “You should probably do this, that and that,” he’ll listen to it. He’ll take it into consideration. Sometimes it will take him a day, but he’ll come back and say, “You’re right. I think I want to change it.”’ Or, “You know what? That’s a great idea. I tried it but it didn’t work.” So, you know, it’s a humbleness [sic] to it, just being able to have good people around you that you can listen to.
Jay Dee, man I don’t know where to start with him. Like, I’ve learned so much shit just watching him and listening to him. Not even being in the same room, but once or twice, I was able to sit there and watch him make a beat. Man, it was like in The Matrix, when they was plugging Neo up and he was just swallowing information. I can’t even begin with him. Dre, I learned sonic correctness. I know how to make my shit sound like it’s from 1989 or I know how to make it sound like it’s from 2089. I know how to make sounds that people ain’t never heard. I know how to make things sound huge, I know how to make them sound small. I know how to sonically bind to whatever I’m doing. If 9th Wonder gave me a beat and I say, “I want to add this to it, but keep the hidden elements,” I know how to do that and keep his elements so he would say “Yo, this is dope.” I’ve learned all of those things, like so much more. Em is still teaching me syllables when it comes to writing and shit. I’m still watching him when I get rhymes from him. I take shit from him all the time. 50 Cent’s marketing: I’ve started two or three different companies, or two or three business ventures because sitting in the room and listening to him talk. And the way that he thinks, we’re thinking all the time, all of us. We’re always thinking; I just happen to be the quietest guy in the room. I started a sound design company and I make sounds for Open Labs, which has a new keyboard called a Miko, which is catching up now. I used to own 30 to 40 keyboards you know, 3000, 2000, 1000 whatever. Now I got one machine. So I make sounds for them and I market those sounds to the right companies and software companies, and now I’m rubbing elbows with them just from watching 50. You know, hearing how to market myself. But they don’t even know all the things that I get into. You know, I’ve scored a movie before. Shit, I’ve done things with clothes.
I do stuff that’s on my level where I’m comfortable, but I take things that I’ve learned from them and apply it to the small things in my life. You can be a huge person in a smaller version of life, so it’s just how you look at it. I don’t come out and say I got to be the next 50 Cent, or the next Timbaland, or the next Dr. Dre. I say I’m going to be me. And while I’m being me, some day something huge is gonna happen where I ain’t gotta have a mouth so big, or wear certain clothes, or wear this kind of hat, or this kind of haircut, or fuck this broad. People are just going to say when they look at my record, if you go back and really look at it, “Wow! This nigga went from shit to sugar and from sugar to shit, and back and forth, and done a lot of shit without saying.” Because I was taught that way. The loudest nigga in the room is the most insecure, and ain’t shit insecure about me. I’m really comfortable, but I’m not content. I wake up every morning and think, “It’s not enough.” I just did 30 to 40 joints in the last two or three months—it’s just beats, or hooks, or whole songs, and it’s not enough. … I just don’t need to scream and shout it. I ain’t gon’ trick people and say, “I’m the best.” I’m gon’ let them say, “Wait a minute. You did what? Wow! Really? Yo this dude is great.” I’d rather it happen that way, because then I don’t feel so uncomfortable when they say, “You’re the best ever’. When people say that, I appreciate it and humbly accept it, but I’ve got a long way to go.
MIHH: I really think you’re the most well balanced artist from Michigan. You work with cats like Eminem and Snoop, but you also work with a Guilty Simpson or Monica Blaire. And then just on the wide range of stuff you’ve already done as far as the movies, as far as your website, as far as everything you seem like a really balanced dude. How do you stay involved in so many lanes at once?
Mr. Porter: One lane don’t pay attention to the next, so they don’t get in each other’s way. 50 won’t pay attention to a Monica Blaire, but then she’ll sneak up behind him and have a hit record just because we were doing it because he wasn’t paying any attention to it. I work with a lot of different artists and nobody would ever know, because you go from one instant to the next. My team consists of people that’s just as humble and just as dope, but Em might not know that right away. One day he may be like, “Who did this?” An artist that I work with from here named MarvWon wrote the hook for this joint I just did on the Slaughterhouse album, that song with Pharoahe Monch. Nobody would have thought that, they would have just thought, “Oh, Pharoahe always does great hooks.” He was just here and I was like, “Yo Pharoahe I need you to do this hook. Marv wrote it.”
I figure that I’m never too big to be small, and I’m never too small to be big. So I can move anywhere I want and nobody pays a whole hell of a lot of attention to me, but I make a great living doing it, and I love doing it. And people don’t look at me and say, “Oh he’s Hollywood.” So tomorrow if I turn into Will Smith, they gon’ say, “That nigga still answers people on Twitter?” I talk to nobodies. I don’t know who the fuck these people be. I talk to anybody, anybody man. I did a beat website, where I gave out beats for extra cheap, just so people can get a hold of them and shit like that. People be like, “You take your work down like that.” I think they’re idiots, because the way you take your work down is by doing stupid shit. I’m not doing something stupid. These kids can’t touch me no other way. …
I know I’m good, and I’ma stay that way. I keep my ear to what’s going on. I’m always trying to do better and evolving and listening. I’m not scared to make a change. I’m not scared to take constructive criticism. If somebody don’t like something, it’s just their opinion. I don’t take it too seriously. But I do listen to it and say, “Well, what makes you not like it?” And that person might have a conversation with me on Facebook. They might say, “I didn’t like the beat because of this, this and this.” And I may say, “Oh, I thought I was making that mistake’. You know what I’m saying? I don’t look at it like, “Fuck this muthafucka, he don’t know.” That’s what most people do. I ain’t like that because I wasn’t raised that way. That’s really how I stay busy in all of them. You just don’t get too big for people. Everybody isn’t the same.
MIHH: Has there been any new D12 music recorded?
Mr. Porter: I have some incredible music that I recorded with D12 that when the next album comes out, they are incredible songs. I have two, three incredible songs that today, people would be really happy with them. Like I said, when we figure out what we’re going to do business wise and make whatever changes we have to make to adjust. It’s just the content to me. I think the content has to be a lot more mature. I know the whole idea of what we were trying to do, but we have to have the growth and that growth has to show. You gotta be able to see it, you gotta be able to hear it. If it comes out in 2009 and it sounds like 2001, it ain’t gonna work. So I think we just have to work real hard on the content.
But the songs that we’ve done, I have three or four songs that I really like that are great songs. And you know, just stopped there because we have some differences, something like that with creative differences, I think. And then we cook a couple more hits. It’s just been like hell man, it’s just been like hell. So I don’t know where that is, because I’m not really in charge of how that’s going to work. I wanted to executive produce the next D12 album, but I didn’t want to take that responsibility on at that point. So I don’t know what they want to do, or how they want to do it. I’m just a group member, and I’m gonna do what I have to if my own schedule allows me to.
