Paul Rosenberg has worked for Shady Records for 15 years, and he’s also operated as Eminem’s manager. The rapper talked to XXL about how 50 Cent signing with the label really changed the game for everyone involved.
“It was game-changing,” Rosenberg says in an interview with XXL. “We kind of knew what we had in 50, and when we brought him to [Dr.] Dre to see if he wanted to do it with us, Dre immediately got it as well. We all knew it was gonna be big and it was gonna be sort of a land shift in the culture because of what he was doing, but we didn’t know just how massive it was gonna be. But I’m not gonna sit here and tell you that we didn’t know that 50 was gonna be enormous from the beginning. I mean, look, that was huge for us, that was huge for 50, it was huge for XXL, frankly. It was massive all around, and it was one of the most exciting things we’ve ever done with the label.”
Shady Records is getting ready to drop a 15 year anniversary compilation album called SHADYV. Rosenberg also went on to talk about how 50 Cent’s decision to leave Shady Records earlier this year was not an angry one.
“It was a very friendly and, frankly, supportive departure, where we told him, ‘Look, if you don’t feel like this is the place for you anymore, we feel like we want to support you in any way we can [so that you can] be able to do what you want to do.’ So behind the scenes, we were trying to make sure that the transition was going to be as comfortable for him as possible. And you know, Marshall and 50 continue to have a great relationship, and that’s not gonna change.”