When you have your own radio station, you can really get a good gander at the talent pool that’s out there. And in 2016, Eminem—the creator of Sirius XM’s longstanding staple show, Shade 45—was like all of us, taken aback by Phresher’s beloved turbulent club banger “Wait A Minute.” The song started getting played in heavy rotation and even Em’s compatriots, 50 Cent and Royce Da 5’9″, both delivered respective freestyles over the beat.
Em took note and three months ago sent an invite out to Phresher to appear on the upcoming Revival (due December 15).
“I remember it like it was yesterday,” Phresher said recently while visiting REVOLT TV’s New York studio. “I was walking down the stairs in the house and I got the call in the middle of the steps. My manager Jay said, ‘You might have to sit down for this. Paul Rosenberg just called me. Em wants you on the album.’”
The Brooklyn MC was in disbelief. “I was like, ‘What do you mean? What do you mean Em wants me on his album? What’s going on?’” he continued. “From there I knew I was doing something right. It’s so gratifying to get a call from an icon.”
But Phresher kept his jibs shut until the tracklist for Em’s highly-anticipated new album was made public by Slim Shady himself. Among the superstar guests including Beyonce, Alicia Keys, and Pink, Phresher’s name was revealed.
“We had to keep that one real low,” he said. “Real low.”
Not only will guest-starring on Revival potentially get Phresher his most exposure ever, but it was a dream opportunity to work with someone he holds in the utmost regards. “That’s my favorite artist at the same time,” Phresher explained. “So that respect was deeper than just being a feature on a project. That’s my favorite artist. If you look back to some of my interviews, from day one, Eminem. I’ll recite his lyrics from front to back. That was doper than anything.”
He even recalled their talks. “Me and Eminem’s conversation, he’s was like, ‘Call me Marshall.’ It was dope,” Phresher remembered. “I’m trying to tell Em how much of a fan I am of his. He’s like, ‘No, but ‘Wait a Minute,’ you didn’t have to do that like that.’ I just appreciate him.”
The two made “Chloraseptic,” Revival‘s third track.
“Ultimately, it was the energy mixed with the harmonizing I do under my lyrics,” Phresher said. “He was just like, ‘I want this on this project. Soon as I wrote it, I said Phresher has to be the one to deliver.’ That’s crazy. I’m still pinching myself to see if it’s real.”
Revival is due December 15 and Phresher’s new single is “Radio.”