Eminem Has a Pretty Strange Method to Stop His Music From Getting Leaked That Involves Tampon Box and Random Objects
- Eminem wrapped his music CD in a tampon box because he believed no one would open and check it.
- The leak of The Eminem Show left him feeling that his work was devalued.
- The rapper went onto name his paranoia of music leaks as Post Traumatic Leak Disorder.
Regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, Eminem is one of the most influential personalities in the world. He has been credited with breaking racial barriers for the acceptance of white rappers in popular music. Eminem’s work in the late ‘90s and early 2000s made him a controversial figure in the industry but couldn’t shake his success and popularity.
The rapper was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022 and is known as one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Marshall Mathers III was the first artist to have ten albums debut consecutively on the Number One Billboard 200 Chart. In a documentary series, Eminem recalls how he protected his music from getting leaked.
Eminem recalls using various boxes to stop his music from getting leaked
A two-part documentary directed by Alexandria Stapleton titled How Music Got Free, based on Stephen Richard Witt’s book of the same name, was released in June 2024. The documentary series featured interviews with artists including Eminem, Timbaland, 50 Cent, Jimmy Iovine, Steve Stoute, and more.
It went on to detail the fascinating and often funny inside story of the technology-driven disruption that changed music during the late ‘90s and early ‘20s. The director shared at the time of release, (via THR)
As a filmmaker, I wanted to challenge the narrow lens of who we regard as tech innovators. How Music Got Free is a story that proves brilliant minds can be found in unlikely places, like the rural, forgotten factory town of Shelby, North Carolina.
During the interview, Eminem recalled the times when music was just starting to leak and went on to detail that he was afraid that someone was going to steal his music. The rapper went on to narrate the story of how he would send his recorded music to his manager, Paul Rosenberg. He said (via Daily Rap Facts)
We had to send music, and I wasn’t going to send it over the internet. So I was mailing shit to Paul so he could hear it. I put it in a big box; it would be wrapped ten different times, and there would be one CD. Cans of soda, you know, a magazine, and a basketball. Or put it in a tampon box. Send it to Paul, who is going to look in a tampon box?
Paul Rosenberg chimed in to add that he would come to his office and see a big box sitting, and then he would check where it was from and realize that it was the CD that Marshall was going to send him. The two of them revealed during the interview that they called this condition Post-Traumatic Leak Disorder.
The leak of The Eminem Show left Eminem feeling that his work was ‘devalued’
Director Alexandria Stapleton combined interviews, archive footage, and video testimonies to take the fans inside the story of music being leaked and how it impacts an artist. Eminem’s fourth studio album, The Eminem Show, which was released in 2002, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. Reportedly, it sold about 1.3 million copies in the second week.
The album’s release date was moved up from June 4th to May 28th due to leaks, and in the documentary Em discusses how frustrating it was for him to go through something like that. He detailed (via Eminem News & Info’s YouTube),
It was like, music should be free. And then it’s like, Okay, this is what you don’t understand if music should be free. I have an engineer to pay. There is an entire army of people who work at Interscope that need their paycheck. What do I do? Do I try to make songs like those that leaked? But then people go, ‘Oh, we’ve already heard that from you.’
Jimmy Iovine, who was also interviewed for the documentary, called the entire situation bizarre and noted that it disrupted the creative process for Eminem. In the documentary series, archival footage of Eminem urging fans to buy the album was shared. He went on to share that upon buying fans could get bonus content and superior-quality of the music.
The leak of The Eminem Show pushed the production process at Interscope to a backbreaking process. The reports from Eminem. News noted that the artist had to reschedule tours due to a leak, and the entire experience left him feeling that his work was devalued. He shared,
That was my first album that suffered. It was devastating to me in the sense of like, ‘Oh, I just did all of that for nothing.’
The leak caused Eminem to be paranoid about his music later, and his manager mentioned that it was the reason why he decided to send physical CDs. He noted that Eminem was very hesitant to ever let his music that was unreleased leave the studio.
How Music Got Free is available to watch on Paramount+.
