Trivia
- “Smack That” was released as the album’s lead single. It topped the charts in numerous countries across Europe, including the UK, Hungary, Norway, and Belgium, and reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
- In the music video, Eminem can be seen wearing a recreation of the “P” emblem around his neck, formerly worn by ’s , who had passed away earlier that same year on April 11. Eminem also displays a new “Proof” tattoo down his left forearm, a recreation of the one had on his right forearm.
- A remix of the song was featured on Eminem Presents: The Re-Up, featuring and in place of Eminem, with new production by .
Words from Akon
“It was a shot in the dark [to get Eminem on the song], so I just said, “Let me just go to Detroit.” So I booked a ticket, and when I flew out there, I was hanging in the strip club and I’m just asking questions like, “Yo, you know where Em at? Where’s Em hang out at?”
I ran into this one guy — he just happened to be mad cool — and he said, “Yo, I heard you’re looking for Em.” I said, “Yeah, I’ve been trying to get a hold of him. I ain’t got no line on him right now.” He said, “Well shit, Obie’s my man.” So he called [Obie Trice]. Obie comes to meet me at the strip club. Me and Obie are hanging out — we hang out for like two days — then he says, “Yo, I’m gonna take you to the studio so you can go and meet Em.” I was like, “Perfect.”
So Obie takes me to the studio, and me and Em connect instantly. So he’s playing me beats, and at the time I already had the song that I wanted to do with him. I already had it set up — I never even got to play him that song. So he was playing me all these beats, and then he pulled the [“Smack That”] beat. When I heard that, I was like, “Oh, this shit is about to be crazy!”
So off the top, I just go in the booth and start freestyling harmonies. By the time I get out the booth, Em had already left. I was like, “Where the hell did this nigga go?” So I said, “Fuck it, I’m gonna finish the song and let him hear it when he gets back tomorrow, and he can lay his verse to it.” So I laid the whole joint.
I come back the next day — it was about 1 p.m. — and by the time I got there, the song was already done. This nigga came in at eight o’clock that morning, laid his verse, and left for lunch. So he got back from lunch, came back in, and he’s like, “Yo, you wanna hear it?” I said, “Hell yeah.” He plays it for me — I go crazy in that motherfucker.
I was like, “Nigga, where was you at?” He said, “I went to lunch.” I said, “Nigga, you ain’t just order food to come here?” He said, “Nah, man, I treat this shit like a real nine-to-five. I come in early, I leave at five o’clock on the dot every day. I come in, I take a lunch break, and I come back to work. Five o’clock, I’m home. I treat this like a real job.”
And I thought about that shit. I was like, “Damn, that shit’s smart,” because it opens your days up. It was through him that made me start saying, “Okay, I need to start scheduling it.” Nine-to-five was a little too early for me, but I have my schedules — I don’t do late-night studio sessions anymore. I just do them during the day, and I’m out before midnight.