Philippines-born, Las Vegas-based multi-faceted musician, Ez Mil, who both raps and sings, shares the layered deluxe version of his second album, DU4LI7Y: REDUX, out everywhere now. Plus, the musician shares the lyric video for recently released track “Realest” featuring Eminem following his recent signing to Eminem and Dr. Dre’s Shady Records/Aftermath Entertainment/Interscope Records. Mil joins the likes of 50 Cent as only a few of the artists signed directly to all three labels.
Out in full today, DU4LI7Y: REDUX, which features artwork done by Ez Mil himself, expands on the original work to begin a new chapter–only this time–supported and approved by two of the rising rapper’s longtime idols. Ez Mil emphasizes the importance of his own vulnerability and its role in creating the best, most authentic music he can make. Mil says ultimately, his creative process includes, “just putting my thoughts out there and wearing my heart on my sleeve. It’s my journal. My music is my story.”
On the recently shared Eminem collaboration, “Realest,” the two bludgeon a pulsing beat with a barrage of multisyllabic rhyme schemes and the sorts of quippy wordplay that propelled Eminem to stardom. Now, having signed Ez Mil to his label, along with Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope, Eminem is in position to help push Ez to the same heights. Some of that work involved curating DU4LI7Y: REDUX, which will be Ez Mil’s final release on Virgin Music.
On Eminem’s enormous impact on Ez Mil’s own life and career, Ez shares, “Eminem’s been an inspiration to me growing up, this song means a lot to me because my biggest dream was to watch Eminem perform live–and for me to have a track with him is beyond crazy and I’m always going to be grateful.”
Opening up about the moment he showed the two rap legends the track, Ez says he had the beat made days prior and explains, “When I let Em and Dre hear it for the first time, Dre said, ‘Oh yeah Marshall gon’ eat that up,’ and Em shouted from the back of the studio, ‘Yup! Give it to me,’ and the rest is history.”
On the momentous signing, Eminem says, “We’ve never been out there signing a lot of artists, and one of the great things about how we built Shady is how selective we’ve been.” After hearing Ez Mil, Eminem knew immediately he had to bring him in–and made an unusual, huge move. “And it’s even rarer that Dre and I sign something together – but I heard Ez’s music and was like, ‘this is really special” so I took it to Dre. We both agreed it would be a great fit and we wanted to work with him right on the spot.”
