The most serious music collectors out there have no issues shelling out hundreds for rare, prized pieces of media, but Eminem may have put them all to shame in sharing that he once spent $600 USD on a cassette copy of Nas' Illmatic.
In conversation with Paul Rosenberg and DJ Whoo Kid as part of his "ShadyCon" NFT launch, Eminem shared how his entry into the world of non-fungible tokens was prefaced by collecting "Everything from comic books to baseball cards to toys, as well as every rap album on cassette I could get my hands on," as a child.
Slim Shady shared that the "most coveted" piece of his music collection is the sealed cassette copy of Nas' revered 1994 debut that he willingly paid 600 bones for.
"Man, I couldn't find that shit nowhere — I finally found one and it cost like 500 to 600 dollars for a sealed copy," he recalled. "Because who the fuck had a copy of Illmatic and didn't open it? Nobody."
He added, "I think it's backstock from what record stores had in the back storage, the tapes that never sold so they just kept them and sold them online. That's the only thing I can think of. Cause nobody's going to have a fucking Illmatic tape and not open it."
Eminem joked that a cassette copy of 1999's The Slim Shady LP would probably sell for "12 cents," and while there are currently no original tapes up for grabs through resale sites like Discogs, the release's sales history points to a near-mint copy with "some clear tape on both side[s]" having gone to a lucky buyer for $49.99 this past February.
Listen to Eminem recount the tale below.
Last year saw Eminem treat listeners to Music to Be Murdered By and its Side B deluxe edition.
In conversation with Paul Rosenberg and DJ Whoo Kid as part of his "ShadyCon" NFT launch, Eminem shared how his entry into the world of non-fungible tokens was prefaced by collecting "Everything from comic books to baseball cards to toys, as well as every rap album on cassette I could get my hands on," as a child.
Slim Shady shared that the "most coveted" piece of his music collection is the sealed cassette copy of Nas' revered 1994 debut that he willingly paid 600 bones for.
"Man, I couldn't find that shit nowhere — I finally found one and it cost like 500 to 600 dollars for a sealed copy," he recalled. "Because who the fuck had a copy of Illmatic and didn't open it? Nobody."
He added, "I think it's backstock from what record stores had in the back storage, the tapes that never sold so they just kept them and sold them online. That's the only thing I can think of. Cause nobody's going to have a fucking Illmatic tape and not open it."
Eminem joked that a cassette copy of 1999's The Slim Shady LP would probably sell for "12 cents," and while there are currently no original tapes up for grabs through resale sites like Discogs, the release's sales history points to a near-mint copy with "some clear tape on both side[s]" having gone to a lucky buyer for $49.99 this past February.
Listen to Eminem recount the tale below.
Last year saw Eminem treat listeners to Music to Be Murdered By and its Side B deluxe edition.
