Eminem’s Brother Speaks Out in Rare Interview with Hailie Jade

Eminem’s little brother Nate Mathers is opening up about the famous rapper in a rare interview.

Nate sat down with Eminem’s daughter Hailie Jade for her “Just a Little Shady” podcast and the pair talked about growing up together.

Hailie actually calls Nate her “bruncle,” explaining on her show, “Nate is my uncle — my dad’s younger brother — but also we kind of grew up together, because Nate lived with us for a while when I was young… I would say [you are a] brother-uncle, you definitely act younger than your age. We are closer in age than you are to [my] dad, but still I never realize how much older you are than me because I feel like you are like a brother.”

Nate is Eminem’s maternal half-brother and about 14 years younger than the Grammy winner. He credits Eminem with being a great role model as a father figure.

Hailie said of her dad, “A lot of people were concerned that he wasn’t going to be a good dad or something.”

Nate interjected, “Oh, yeah, I mean going off the lyrics and everything – I could see that…He was the best role model I could have had to help me be the dad that I am today.”

They also recalled what it was like when Eminem landed in the spotlight.

Hailie said, “You were like 12 when [Eminem got famous], so I was what, 2? See, that is probably why our experience was a lot different, because I remember some things from before, but I didn't totally understand what was going on and you were definitely old enough to understand what was going on.”

Nate added, “Yes, I started understanding a little more when reality would hit when I would start seeing [Eminem] on TV and going to shows and all the signatures and crazy people. I am like, ‘Alright, well this is real’... A few years later, when I was able to leave from being under my mom’s care, I moved in with you guys.”

He said he wanted to dress like Eminem and dye his hair the same way, too.

“[Eminem] would get so many free clothes, and would buy clothes — I would just take them,” he said. “I would take his hand-me-downs... When I was 12 and went to your dad's (my brother’s) first show, my cousin, John, convinced me that not only should I dye my hair, but that my brother (your dad) dyes his eyebrows. Being young, I am like, ‘Oh, really? I want to dye my eyebrows too. Sounds like the perfect idea — I want to look like twins.’ Not the case…”

Nate was also interested in music and learned from Eminem.

He shared, “I started getting into music writing at a very young age – writing on pieces of paper, trying to learn raps and stuff like that. As I got older and wanted to think about that as a career, I had learned from your dad (my brother) how to do music and how to write formulas, compound syllables and tested it out in the beginning. From there, I started looking around for beats and whatnot and got comfortable enough with my voice and writing skills that I started recording and getting a feel for how I would deliver songs and how that would formulate to where people would enjoy it.”

He added, “I knew there was gonna be a comparison — ‘Hey, how does he sound compared to his brother? Does he have the same formula? Does he have the syllables? Is he like a battle rapper? Is he a free-styler? What can he do?’… It was never about that. It was more about just having fun and being around music and doing something that other people would enjoy.”