Eminem let hardcore hip-hop take a back seat so he could work with Bruno Mars on a song called “Lighters.” One of Eminem’s collaborators explained what Eminem was thinking.

Eminem let hardcore hip-hop take a back seat so he could work with Bruno Mars on a song called “Lighters.” One of Eminem’s collaborators explained what the “Crack a Bottle” rapper was thinking. Marshall Mathers might’ve just been riding a trend.

Eminem, Bruno Mars, and another rapper made ‘Lighters’ a hit

Eminem and fellow rapper Royce da 5’9″ formed a duo called Bad Meets Evil. While Bad Meets Evil is a red-meat hip-hop group, they collaborated with Bruno Mars for a pop-rap ballad called “Lighters.” “Lighters” is a synth-heavy inspirational song that is uncharacteristic of Eminem’s music. Even his pop crossover songs tend to feature female singers like Rihanna, Pink, Skylar Grey, and Beyoncé. “Lighters” is best understood as Eminem’s attempt to cash in on the popularity of early 2010s self-empowerment anthems, such as Katy Perry’s “Firework,” Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way,” and Demi Lovato’s “Skyscraper.”

During a 2011 interview with Exclaim!, Royce da 5’9″ explained why Bad Meets Evil decided to do something different with “Lighters.” “We figured we’d have one song for other people to listen to,” Royce said. “People who don’t like listening to straight-up, raw, rappitty-rap lyrics. One joint to show versatility.” “Lighters” is precisely the sort of pop-rap song that tends to get radio play while alienating hardcore rap fans.

What Eminem was like in the studio at the time

Royce da 5’9″ seemed to be less concerned with genre and more concerned with chemistry. “We tried to just go in and not worry about making a certain type of record,” the rapper said. “We just wanted to go in there and rap, which is what our relationship is based off, really. I think if we had gone in and made that first song back in the day and not had so much fun doing it, we wouldn’t have cared about keeping in touch with each other. But we think so much alike on a creative level.”

Royce da 5’9″ said he and Eminem but off each other’s verses when they worked with each other. “That’s when it becomes fun,” he said. “When the last word on my few bars becomes the word I’m giving him to rhyme off of. It’s kinda like doing a crossword puzzle, and that’s fun for both of us.” While that sounds nice, Royce da 5’9″ and Eminem don’t show off much of their chemistry on “Lighters.”

Critics weren’t in love with ‘Lighters’

Eminem was a critical darling in the early days, but his 2010s work wasn’t particularly well-received. In 2014, Spin ranked every song Slim Shady ever released. They ranked “Lighters” No. 217 on a list of 289 songs. That’s far from impressive.

Perhaps the problem was that Eminem and Mars didn’t complement each other. Mars lacked the dangerous edge that the “My Name Is” rapper tried to show off in the song. While Eminem has occasionally made good, retro music (the Aerosmith sampling “Sing for the Moment” is often seen as one of the gems in his discography) but he doesn’t sound at home on Mars’ 1980s synth-pop beat. Mars would eventually move in a more hip-hop-inspired direction, so an Eminem/Mars collaboration might make more sense now than it did when “Lighters” came out.

Eminem’s “Lighters” had the star power and trendiness to get pop fans to listen to it but it’s not clear if the song did much for Eminem’s image in the long term.