Shady Bizzness: Life as Eminem's Bodyguard in an Industry of Paper Gangsters

by Williams, Byron

  After the first time in Amsterdam, I realized that no one is perfect, especially me, but I knew that I wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. So, I really got into myself and stayed in my Bible. I wasn’t trying to be perfect, I was only trying to maintain. With so much stuff going on, my stress level was way too high, and I was just trying to deal. The thrill of touring was gone. I had been on three tours with Slim. I did the Slim Shady Tour in April, the Warped Tour for five weeks in the summer, and the 10-day European promo tour. Between tours, we were traveling between recording studios. I needed to have a talk with Slim about some things that were building up. We never had an off-the-record one-on-one talk between us before. At this time, we were approaching the time to go home. It was October 14th, and his birthday was coming up on the 17th. I figured I had nothing to lose by having a talk with him because I had heard he was having some personal problems of his own. He was feeling that his wife was cheating on him because she would never let him stay with her when he went home, and she was never home when he called her from

  Big-Naz, Eminem and Proof: Love, peace, and shrooms!

  the road. She used Hailey as a tool against him. He couldn’t even drive his own truck whenever he was at home because his wife always had it. The only common ground they had was their daughter, and any other time they dealt with each other, they were literally fighting. He married her at the end of June during the first tour, for what reason I do not know, because if you don’t get along in the first place then you only make the problem worse if you get married. The tour had taken its toll on him because he realized that Paul was keeping him so busy—in order to keep his own pockets fat—that he didn’t have time to see his own daughter. This is how I opened up the conversation with him. I said, “Look man, I know we have this second European tour coming up, but I am burnt out, man. I can’t do it. ” He didn’t take that too well at all, but I didn’t care. I said, “This is off the record, but my marriage is suffering, and my kids need me. We are both good fathers and everything, but we don’t even have time to see our children. I can’t do it. ” I said, “My son just asked me who was going to protect him while I was protecting Slim Shady, and my answer to that was God. He didn’t want to hear that though, because all he knew was that he wanted his daddy home. I tried to explain to him what my job was, but he was convinced that I worked at the airport because that was always the last place where he saw me when they dropped me off. ”

  My family’s needs were returning to being top priority over my personal goals—it was just going to take longer than I wanted for my group and label to get off the ground. But I realized that I already had everything that I had ever dreamed of in my family. Some people think that money is the key to happiness, but you can have all the money in the world and still be miserable. Look at Slim—he has money, and he is the most miserable man I know. I told him that I needed to get my house back in order. That I needed to be with my family and that they needed me there. Slim probably didn’t understand that because he was newly married, and I knew that as soon as Slim married Kim that it was going to be a mess because she was a bitch. I mean, look in the dictionary under “bitch” and you’ll see a picture of Kimberly Scott. Anyway, I weighed the pros and the cons of my being on the road and doubted that it was even worth the trouble for me being miserable, underpaid, and away from my family. I was looking at Slim and I said, “Right now, let me be honest with you. Right now, you have no life. I know you want to be a better father than your father was to you, because you didn’t even know your father. Straight up, you are already that because you acknowledge your daughter and you are out here working so that she doesn’t have to work a day in her life. But Kim is your downfall. She is holding you back, and for some reason you can’t let her go. But right now, in my eyes, I have more than you do. I have a wife who supports me, I just bought a house, I have two nice cars, a nice job, and I had all of this stuff before I met you.You, Slim, you just sold two million plus records, and you are living like you are still washing dishes at Gilbert’s. Man, you got to stop that shit; you have an image to uphold. I’m not saying that you got to have everything iced out, but damn! You got that truck that she is driving, so you might as well give it to her, plus it’s got that big-ass dent in it that you haven’t had fixed yet.

  “When you go home, you are staying over at her mom’s house, sleeping in a fucking twin bunk bed with Kim on the bottom and you on the top. Man, you are living like you are poor! She wants you to get her this apartment? Man, fuck that! What about Slim? No, fuck that, too! What about what Marshall wants? You need to get you something and stop living like you are poor, man. Stop living like you are a fucking bum!” That is one of the few times that he and I were on the same page—both frustrated and both needing to get our homes and relationships in order. I think I was the first person who talked to Slim about those things on that level, and he really got on Paul’s back. Slim said, “I don’t give a fuck about the money! Cancel this European tour!” He really tried to have it canceled, but with Paul being greedy, he wouldn’t do it because it would affect his 20 percent. That was the first time I saw those two at odds. Slim got on Paul about keeping him so busy he didn’t have time to do shit. But Paul, not having any kids, didn’t understand the concept or realize the importance of family. He’s greedy. He’s all about the money.That’s just the type of person he is.

  3

  CALIFORNIA STRESS I quickly found out that all of my dreams of trying to get my own label off the ground could be put on hold forever because I was put in a dangerous situation.The first time I realized how deep things were in this security thing dealing with Death Row was at the 1999 Source Awards in mid-August out in Los Angeles. Going there, I hadn’t any gripes about anything. Rather, I was naive about the situation because I figured that Slim didn’t have anything to do with what had been going on between Death Row and Dre in the past. I was more concerned with Slim mouthing off to somebody he had dissed on a record or something. I was expecting something more along those lines because I knew a lot of people didn’t care for him too much, but they had to give him his props because the boy is tight lyrically, no doubt. You can’t take nothing from him on that, but a lot of people didn’t like him because he’s a white boy out here rhyming and doing his thing, but you got to give credit when it’s due. That day at the Source Awards, I remember it being hot out, with all the stars coming out like Don King, Mike Tyson, Janet Jackson, Hot Boys— everybody; you name them, they were there, from the NBA players to the movie stars.

  It was cool to see a lot of black folks coming out supporting one another. But, I must say, the Source Awards are too damn “ghetto” for me, and too “ghetto” to be televised. Luckily, they were able to go back and edit certain parts before they actually showed it “live, ” as it was pre-recorded,

  Studio session for the Marshall Mathers LP with Dre and Xzibit in West Hollywood. because some of the things that went down were ridiculous. But before I get into that. . . we pulled up in the limo and had to do the red carpet walk and everything. It was pretty cool, and all I had to do was make sure I kept close to Slim. Mind you, at this point in time I was just working with Slim as a shield, using my mental capabilities and physical skills like judo or martial arts to protect him, but, for the most part, I was dealing with groupies and pulling him out of the crowd. I was basically deterring situations, even though the physical defense mechanisms were there ready to be used at any given time, even though we tried to talk our way out of any given situation. I wasn’t really expecting any problems, with the exception of one or two people who I knew didn’t like him because of some things he said on his record about their personal problems, but that’s part of the business and comes with the game. A lot of people were showing him some love and giving him pounds when he was walking through and shaking hands and whatnot. A lot of people were conversing with him. “I want to do a song with you, ” said a few emcees. I thought it was cool because I didn’t expect him to get that much love from s
o many people. I could tell was it real. They were congratulating him on his success. Once we got inside, we learned the seating arrangements were all mixed up. They only had three seats available for Slim, when other acts had at least five to ten. One seat went to Eminem, one went to Proof, his

  The after-effects of the drama preceding the Source Awards

  . Aug. 1999. hype man, and the third one went to his A&R person. I should have been sitting there because at a predominantly black event, nine times out of ten there’s going to be some drama. There’s always one fool in every bunch, especially with a lot of young black folks who are making money who like mouthing off. Lo and behold, that fool showed himself that night. I couldn’t sit with Slim due to the seating arrangement. None of the security guards were able to sit with their principal, the person they were guarding. Dre’s security guard was having the same problem. That night I wasn’t dressed as a security person because when I go places I like to dress as comfortably as possible, in this case as comfortably as Slim. I noticed the attire Sarge and Rowe had on—these guys came in all-black military fatigues looking like they were straight from the SWAT team— they were very impressive, and they had an intimidating presence. They weren’t as big as me, but the way they were dressed, their composure, the whole nine impressed me and I learned a lot from them. They basically taught me that I needed to dress the part, so that people will know that I am security and will think twice before approaching me—because of the vibe given off—before any problems could occur. I don’t think my attire, though, had anything to do with what might have gone down that night, and it definitely wouldn’t have prepared me for what happened next.

  Byron posing with Hollywood Porn celebs who gave the crew a freak show. As I was standing off to the side, the show was going on, and they were doing the taping and stuff, and I saw how “ghetto” the experience really was. For example, they had Dre present an award, but when they gave him the paper to present the award, there was nothing on it. Thank God it wasn’t live because there was literally a five-minute delay between the time it took them to find out who the winner was and Dre to announce it. Luckily, they were able to edit that part out. By the time Dre was on, there were several Death Row guys, all dressed in red T-shirts, sitting in the same section that Slim was in about eight rows back. Of course, they noticed him walk in, but I don’t think they noticed he had security because, again, I wasn’t able to sit with him and had to sit on the opposite side against a wall and watch him, as well as the people around him, and see what his reaction was. About an hour into the show, during a commercial break, Slim got up and signaled to me that he was going to the restroom. I had him wait while I walked around the long way, since I couldn’t go straight to him because the rows were filled. I had to walk up the opposite aisle, go into the hallway, come back into the facility, and meet him halfway in the aisle. I was trying to wade through all these people and, mind you, it was the Source Awards—it was very crowded, everybody was trying to show up in their outfits, their platinum chains, their Rolexes, the whole nine. I could see Slim getting congratulations from some more people, but before I could reach him, there were several guys in red T-shirts who approached him. I wasn’t thinking that this could be a Death Row-related issue, due to the laid-back atmosphere; it was just a lot of black folks mingling.

  I was still making my way through the crowd trying to get to Slim. The whole time, I was watching his face. These guys in red T-shirts were talking to him, and Slim was talking back to them, and I suddenly saw Slim’s facial expression change from a mild mannered to an angry—Slim turned flush red; he was just as red as the Death Row guys’ T-shirts. I was about three feet from him. I could hear the argument between Slim and the lead guy from Death Row. From what I understood, this guy ranked high. I was working my way through the last of the crowd when I heard the lead guy say, “What’s that Death Row like?” And Slim said, “What are you talking about, what’s that Death Row like?” They went on repeating, “Death Row, muh fucka, Death Row!” “How you like that Death Row?! We up in here, muh fucka!” By the time I reached Slim, he was agitated to the point where he was ready to swing. The Death Row guys were all up in Slim’s face. I pushed the lead guy back and put Slim behind. I asked, “What’s the deal, man? What’s going on? We can’t be having any of this shit up in here!” A Death Row guy responded, “Who the fuck is you?!!” “I’m Slim’s security, and we aren’t going to be having no problems up in here!” Now at this time, it hadn’t really registered yet that these cats were from Death Row. Next thing I knew, they were hollering, “Death Row, muh fucka! You gon’ see us again. ” Immediately, I got Slim out of there. We went into the hallway, and by that time he was amped.

  Slim’s fists were balled up, and he was nervous and scared. Honestly, I was nervous because they had outnumbered us, plus we were on their turf. I held my ground though. In the midst of getting him out of there, it dawned on me this was Death Row we were dealing with here. I expected some drama here—but not with Death Row Records. They are the last ones you want to get into it with. I said, “Alright, we got to deal with this situation!” The first thing I did was get on the phone and notify Paul of what had just happened. I informed Dean (Slim’s A&R rep) to go tell Dre’s security what was going on, as well. We knew we had to act fast. We had to get in and present the award for DMX, so we couldn’t leave. We were escorted downstairs to the holding area for the people to present the awards. The whole time I was looking out for anyone from Death Row. So many people were still coming up to Slim giving him play. I was thinking, somebody is going to try to steal on him. I was Slim’s only security guy. Prior to the Source Awards, I kept telling Paul that we were going to need additional security. I also suggested bulletproof vests be purchased for Slim and myself. I stressed that to him so many times weeks before the Source Awards happened. I was looking to be on the safe side, because Slim has talked so much shit about so many people in his songs. If history serves me correctly, someone has always gotten shot or killed after the Source Awards or after the Soul Train Awards.

  I didn’t want take that chance of Slim being the next target. He was vulnerable due to his high visibility—a white kid doing black music and talking shit about a lot of people. I was putting two and two together, taking preventive measures. Paul always shot down security measures, which wasn’t his job, although Slim gave him the okay to make the final call. His response was, “Naz, we are not trying to portray that type of image with Slim wearing a bulletproof vest. It wouldn’t be cordial or appropriate for him to go into the Source Awards with a bulletproof vest on. ” My response was, “Paul, look at the past Source Awards, the problems, the beefs, the skirmishes. Look at the Soul Train Awards, the after-parties, z all these hip-hop artists there. It always ends with somebody getting shot or killed. Look at the last few years!” He still said he didn’t think it was wise to do that. So now, with all the drama jumpin’ off, Paul was alerted that Death Row Records had approached us and tried to intimidate us. Paul was scared shitless! Slim was fuckin’ trippin’ at that point. Slim couldn’t figure out why they were harassing him. I was looking at the situation like, damn! I go from reading about this Death Row shit to being in the middle of it. What the fuck am I doing here? It was like a “Twilight Zone” moment; I could hear the “Twilight Zone” music playing. I said to myself, What the hell just happened? What just happened?

  We realized that we had bitten off more than we could chew. We didn’t expect this magnitude of drama—and it only got worse. Eventually, Slim presented DMX the award. Immediately afterward, I notified the

  Byron takes a quick nap after the Source Awards drama. limo driver by radio about what had gone on and asked him to pull up. Meanwhile, I was trying to get Slim together. I was bringing him out of a back room so we could avoid contact with the Death Row guys again. We got word that they were looking for us. They were definitely looking to start some shit. Later, we found out that they had beef with Slim because of Slim’s affiliation w
ith Dre. Dr. Dre previously had a beef with Death Row. To them, Slim was the next best thing, the new kid on the block, the most vulnerable. At this point, I was really trippin’ because I didn’t have any backup. Dre and his security did their thing, and they bounced. I couldn’t blame them because they really hadn’t had any face-to-face dealings that night. I focused on staying calm and not being nervous. If they see you nervous, they will really bother you. I finally got Slim out of there. I saw the limo pull up—then pull off—leaving me, Paul, and Slim standing in the front. The driver had been told to move, that he couldn’t sit there. He had only been sitting there like thirty seconds!

  The red carpet security didn’t listen to the driver’s explanation of what had happened. Then words were being exchanged between the outside security and myself. They didn’t care that a man’s life could be in danger. Due to the traffic, it took the limo driver ten minutes to go around the block and come back to us. During this ten minutes, Paul was turning red because he was so scared, and Slim was freaking out trying to figure out why they would want a piece of him. I was trying to watch my back and Slim’s. I tried to keep him calm. Slim kept saying, “We’re fucked, man! We’re fucked!” Paul humbly said, “Naz, I think you were right, we should have gotten those vests. ” I said, “Paul, we discussed this weeks ago. I told you we needed vests and that I would need some additional help! You shut down every idea that I presented to you. Please don’t even bring up the woulda-coulda-shoulda. I already made this clear to you. ” Paul and Slim didn’t understand the importance of security. I think that was the first time they really realized it. Finally, the car came back.