Whats it like being Shady on stage?

Its crazy whenever i have gigs in towns im not from. When im on the road im with my entourage which usually consists of two of my friends an my cousin who i share the stage with. Then there’s always my uncle who manages my events, an if anyone from my social circle or family want to come along then we take upto three of ‘em. We have our own silver ford minibus thats got tinted windows which seats up to 8 so the journeys are always great fun.

When the stage is bein all set up with the lighting it gets me really geared up. I’ll walk around it, get a feel for what im workin with. The stages i perform on aren’t huge but there’s enough space to jump around.

 Once the stage is done there’s the sound, safety and light checks which give us an opportunity to clown around, especially with the mic checks, we’ll all end up goofin off, but there’s times you gotta concentrate, everything must be perfect. Sound check’s quick, just to see if the mics are workin for when we speak to the crowd, i mime the Eminem songs but the tracks we perform aren’t the studio recorded versions you hearin the albums, they are the live versions so it sounds and looks legit. After all that's over an done with we’ll use up the rest of our day, grab somethin to eat, look around an find somethin to do.

Around or just before the hour the shows due to commence we go back to the venue an go over, run shit through one final time. Doors usually get opened to the public 30 minutes before the performance is scheduled to begin, so whilst people are gettin seated or placed im slippin into my outfit.

The best bit comes when you ready and you can hear all the audience talkin over the interval music. Sometimes i’ll catch a sneaky peak in the wings, i’ll mostly always see girls chatting, messing with their hair, see little kids runnin about, parents tellin them to calm down. One time whilst i were lookin i stood just in sight of the front row and everyone started squealing and pointing, but before i got to wave security told me to move out of eyesight.

All my shows are the same, have been for years, so we know everythin down to a T. The lights go down 10 minutes before my entrance, if the venue has the equipment we run footage on the back wall of the stage with clips of Eminem’s music videos but if the place don’t have a projector we play his music. The audience cheer, whistle an go mental straight away when they see Eminem’s footage. When the video snippets end my cousin Drew opens the show up by jumping out onto stage, he warms the crowd up with the line “When i say Slim... You say Shady!” he’ll do that three times, then my two group mates Big D and Tic will speak the intro of Business “Hurry, hurry step right up” ect. As im coming up the steps i’ll rap the first couple words out of sight and as soon as i walk onto stage they go insane crazy!

 I’ll walk past my group and low five them until im at the opposite end of the stage. Whilst im rapping i’ll always check out the front row to pick out the most hyped up fan to pick on when im interacting with the crowd. It’s usually a female because guys are to laid back to jump to the front row but if there’s a dude there rapping along with me i’ll aim more at them because females always get the most attention.

As soon as Business finishes that's our first opportunity to interact with the audience. We wait for the noise to die down and then Drew will comment on how good the crowd looks, Big D and Tic will do a few funny comments to people who are wearing Eminem T-shirts or clothing, sayin shit like “Yall know this aint a real concert right?” Which makes them all laugh. Whilst they doin that im slowly walking about, putting my left hand over my eyes to look to the back, I’ll say “Yo, what about yall at the back, make some noise!” including the back is important to me because i kinda imagine them feelin left out, but they’re the ones who really go for it to get noticed.

I’ll introduce my next track being Stan and that's when it all kicks off. The energy flow you gets indescribable and it gets your heart beating ten times to the dozen.  Once Stan’s done we go into Loose Yourself, then Mocking bird, My name is and then Just Lose it. After we finish the last song we have an 20 minute intermission which i use to freshen up and change my outfit. By this time im buzzing, we all are and we always be doing somethin, moving shit about in the room, pull pranks but most importantly we hydrate to get back out onto the stage, with the spotlights it gets boilin.

To kick of the second half again the lights go down and the sound of the wind on the introduction of Superman will play and all the girls begin to create. It’s one of my favourites to perform because i get a fan on stage, not a Stan, one that blows air.

Anyways i walk to the right side of the stage which is all dark. I’ll stand with my legs spread, my hands joined infront of me holding the mic an looking down at the floor. Then when i say “You high baby” the spotlight above me beam’s down whilst im looking to the left hand area of the stage. For Dena Ray’s part i have a lady named Jodie who comes on from the left wings and that's when all the lighting effects kick in, she walks up to me whilst doing her spoke part and then i’ll step away from her an rap in the direction to the audience, she has the easy part of standing in the breeze of the fan, posing.

If you’ve ever watched the Eminem anger management tour our performance mimics that until i reach pre chorus. I’ll step down one step when i rap the line “But i do know one thing though” everyone starts getting hyped when they know im coming down to them. As i step down again and rap the next line “Bitches they come they go” then third step i rap the third line and then i walk down the rest of the steps. As soon as i reach the floor women at the front go hysterical, they all hold their hands out, and i try to look them all in the eyes whilst doing the chorus which makes them make higher pitched screeches. I’ll walk the full length of the stage an then i’ll go back up the other set of steps on that side whilst beginning the second verse. Me and Jodie will then interact between each other from a distance until we finish the last verse. When i then rap for the last time “i know you want me baby, i think i want you to” i point to her and she begins to walk up to me and that's when the crowd hypes up to see the intimacy. She’ll stroke down my chest and the girls start screaming, i’ll stroke down the side of her torso and everyone’s whistling and cheering and we’ll bump and grind for a few minutes. That song gets the most reactions from the audience and its crazy.

When Superman finishes we banter with the crowd and kick into Im a Soldier then the big finale we do Cleaning out My Closet.

If the venue has the space, for example a big foyer or separate hall we’ll do photo opportunities. When i come off stage Drew, Big D and Tic will all stay up and entertain them for the five minutes i can grab to get refreshed. I’ll get seated down at a desk and the venues security will control the audience. I’ll sit and wait for a few minutes and then you hear all the hyped up people coming towards the doors. We sell big flyers people can get for a quid and event advertisers sell merchandise they can buy and believe it or not people want me to sign a lot of things.

 Parents who take their young kids tell them i am Eminem so they love it when i put my arm around them and smile into the camera with them. That's why i love doing what i do, i know that kid until he grows up a little wiser will think he's met Eminem which is huge, so for them to take that feeling with them energizes me. The praise i get from parents i appreciate a lot too, they appreciate you for making their kids happy and i also respect the dudes who come up to me and shake my hand, tellin me how i did Em proud, that gives me a massive boost. But then there’s the fan girls and knowin how to handle them. Most of them are too nervous to really say much, but a few times they’ve embarrassed me by asking me stupid questions. Once i had a girl saying how she’d love to shag me in the toilets, if it was in private id probably of just laughed but the people waiting in line were all different ages, just stupid shit like that can piss me off, i want to tell them to shut their mouths but i just let them wrap their arms around me and bare it.

If you get to perform on stage it’ll be the best moments during your life. Its a buzz you cant really explain. Knowing people come out of their way to watch you’s mad, im always thankful. When you get people singing with you and wanting your attention makes you feel huge, its kinda insane. I can honestly say i’ve never once been relaxed or used to performing, each time you perform comes a different experience and a new high, it never becomes predictable an you never adapt to it. As long as i keep doing shows for my idol i know i’ll be happy. 

Social networks, what Lloyd Ridehalgh does and does not have

Lloyd currently owns a direct account on www.twitter.com . Previous years he has owned a facebook account and a Bebo account but he deleted his profiles after fake pages and groups were created, using his identity and personal pictures.

One fake account which is waiting to be shut down from pirating pictures is of a Patrick Wahlsten. This fake account has used Ridehalgh’s pictures on the internet for a lengthy period of time, claiming to be a Swedish Eminem look alike. Its believed that a gentleman who created a Youtube video to make the Patrick Wahlsten character searchable on the web was the one behind the facebook and Bebo account that stole Lloyds pictures, including baby and pre-toddler photos that a family member had posted up on Facebook.com . Not only were the pictures shared on social networking sites but also they were blogged on the internet attached with a very convincing story on Wahlsten’s where abouts and upbringing, one section of the text even claimed he was featured in Swedish magazines, a celebrity in his own rights. But of course the contents were all sham, with no evidence because the person's make-believe.

Ridehalgh confronted the fake profile sometime last year and there has been no interaction from the Facebook page since.

                                                                                                                      

Lloyd has only Twitter where only he can directly tweet and update pictures to his fans, personally. For more information on his username or how to follow Lloyd himself please leave a comment or blog to this account.

Lloyd Ridehalgh, the basics.

My story.. well not much to it, just some dude tryna pursue his dreams i guess. Ever since i was young i was into rap, biggie, tupac, loved all that shit but my obsession with rap and my interest towards that genre of music turned serious when i heard my Pa playin Eminem’s Infinite album. I were only young, must of been around 7 maybe 8 and it was on and i was sat there, just listening to it. Never done that cause as a kid you more into your TV and playin on the front street with your mates, but i were sat on the sofa whilst my dad played on his Playstation just listening to this dude talking fast in a melodic way. My dad told me abit about Slim Shady, showed me a picture of him from a games magazine he was featured in and i thought “wow this dude is seriously cool”. So then i began to listen to this record more and more, when id get home from school, whenever i was doin homework, after id ate my tea, i began to pick out lyrics and recite them. I had no idea half the shit he was sayin but i knew i liked the vibe, the mellow beats, the feeling you got listening to this guy talk.
Ever since then i grew abit obsessed, id found a role model and secretly i loved this dude more than my own father. Every time id go to ICT in primary school id try look up anything on him, and i learn about him and how he came about, i was wrapped into his life, completely fascinated with him, i wanted to be him. As soon as Em released an album i bought it. In school i got most of my mates listening to him, they loved his style. The reason i took to Em’s story was because my home life was god damn hard. My mum and dad argued a lot, fights with a lot of blood, police were involved, they did drugs every other weekend, i looked after my little sister a lot too, and his music created an escape route for me, id go into my room plug my earphones into my cd player and block out the shouting and fighting. As soon as i started high school and i got into the social circle of new friends that's when people would point out that i had a few of Eminem's features. A girl used to tell my how i had Shadys nose and his eyes, but i got embarrassed about it, and i didn’t like it much.
 I then got to the 4^th year in high school and there were an end of year talent contest and my cousin Drew who was in the same year as me told me i should do an Eminem song. I laughed about it at first but i knew all of Shadys material that was out so far. After school i asked my Ma about it and she told me i could get an outfit for it and supported me on my idea. So she took me shopping that weekend and i bought my first Eminem styled outfit, black loose fit joggers, a pair of plain white Nike trainers, an oversized white T-shirt, a white baseball cap and a baggy black zip up Nike hoody. She even took me to a shop that sold fake jewellery so i bought a silver chain that came down my chest and a silver ring. I met back up with my cousin Drew when i got back home that night, he told me id missed out the du-rag. He had a black one that he leant me and that was me kitted out!
Dinner time and break at school was for rehearsing and all the acts were in there, i was in the far corner with the schools ghetto blaster i had borrowed from my music teacher and i put on Encore, and began reciting to Mocking bird. The reason for my song choice was basically because that was the most commercialized Eminem song so far, so i wanted people to be able to sing along.
Anyway i got on with my shit and my school mates started poppin into the main hall to watch me rehearse, they all loved what they saw. I was only miming but i felt like Em’s voice were channelling from my vocal chords. The night finally came and word got about what i was doin and apparently everyone couldn't wait for my performance.
The drama teacher who were head of the talent contest put my act as the closing act which i fumed about because i had to sit through the whole show which meant watchin girls that i hated sing like shit and performances from the drama club that made me wanna gag. I just wanted to do my shit and go home. Anyway after almost an hour it were my time to go up on stage, i got dressed up and the girl who i were with at the time told me i was gonna do great and that i looked like a miniature twin which made me laugh some nerves off. My name got introduced and i climbed up the couple of steps as soon as the first piano notes played. Soon as i said the opening word “Yeah...” i looked up into the huge spotlight coming from the top balcony in our huge school hall and i looked down into the crowd of parents and family of everyone in this contest. As i mimed in sync to the spoken intro everyone began clapping, and then i felt my shoulders loosen up. The music sounded amazing in the open hall and the mic i had was a real one but it wasn’t turned on so whilst i was really rapping , people only heard Em. People were tapping their feet and clapping to the beat of the song. I were walking around the stage, using Shadys hand movements, walk and persona that id studied on videos and film. Obviously people knew i were miming so on the second chorus i pulled it away from my mouth and pointed it to the crowd and the majority of the crowd joined in, it gave me one of the hugest fuckin rushes id experienced.
 After i’d finished they all went berserk and i got a standing ovation for it. I won the contest and from that moment on i knew what i wanted to do, i wanted to be on stage. When i got to 16 i started to dress like Eminem all the time, i even bought his official merchandise and anything i could get my hands on. When i went out at weekends i got a lot of looks and attention even at such a young age. I even began talkin like him because id listen to him so much. The attention id get caused a major rift between me and my then girlfriend id been with since i was 14.
At age 17 my facial features grew stronger, especially my jaw line and i could see in myself that i were beginning to look alot like Eminem himself, my own mother said the resemblance was crazy. I then joined social networking sites and started taking pictures and everyone would leave comments telling me how much i resembled Marshall and it made me feel brilliant. As soon as i began my engineering apprenticeship at collage the guys there even told me i looked the spit of my idol, but it started to get abit boring, everyday hearsay. After a while everywhere i went i got people coming up to me commenting on my looks, i just thanked them, didn’t really know how to deal with it. Then my girlfriend got jealous because a lot of females started to chat me up, whistle, she’d get wound up, accuse me of wanting to sleep with them, it put a lot of pressure on me because i loved her at the time but she split with me. I got really fucked off and stayed in for a while, only going out to go to collage. I sat down and put on one of Em’s albums, and then i turned it off, and decided i needed to vent, so i got out one of my collage pads and took a pen and started writing, words added up and it felt good to burn the ink. Obviously it was nothin genius but i looked at it an i were pretty damn proud. Again i turned to my cousin Drew who’s also one of my closest an he said there were some pretty good material, told me to save up to buy something to record on, he had a set of decs and some vinyl’s and before we knew it we were in his room, i had the mic and we began laying down stuff. I never promoted myself for it but we made CD copies and people took them for free.
In my own rights in my neighbourhood i became abit of a low key celeb, people were all around me at house parties and where ever i went people would always say hi and then i heard back from my high school ex and hooked back up with her. As soon as i hit 18 i began going out partyin, gettin myself into states, people buyin my drinks for me, handin me a few pills here and there i loved it, my parents had calmed down ever since my second sister came along six years back, but id gone off course. However i did calm down when my nana passed away, it was fucking crazy how fast that year had gone. When i passed and finished my apprenticeship they took me on permanently and so i got back into work and got on with what i had to do. I passed my driving test, bought my first car and planned to move out with my girlfriend but my uncle who set up stages for festivals had come to me and told me i should save up for stage gear. It became a lot clearer when he told me he could get me a tribute show gig at a venue which took on tribute shows and big social events. This was up north, we lived in Fulham, south of London and he wanted me to perform in a small town in Lancashire.
After a month all had been finalized and i got the show all i needed was to put it together, my uncle acted like a manager, he were one of those guys who knew everyone, contact book as long as fuck so he got a cheap photographer to take some shots of me to make a poster that was to advertise the show. He then said i should find a “crowd warmer” so i got Drew on board and two of my best mates who were Deshaun or ‘Big D’, he was your average big, black ghetto African, English dude who loved nothin but weed and there was Chris who we called ‘Tic-tac’ because when we were younger we dared him to shove a tic-tac up his nose and he got it stuck and had to go hospital.
Anyway we got putting ideas together and we got putting the show together bit by bit. We had two month of solid rehearsals and then before we knew it the night came. We preformed to 600 people that night, and it were the best night in my whole damn life. We opened the show to Business but a version we created and mixed without the lyrics, just the beat and the sirens going off in a loop, Drew introduced the concert by sayin “Ladies and gentleman... Its show time!” Then Big D came out shouting “Hurry, hurry step right up, introducing the star of our show...” just as Big D and Drew were shouting out, Tic-Tac joined them and they all in sync shouted “His name is...” And where the backing vocals of “Marshall...” were about to kick in the record scratched and the music cut out, of course all being the act. The three of them would blame each other and then the stage lights go, for a split second everyone’s sat in darkness and then the stage lights power up and then the original track to Business kicks in and i come out rapping “Bitches and gentleman its show time...” Everyone went wild, i looked out and girls were going mental, i didn’t think much, didn’t want to fuck anything up so as Drew took on the role of Dre and Bic C and Tic stood either side of the stage egging on the crowd i began getting into the role of my idol. We based our hour an twenty minute long gig on the anger management tour so everything Em did on there i mimicked, except bumpin and grindin with a female on Superman.
 The show was huge and when i finished people went mental, i couldn't understand because i wasn’t really Eminem, they knew that so why were they so hyped? But man i fuckin loved the attention. We did a photo opportunity thing, and all the females sat on my lap, kissed my cheeks, hugged me, never known anything like it. After that show came more, but not as big as that, more in clubs, private gigs, and conventions. Loved doin it but the more i did it the more my bird got jealous and ended up questionin my shit, gettin on my nuts, goin mental at every girl who claimed to have been with me which weren’t true. We argued all the god damn time and fought a couple of times. She then cheated on me so we broke up for good and i hated her guts, still do but i had more important shit to deal with. I dont waste time on girls, i focus on representing my idol, doin what i love to do. It still amazes me how much attention i get, i’ll walk around stores and people will follow me around, even when im on the street or driving in my car people stare, but i make it more fun, play up to it, fool them, i’ll go dress up as Shady to places and take a big group of friends with me and we’ll walk around and attract a lot of attention, but even when they find out it aint Eminem they still want pictures.


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