Life as Eminem’s Bodyguard in an Industry of Paper Gangsters by Byron “Big-Naz” Williams Ecclesiastes 3:7
A time to tear;
a tear to sew;
a time to keep silence;
a time to speak.
Publication Data
Byron Williams, 1970
Shady Bizzness by Byron “Big-Naz” Williams
Transcribed by Danielle P. Roberts Photographs by Byron Williams
Biography ISBN: 978-0-9703881-1-7
Popular Music – promotions and publicity Popular Culture
Music – Rap and Hip Hop
© 2000 Manage Me Productions, LLC. All rights reserved under United States and International copyright laws. No part of this book, including the index, text, graphics and photographs, may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, for any reason including for critical or literary review, without express permission in writing from the copyright holder.
Printed in the USA
The following people/things made this book possibl e in one way or another
(and listed in no particular order)
God Almight y
Mom and Dad
Jue-Jue my wife
Boo-Man my eldest
Brand-Brand my blessing chil d Lil Buddy The monster baby Grandma Rosetta and her prayers Pastor Twymon
Rev. Livingston
Danielle Roberts
Adam Wolf Rogers
Stephanie Hammonds Attorney at law Mark Hicks
Myron ( Hustle Man ) Williams Shonda and her micro-recorder Big Kenny
Sarge and Roe
Rock of J/A Security
Divine Culture Thee Intense M. F. Randy Cooke
Frankie Biggz
E-Bone and Jamal Spivey Chasco (Lunch Room Crew) DASIT
Art Forest
Ganny & Pops
Jamal Stubbs & Hanif Stubbs
May they all rest in peace
My little cousin Joshua Jenkins
and Korupt’s former bodyguard (Dwayne ìDrawsî Dupree) My cousin Helen Ma Ghee
Ma Dear
1
THE SLIM SHADY TOUR History constantly repeats itself. Over the last eight years, I have fought lies against entities stronger than I. I thought working for Slim Shady would somehow be different, but I was wrong. I had no idea that I would be accused of STALKING the very man I protected, SLIM SHADY! There was a change of heart between Slim and I when he brandished his 9 mm and made threats against me. Unknown to Slim, I had my hand in my coat pocket holding a . 40 cal. —praying not to take his life in self-defense. We had been through too much for such a sour ending—or at least I thought.
How did Byron “Big Nasty” Williams hook up with Slim Shady? One night I was sitting downstairs in my new home watching an MTV special about Slim Shady. I had heard about him and figured he was probably just another Vanilla Ice. I watched his video and was into it, so I went looking for his CD. Since all of the stores were sold out, I said to myself, “This kid must really be hot!” Finally, I got the CD, and the next thing I knew that’s all I was listening to on my way to work at GM every day. I told other people about it, but they would say, “Aw, that white boy, he’s probably no different than Vanilla Ice. ” They didn’t want to give him a chance and discredited him before checking him out. At the time, I was thinking, If this kid can make it, my groups can make it, too. I wasn’t being hateful or anything, I just knew that my groups were as talented as he was, and with Slim being from Detroit maybe it would open up some doors for other groups. I had seen many failures trying to get a deal, and basically we were selling our product on the street. I had my own label, Big Willz, and it seemed like getting a major deal wasn’t going to happen. By the time I met Slim, I had basically given up on this music thing and had pretty much settled on being an everyday Joe working at GM. It just seemed like every time I tried to get away from the music game, something would happen to pull me back in. I always did security on the side for some extra money, and on this particular night I got a call from crazy ass “Wolf, ” Adam Rogers, a street politician who knows a lot of people. I knew with him calling, something was about to happen. He told me that Slim was in town and needed some security for a rave party and asked if I would be interested. I told him that I wasn’t really trying to get into anything to do with music at that time; I was frustrated with it and content with my job. But Wolf proceeded to talk me into checking it out, anyway. Later, Paul Rosenberg (Slim’s manager and attorney) called me to ask me to be the security guy, trying—unsuccessfully—to impress me. He tried to get me to do three hours for $150, but I told him to give me $250, and I would cover him with a couple of my boys, and we agreed on that. I thought it would be a one-night deal. It was easy money. I guess Paul was impressed with everything we did because the next thing I knew he wanted me to go on tour with them. His request was on short notice, however, and I wasn’t impressed. It seemed like the music business was trying to get a hold on me once again. I contemplated it and talked to my people about it, and they encouraged me. My man Art Forest, who runs the studio we record at, told me I would be a fool not to take the job. He said it didn’t matter that I was security; he saw it as me getting my foot in the door. I had a long talk with my wife about it, and next thing I knew I was taking a leave of absence from GM and was packing my bags, not knowing whether my decision was going to hurt me or help me.
It was Wednesday, April 7, 1999, and the tour began. My first flight was the shittiest ever, and I think it was because of a woman; they had a woman piloting the plane, and she wasn’t very good at it! I didn’t have anyone to talk to, and I got the feeling that none of the other guys in Slim’s crew wanted me there. I already was feeling guilty for leaving my family, particularly with a two-month-old baby, and my wife probably felt like a single parent. She is a strong woman, though, and has always been there for me. She remained supportive. As soon as we touched ground, I called all of my people to feel at home again. I felt proud of myself for being there. I wondered what to do next. I constantly read my Bible to remain focused, and I did that throughout the whole tour. Some of the shit I saw on that tour made me think I was working for the devil.
We did two shows in Chicago. The first show was mild, but prior to the second show Slim was drinking like a fish and doing all kinds of drugs, so at that point I knew I was in for a ride. I don’t even know how he did the show. Some of his words were slurred, but he pulled through it. He must have done twenty stage dives that night, and I had to get him back on the stage, which wasn’t easy while fighting twenty girls trying to rip his shirt off. I proved myself that first night, but I got no thanks or anything. I had to go introduce myself to people that night because no one had said anything to me yet. I didn’t expect it, though, since security personnel always have the most responsibility and the least respect. After that, we headed to Pittsburgh.We were all getting acquainted, since it was the beginning of the tour and we didn’t really know one other. Slim had Proof and DJ Head, and then there was Gus, the tour manager Billy, the production manager, G, the bus driver, and me.There was a real ethnic mix of characters. Gus was the cool white dude. Billy was a straight-up stoner and openly smoked everything under the sun, but he got his job done as long as you let him do his thing. Gus had been touring for fifteen years and was only thirty. Nothing impressed him. Basically, he just wanted to get the job done because he had seen everything. Proof, who is the bes
t freestyle emcee in the world, was Slim’s hype man and didn’t drink or smoke at all before he began this tour. DJ Head and Billy were like Cheech and Chong on the tour, but Head always gave a flawless performance. I was leery of Head because of his history with Paul Rosenberg. They were former college roommates and also were in a group together in the past.
Living on a bus with a bunch of hard-legged men was rough, being a married man and seeing these men with all these groupies. Groupies were waiting at the hotel at nearly every venue. Slim’s road manager at the time, DT, basically was an asshole; his personality was shitty. Nobody really wanted to deal with him. I think Paul and Slim put up with him for as long as they did because they felt sorry for him because he had cancer the year before. He treated the fans like shit and fucked with our food. When no one was around, he would throw away the food because he wanted all of us to be vegetarians. He wanted to call all the shots, and it was bothering people.
At that time, we were doing an off-the-hook show in Pittsburgh. “The Crows” was like half hicks, half ravers, and a few thugs. A few people tried to rush the stage. At least the stage dives decreased to about three times. As usual, before and after the show Slim was drinking Bacardi and beer like a fish. After the show, everyone was chilling backstage. I let the finest girls backstage because it seemed like no one in the camp had any game. We let this one guy in who was like the ultimate Slim fan.We noticed him in the crowd because he had a mushroom tattooed on top of his head with “Slim Shady” written around it. He wanted to get back and party with Slim. He was begging, and Slim said, “OK, let him in. ” I warned him not to start any shit, because normally we only let girls in. About ten minutes later, I saw this dude whispering in Slim’s ear so I went over there. He says to Slim, “Dude, I wanna snakebite you. ” We were like, “What the fuck is he talking about; what is that?” What he was saying was that he wanted to suck Slim’s dick, so we embarrassed the shit out of him. He was begging to suck Slim’s dick in the dressing room. Slim freaked out because he is homophobic as it is. We put all the guys out of the dressing room. We laughed about it later, but it was kind of scary because Slim started seeing some of the things he said in his songs come to pass.
April 13th We were all bonding a little more at this time. The bus was really getting rough. We checked into hotels along the way in order to rest. I was a twenty-four-hour worker, the first one to get up and the last one to go to bed. I didn’t have a life on the road at all. People think security is a glamorous job, but it isn’t. I had to create my own fun and didn’t realize how much fun I wasn’t going to be having.We were now in Boston, probably one of the places where we were the least wanted. We had protesters there, and the first thing I suggested was not going into the dressing room until it was time for us to go on, in order to avoid trouble. We did the show and left, and everything went OK, even though they were really protesting Slim’s lyrics. We did a radio show there, too, but there was some obvious hating going on anyway. Folks were there because it was free, not because they appreciated the craft. The show performance was dry because the crowd was dry.
Our next stop was New York, and I was nervous because of all the negative shit I had heard. The New York crowd was rough because they didn’t get what they wanted. The dressing room was out of control because Paul and his partner kept bringing all their boys in the dressing room. One person from Vibe was trying to dog his way into the dressing room when Slim didn’t want to see any press. Next thing I know, I see a negative write-up in the magazine; I guess he was trying to dog me out for being so big. The show was off the hook. Slim was drunk and high and was doing some crazy shit. He had me busting my ass. He was so fucked up, I thought he was going to OD. He decided he really wanted to give it to the crowd. He climbed up about fifteen feet to the top speaker and jumped down into the crowd. The crowd went nuts, and it was like a damn swimming pool. I was thinking, How the fuck am I going to get him from the middle of the crowd? I proceeded to dive in, like Moses parting the Red Sea, and landed at the bottom and grabbed Slim. People were grabbing his shirt and pulling at his pants. On our way back to the stage, they started doing the same to me, and I was just beating people off of us. At that point, I knew that he was trying to test me to see just how much I had his back. I knew he was going to have me working. Later that night, we went to Club Shine in downtown NYC. Slim had continued drinking heavily at Shine and became paranoid about some Latino dudes staring him down. Of course, Slim took it as a threat and confronted the guys and was cursing at them.The next thing I knew, Slim had swung on one of the three guys. I immediately pushed the dudes back and grabbed Slim and carried him out the side door to the limo. After putting him in the limo where he was safe, the promoter of Club Shine and I had an altercation. The promoter was demanding that Slim come back into the club. When I told him no, he was pissed. At that point, I was done talking and ready to whip some ass! The promoter was very disrespectful. While the promoter continued to blah, blah, I ate my fully lit Cuban cigar. That was enough for the promoter to back the fuck up and say, “Fuck it!” We then left to prepare for the next day.
That Friday, we did another show, and at this one nothing special happened. That day Slim had no time to sleep and couldn’t sober up due to press conferences. He took drugs to stay up and to fall asleep. He was dependent on chemicals, I guess from the pressure of the shows and the press. I think the drugs came in mostly because of DT (his first road manager). DT would always pull Slim aside with his knapsack and give him drugs. Slim would take Ecstasy and shrooms before every show, and DT always furnished them. He would always try to slip someone something, and you had to watch him because he would try to slip something into your drink or food when you weren’t looking. I told him if I ever suspected him of fucking with my shit, I was going to kick his ass. I attribute Slim’s excessive use of drugs to DT. Although Slim was a grown man and could make his own decisions, DT was extremely influential. I saw Slim cry for the first time in Boston when couldn’t deal with the pressure of the tour. He broke down, and it was a sad sight.They were pressuring him for more press and more interviews, and it drove him crazy that they were always asking him the same questions. He cried and stormed out of the hotel, and Proof went after him to console him. He missed Hailey, his daughter, and I saw him as human because of that. That was the first time I ever thought of him other than as an entertainer. He was real—and had real feelings—even though he was intoxicated all the time.
On April 17th, we headed to California for the first time.We rode on a private jet about the size of a Pinto, and it fit me like a pair of pants from the eighth grade. We had to go through Customs, and Slim had a pocketful of drugs, so he started stuffing pills inside sandwiches. I couldn’t believe it! I knew I wasn’t holding shit for anybody. I thought Customs was going to bring out the dogs, but they didn’t. I saw at that point that Slim didn’t care about anyone else’s comfort—nothing outside of his own world matters, and he’s very self-centered.
We arrived in LA just after an earthquake hit.We went to a hotel right on the beach. It was a real nice hotel, with an oceanfront view, just like in the movies. The toilets were heated and everything. We were in California for three days shooting the video for “Role Model, ” and it was a long-ass
The crew: Byron, Slim, DJ Head, MC Proof, and Paul Rosenberg (Slim’s manager). shoot. It was on this shoot that I met Sarge and Rowe. They were Dre’s security. They watched me like a hawk, despite the fact that I was working for Slim. That made me nervous. They thought that opposing forces had sent me to infiltrate the aftermath. We all laugh about that to this day. The shooting lasted for sixteen, eighteen and, sometimes twenty hours over three days. Slim had to do his own stunts, which put him under a lot of stress. I took care of him, but I still wasn’t getting any type of response or respect. He hadn’t opened up to me. He would just take off sometimes without me. He would lie about his whereabouts and didn’t grasp the fact that he was a well-known star now and needed security. He thought
he could handle himself, and I had to talk to him about trying to shake me all the time and that I was hired to protect him.The video shoot started to go more smoothly after that. One time, his road manager disappeared for a while, and I had to step in and take over that responsibility. I didn’t get any thanks for that either, even though I did go out of my way and above my duties. It was cool seeing Dre and Slim work side by side. His wife and kid accompanied Dre, and they by his side while he worked. It reminded me of my family. Slim started getting sick, and things were getting hectic, but finally the shoot ended and everyone could get some rest.
There was tension because Paul and DT were at odds since DT went missing in action at the video shoot. DT treated the fans like shit for real then, and he lagged behind when we were loading the bus, which put Slim’s life in jeopardy. Plus he took Slim out to sign autographs without me, and I checked him about that. He wasn’t hearing anything I had to say, so that became our first run-in.
April 28th, Austin, Texas This was the wildest, most diverse crowd I had ever seen. They were off the hook! There were at least 3, 000 people there—the rowdiest people I had seen in my life—but all of the different ethnic groups were in harmony. They were fighting to get to Slim. They were rushing the stage and throwing shit. They twisted up the bicycle barricade and threw it like it was a pretzel. People were building human ladders and rushing the stage like that. I had to put Slim on my shoulders and run him to the dressing room with a wall of security guys around me. Someone pissed everybody off by throwing a beer bottle through the dressing room window. It was wild!
On May 5th, we did Vegas. I was stressed out, tired, and missing my family. Living out of a suitcase and living on buses was getting tiring. The show was funny because some kid wore an ICP T-shirt to the concert.Why would this kid wear an ICP T-shirt to a Slim Shady concert? Everyone knows that Slim hates ICP. So, upon Slim’s instructions, the crowd ripped
Shady Bizzness: Life as Eminem's Bodyguard in an Industry of Paper Gangsters Page 1
