DETROIT — When news hit that Eminem is featured on Kid Rock's new Christian album "Halfway 2 Jesus," Eminem fans went into an uproar, especially given the two artists' differing political ideologies: Eminem is firmly left, Kid Rock staunchly right.

That's the whole point of the collaboration, says Rock, to prove that two people can overcome their differences and find common ground.

But Eminem is no longer featured on "7 Sins," the track he was originally slated to be featured on when the album's track listing was announced on Oct. 1.

He's instead featured on a different track, "Heal My Faith," a track that was recorded prior to "7 Sins." "7 Sins" still appears on the album, but Eminem's verse has been dropped from the track. And now a different superstar rapper appears on "7 Sins" in Eminem's place.

"The people that hate the idea of it are going to be like, 'he's not on '7 Sins,' I knew it was fake! And then they'll be like, 'Ah, he's on another song!'" Rock says. "In terms of marketing, I couldn't come up with a plan that good."

Rock originally reached out to Eminem about the project a year ago.

"So I had this crazy, big-hook song, and I asked (Eminem) if he'd write me a verse, 'cause it's kind of a rap thing, and I was stuck," says Rock, seated in the living room area of his Tennessee music studio earlier this week. "He sends back, six weeks later or something, a verse of him, wrapping up our whole history together: Day One, living at (Los Angeles) Oakwood Apartments together, how I came to a show of his 'Slim Shady EP' release when he was nobody and told him to keep going, how much that meant to him back then. And he nails the line, 'he's my brother, not my political enemy,' and it just sent chills through me. I'm like, 'man, this is so important!' People need to hear this, you know?"

Rock said initially, he was hesitant about reaching out to Eminem for a collaboration because of his own high profile and divisive standing in the world of American politics.

"I really didn't want to drag him into my political world. That's why I kind of asked him to just write me a verse, you know?" Rock says.

Months later, still early in the process of the making the album, Rock came up to Detroit and visited Eminem in the studio. Rock played Em demos of the new album, and after hearing "7 Sins," Em asked Rock to send it to him, so he could add a verse to it.

"So he does, and it's incredible," Rock says.

They changed course and "7 Sins" became the song, and "Heal My Faith" was put on the back burner.

But after the album's track listing was announced earlier this month, Rock says Eminem reached out and asked how long it had been since he had listened to the original track. It had been a while, Rock told him.

"Listen to it again," Rock says Em told him. "I think we should switch songs."

Eminem was correct, Rock says, as he was reminded of the power of the original track. The switch was flipped, Em went about polishing up the recording on his end, and the final track came over, finished, on the morning of Oct. 11.

"It brought me to tears," Rock says. "I didn't cry when my dad died."

Rock says "Heal My Faith" fits perfectly into the album. It's listed as the fifth track on the album.

"There's something, listening to the body of work now, and knowing how important this is for other people to hear this messaging, especially in this day and age we live in," says Rock. "I'm pretty sure most people, like me, are sick of the division in everything. Lord knows I've been one of the most polarizing figures in the country. I've done more than my part to punch back and divide people."

Paul Rosenberg, Eminem's longtime manager, says the track and the overall collaboration — their first recorded music together since Eminem appeared on Kid Rock's 1998 breakthrough album "Devil Without a Cause," six months prior to the release of Em's "The Slim Shady LP" — has everything to do with Eminem and Kid Rock's shared history together.

"Marshall and Bob have known each other for over 30 years," Rosenberg says in a statement to The Detroit News. "I don't think it's a surprise to anyone that they have taken pretty different career and political trajectories since then, but I do think people forget that they both came up through the same scene in and around Detroit and share a bond over that.

"The song will speak for itself when people hear it. It doesn't always have to be about making a political statement," Rosenberg says. "Obviously there's a lot of stances that Bob has taken and statements he has made that Marshall doesn't agree with, but I do know that they saw this as a chance to show that people on opposing sides can still be friends in a time where we all seem more divided than ever."

Which leads us back to the open hole on "7 Sins."

Rock reached out to Lil Wayne — a longtime friend, since the pair performed "All Summer Long" together at the CMA Awards in 2008, with Wayne on guitar — to fill the suddenly empty spot left behind by Eminem.

He didn't immediately hear back from Wayne, so he then reached out to Public Enemy's Chuck D, who didn't have time to turn something around in time for the album's deadline. So Rock performed a musical break to fill in the space on the song no longer occupied by a rap verse.

But then early in the morning on Oct. 12, Rock received a message from Wayne, saying he'd be happy to knock out a verse on the song.

Rock said great, he'd get the track over to him. But he emphasized he needed it back immediately, because the album needed to be finished and finalized by Oct. 14 in order to be sent to streaming services in time for the album's Oct. 17 release.

But then, while listening to the album with a group of journalists on Oct. 12, Rock had a light bulb moment: What if he asked Wayne to rap on the album's title track instead?

Rock ultimately settled on asking Wayne to rap on "7 Sins," the New Orleans rapper sent in his verse on time, and his contribution was mixed and mastered on Oct. 14, just in time to make the album's final track listing. One legendary rapper out, another legendary rapper in; a good problem to have, and a solid win after several days of stress.

Rock, meanwhile, says the fan drama around his collaboration with Eminem is par for the course for both artists.

"If there's two people who understand the noise, two people who've created a lot of noise in our careers, it's us," he says, questioning the legitimacy of the fan uproar that erupted at the announcement.

"Empty wagons make the most noise. We know that. Like, who are these people? You're upset that two old friends did something together? You're essentially confirming the problem."

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