Skylar Grey Comes Out of the Shadows, Spills Details of How She Got Involved With Eminem

Skylar Grey sparked a buzz after performing 'I Need A Doctor' at the Grammys alongside Eminem and Dr. Dre -- and although she's credited for writing Rihanna's part in the doubly-nominated Eminem song, 'Love the Way You Lie' -- Grey's name has just recently started becoming 'household.'

In part, it could be because it's not her name at all. Before Skylar Grey (i.e. grey skies), she was Holly Brook (her true first and middle names). “My whole roll-out as Skylar Grey has been this mysterious being,” the Wisconsin native tells EW.

Mysterious indeed -- from photos to her Grammy performance, Grey has been intentionally shrouded by shadows as a way to literally keep her out of the spotlight. “If you’ve seen the website, even the pictures are very shadowed because we’re slowly easing me out," she says. "I’m not a big fan of trying to be a sex symbol or any of that stuff because I really like the music to speak for itself. And so I wanted to make that clear from the very beginning.”

As for how she got involved with Eminem in the first place, Grey tells EW that it all came quickly and emotionally. She poised lyrics for 'Love the Way You Lie' -- her first beat to write to -- with her producer, Alex da Kid, and they shipped it over to the rap superstar, who "took it to a very abusive relationship place."

But it was when the 25-year-old Wisconsin girl came at Eminem with the chorus for 'I Need a Doctor' that their relationship truly blossomed. Grey tells the story of what was an "amazing" moment in her life -- when Eminem locked himself up with the song for two hours and came back with it completely finished. "He played us the verses, and I literally started bawling," Grey admits. "There’s so much passion and honesty and vulnerability in his verses talking to Dr. Dre, and they were both standing there in the room, and I could see years and years of stuff — of s--- and great stuff, of their lives — just come pouring out into the song."

Her first single and debut album as stand-alone artist Skylar Grey are now in the works, with an 'eclectic emo thing' happening in the studio that Grey hopes will knock people off their feet. “When people hear it, I want them to not have expectations,” she says. “I don’t believe in expectations. I feel like that’s a bad thing to have in life. I don’t watch movie trailers. I just go to the movie, and I don’t know anything about it, because that’s the only way I appreciate the movie fully. I go in there with expectations, I don’t end up liking it as much as I thought it would.”

Since her Grammy performance, Grey and her people have been overwhelmed by emails from people who want to collaborate with her, but they aren't naming names just yet! We'll have to keep our ears peeled for more Skylar Grey.