Kim (song)

Last updated
"Kim"
Song by Eminem
from the album The Marshall Mathers LP
ReleasedMay 23, 2000
Recorded1998 [1]
Genre
Length6:17
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) F.B.T.
Audio sample

"Kim" is a song by American rapper Eminem that appears on his 2000 album The Marshall Mathers LP . The song reflects intense anger and hatred toward his then-wife Kim Mathers and features Eminem imitating her voice, and ends with him murdering her and later putting her body in the trunk of his car.

"Kim" was the first song Eminem recorded for the album, shortly after finishing work on The Slim Shady LP in late 1998. [6] He wrote it, along with "'97 Bonnie & Clyde" (where Eminem and his daughter go to the lake to dispose of Kim's dead body), when he and Kim were having relationship problems and Kim was preventing him from seeing his daughter Hailie. Despite its controversial graphic content, it is often highlighted as one of Eminem's most memorable songs.

"Kim" is the third song of Eminem about Kim, the first of which is "Searchin'" from his debut album Infinite, and the second "'97 Bonnie & Clyde" from the albums Slim Shady EP and The Slim Shady LP.

On the clean version of The Marshall Mathers LP, this song is replaced by a clean version of "The Kids" (an unedited version can be found on the CD single of "The Way I Am" along with the UK and deluxe editions of The Marshall Mathers LP).

Critical reception

The Rolling Stone album review of The Marshall Mathers LP stated that:

Things degenerate from there into the mountain of bile reserved for Kim, the mother of his baby and the star of the world's most public ongoing murder fantasy [...] 'Kim' has Eminem screaming at his ex in an insane stream-of-consciousness hate spew. There's little humor to blunt the shock of the hellbent animosity of 'Kim.' What makes it powerful is that, of course, he doesn't just hate her. It's the most harrowing sick-love song since Guns N' Roses' 'Used to Love Her.' [7]

While Entertainment Weekly wrote that:

'Kim', a prequel to '97 Bonnie and Clyde' is a shout-rapped enactment of domestic violence so real it chills... 'Stan' and 'Kim' blaze significant new ground for rap. [8]

In 2001, Robert Christgau told Rolling Stone that songs like "Kim" and Ghostface Killah's "Wildflower" employ sexist content in an artful way that offers insight into its pathology, citing them as exceptions to the usual "reflexive and violent sexism" popularized by rap and heavy metal: "[T]he nonsense that 'Kim' advocates the murder of wives who cheat – what an absurdity, and what a disgusting absurdity on the part of people who don't give Eminem credit for being more intelligent than they are, quite frankly." [9]

In 2013, Complex ranked "Kim" at #21 on their list of the 25 most violent rap songs of all time [10] and at #4 on their list of the 35 most depressing rap songs. [11]

Related Research Articles

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"'97 Bonnie & Clyde" is a song by the American rapper Eminem. The song appears on the Slim Shady EP and The Slim Shady LP. Eminem recorded a prequel for The Marshall Mathers LP, "Kim". The song was covered by Tori Amos on her 2001 album of gender-swapped covers, Strange Little Girls. In the song, Eminem talks to his daughter whilst taking her to the pier to throw his wife, Kim, in the sea. He speaks to his daughter Hailie in a baby like fashion But still has a dark undertone.

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<i>The Marshall Mathers LP 2</i> 2013 studio album by Eminem

The Marshall Mathers LP 2 is the eighth studio album by the American rapper Eminem. It was released on November 5, 2013, by Shady Records, Aftermath Entertainment, and Interscope Records. The album is Eminem's last to have the involvement of independent label WEB Entertainment. It serves as a sequel to his third album The Marshall Mathers LP (2000). The album was recorded from 2012 to 2013 with several different producers, with Dr. Dre and Rick Rubin serving as executive producers. It features guest appearances from Skylar Grey, Rihanna, Nate Ruess, and rapper Kendrick Lamar, among others.

"So Far..." is a song by American hip hop recording artist Eminem, taken from his eighth studio album The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (2013). The song discusses Eminem meditating on the pitfalls of fame and the tendency for things to go wrong at the worst possible moment. The song was produced by the album's executive producer Rick Rubin. "So Far" features samples from the Joe Walsh recording "Life's Been Good" and also contains samples of "P.S.K. What Does It Mean?" as performed by Schoolly D, Change the Beat by Beside, as well as "The Real Slim Shady" and "I'm Back" by himself. The song was met with generally positive reviews from music critics upon the album's release and debuted at number three on the US Billboard Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles.

"Bad Guy" is a song by American rapper Eminem, taken from his eighth album The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (2013). The song connects the second LP to the first Marshall Mathers LP, which was released in 2000. "Bad Guy" is also a sequel to Eminem's hit single "Stan", which appears on the aforementioned album.

"Rhyme or Reason" is a song from Eminem's eighth studio album The Marshall Mathers LP 2. The song concerns his father's abandonment of his wife and Eminem when Eminem was born. Produced by the album's executive producer Rick Rubin, the song contains samples of The Zombies' "Time of the Season" from their 1968 album Odessey and Oracle. The song received positive reviews from music critics.

Slim Shady is the alter ego of American rapper Eminem.

References

  1. ↑ Angry Blonde: The Official Book. HarperCollins. 21 November 2000. ISBN   9780066209227.
  2. ↑ "10 Horrorcore Tracks For Halloween". hotnewhiphop.com. 31 October 2014.
  3. ↑ "Eminem's Wife Attempts Suicide At Couple's Home". MTV.
  4. ↑ "Coyo Discusses His Top Six Horrorcore Rap Songs". Houston Press .
  5. ↑ "Eminem's 'The Marshall Mathers LP' Album Review". 6 July 2000.
  6. ↑ Hasted, Nick (2003). Hasted, 2011. p. 156. Omnibus Press. ISBN   9781849384582 . Retrieved 2016-01-07.
  7. ↑ "The Marshall Mathers LP Eminem Review Rolling Stone". RollingStone.com. Retrieved 2012-04-30.
  8. ↑ "The Marshall Mathers LP". Entertainment Weekly . 2000-06-02. Retrieved 2012-02-17.
  9. ↑ Dansby, Andrew (February 16, 2001). "Critic Christgau Wraps the '90s". Rolling Stone . Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  10. ↑ "The 25 Most Violent Rap Songs of All Time21. Eminem "Kim" (2000)". Complex.
  11. ↑ "The 35 Most Depressing Rap Songs". Complex.
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