"My Name Is" | ||||
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Single by Eminem | ||||
from the album The Slim Shady LP | ||||
Released | January 25, 1999 | |||
Recorded | 1998 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 4:28 | |||
Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Dr. Dre | |||
Eminem singles chronology | ||||
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Music videos | ||||
"My Name Is" is a song by American rapper Eminem from his second album The Slim Shady LP (1999). It is also the opening song and lead single of the album. The song contains an interpolation [2] (replayed sample) from British singer Labi Siffre's 1975 track "I Got The..." featuring the bass and guitar riff as originally played by British pop rock duo Chas & Dave. The song was ranked at #26 on "VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '90s". [3] "My Name Is" was also ranked #6 on Q Magazine's "1001 Best Songs Ever". [4] "My Name Is" peaked at number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Eminem's first top 40 hit on the chart. Outside of the United States, "My Name Is" peaked within the top ten of the charts in Iceland, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, and United Kingdom.
The song was placed at number 39 by Rolling Stone on their list of "100 Greatest Hip-Hop songs of all time" in April 2016. [5] The recording garnered Eminem his first Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 42nd Grammy Awards in 2000.
On the first day of recording, Eminem and Dr. Dre finished "My Name Is" in an hour. [6]
The song contains an interpolation from Labi Siffre's track "I Got The..." from his 1975 album Remember My Song . Siffre, who is openly gay, said in a 2012 interview that he refused to approve the usage until certain sexist and homophobic lyrics were removed from the song: "Dissing the victims of bigotry – women as bitches, homosexuals as faggots – is lazy writing. Diss the bigots not their victims." [7] The original uncensored version of the song with the aforementioned offending lyrics is mistakenly included on the compilation The Source Hip Hop Music Awards 1999 and some releases do have the original version intact. The bass and guitar riff used in the interpolation was originally performed by Siffre's session musicians Charles Hodges and David Peacock, who later became the duo Chas & Dave, [8] although the song's liner notes [9] state that the audio sample used by Eminem was actually an interpolation (re-recording). "My Name Is" is written in the key of F major. [10] Famous names referenced in the song include Primus, Nine Inch Nails, the Spice Girls, Pamela Anderson (Pamela Lee), and Kris Kross (album version only). [11]
The video premiered on MTV Total Request Live on January 21, 1999. The video was co-directed by the song's producer and co-writer Dr. Dre and Phillip G. Atwell, the latter of whom would later direct music videos for several other Eminem songs, including "The Real Slim Shady", "Stan", "Guilty Conscience", "Role Model", "Cleanin' Out My Closet" (all with Dre), "Lose Yourself" (with Eminem and Paul Rosenberg) , "Sing for the Moment" (alongside Jeff Grippe), "Ass Like That", and "Just Lose It" (both solo). The video starts with a stereotypical redneck family watching television, who then come across a show starring "Marshall Mathers" (Eminem's real name). As the video goes on, Eminem parodies several TV shows and movies. He also imitates, among others, then-President of the United States Bill Clinton, Johnny Carson, Marilyn Manson, and a porn star. Basketball player Gheorghe Mureșan has a cameo appearance as a ventriloquist with Eminem being used as the dummy in the scene. Dre also has a cameo as a therapist. It also features a Monica Lewinsky lookalike, and Eminem imitating a chemistry teacher. Eminem is seen wearing a red tuxedo in some parts of the video, something that he would pay homage to in his 2020 single "Gnat", 21 years after "My Name Is" was originally released.
The video was ranked #71 in NME's 100 Greatest Music Videos. [12] As of 2019[ citation needed ], the music video has been replaced on all official sites (including the official Eminem YouTube account and MTV's holding accounts) with alternative lyrics online making it more advertiser friendly. Lines such as, "Well, since age 12, I felt like I'm someone else 'Cause I hung my original self from the top bunk with a belt," are replaced with "Since age 12 I felt like a caged elf Who stayed to himself in one space, chasing his tail," also with lines referencing ripping Pamela Lee's breasts off replaced with ripping her lips off and kissing them, saying how they feel soft like silicone.
AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine singled out the song as an album highlight, [13] while Entertainment Weekly 's David Browne wrote that this single and its accompanying video were both "attention-grabbing". [14]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "My Name Is" (clean) | Dr. Dre | 4:27 | |
2. | "My Name Is" (explicit) |
| Dr. Dre | 4:27 |
3. | "My Name Is" (instrumental) |
| Dr. Dre | 5:58 |
Total length: | 14:52 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "My Name Is" (clean) | Dr. Dre | 4:27 | |
2. | "My Name Is" (instrumental) |
| Dr. Dre | 4:27 |
3. | "Just Don't Give A" (clean version) |
| 4:02 | |
Total length: | 12:56 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "My Name Is" (clean) | Dr. Dre | 4:27 | |
2. | "My Name Is" (instrumental) |
| Dr. Dre | 4:27 |
Total length: | 8:54 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "My Name Is" (explicit) | Dr. Dre | 4:30 | |
2. | "My Name Is" (clean) |
| Dr. Dre | 4:29 |
3. | "My Name Is" (instrumental) |
| Dr. Dre | 4:29 |
4. | "My Name Is" (acapella) |
| Dr. Dre | 3:46 |
Total length: | 17:14 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "My Name Is" | Dr. Dre | 4:27 | |
2. | "Bad Guys Always Die" (from the Wild Wild West soundtrack) |
| Dr. Dre | 4:39 |
Total length: | 9:06 |
Eminem's mother Debbie Mathers filed a $10 million slander lawsuit against him for insinuating that she does drugs in the lyrics "99% of my life I was lied to, I just found out my mom does more dope than I do". [18] Eminem also berates his mother in the third verse of the song, with the lyrics "When I was little I used to get so hungry I would throw fits/How you gonna breastfeed me, Mom?! You ain't got no tits!" Debbie stated in her 2008 book My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem , "This line was horrible and upsetting, because I'd contracted toxemia-blood poisoning when I gave birth to him and hadn't been able to breast-feed." The lawsuit was settled in 2001 for $25,000, of which Debbie received only $1,600, after Judge Mark Switalski ruled that $23,354.25 of the $25,000 settlement should go to Fred Gibson, Debbie's former attorney. [19] Eminem would later reference this in his 2002 song "Without Me" with the lyrics, "I just settled all my lawsuits, fuck you Debbie!" [20]
Eminem later felt disillusioned by its immense popularity. In 2002 he said "I didn't hate that song when I first made it. But the shit that I really, really like, that I put my heart and soul into, I don't get recognized for, like 'The Way I Am .' There's a difference between me being funny and me being real. I feel like I don't get recognized for my best shit — the shit that's my real, true feelings and emotions." [21]
Year | Ceremony | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1999 [22] | MTV Video Music Awards | Best Male Video | Nominated |
Best New Artist in a Video | Won | ||
Best Direction in a Video | Nominated | ||
2000 [23] | Grammy Awards | Best Rap Solo Performance | Won |
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [50] | 4× Platinum | 280,000‡ |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [51] | Gold | 45,000‡ |
Italy (FIMI) [52] | Gold | 50,000‡ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [53] | 2× Platinum | 60,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [54] | 2× Platinum | 1,200,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [55] | 3× Platinum | 3,000,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
The Marshall Mathers LP is the third studio album by American rapper Eminem. It was released on May 23, 2000, by Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. Production on the album was handled by Dr. Dre, Mel-Man, F.B.T., Eminem, and The 45 King. The album spawned three hit singles: "The Real Slim Shady", "The Way I Am" and "Stan", and features guest appearances from Dido, RBX, Sticky Fingaz, Dina Rae, Bizarre, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, Nate Dogg, Paul Rosenberg and D12.
"The Real Slim Shady" is a song by American rapper Eminem from his third album The Marshall Mathers LP (2000). It was released as the lead single a month before the album's release.
The Slim Shady LP is the second studio album by American rapper Eminem. It was released through Aftermath Entertainment, WEB Entertainment, and Interscope Records on February 23, 1999. Recorded in Ferndale, Michigan following Eminem's recruitment by Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, the album features production from Eminem himself, alongside Dr. Dre and the Bass Brothers. Featuring West Coast hip-hop, G-funk, and horrorcore musical styles, the majority of The Slim Shady LP's lyrical content was written from the perspective of Eminem's alter ego, named Slim Shady. The alter ego was introduced on his 1997 extended play Slim Shady EP, and concluded on his 2024 studio album The Death of Slim Shady . The album contains cartoonish depictions of violence and heavy use of profanity, which Eminem described as horror film-esque, in that it is solely for entertainment value. Although many of the lyrics on the album are considered to be satirical, Eminem also discusses his frustrations of living in poverty.
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Claudius Afolabi Siffre, better known as Labi Siffre, is a British singer, songwriter and poet. Siffre released six albums from 1970 to 1975 and four from 1988 to 1998. His compositions include "It Must Be Love", which reached number 14 on the UK Singles Chart in 1971, "Crying Laughing Loving Lying", and "(Something Inside) So Strong"—an anti-apartheid song inspired by a television documentary in which white soldiers in South Africa were filmed shooting at black civilians in the street—which hit number 4 on the UK chart. The latter song won Siffre the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, and it has been used in Amnesty International campaigns.
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