| "My Name Is" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Single by Eminem | ||
| from the album The Slim Shady LP | ||
| Released | 1999 | |
| Format | CD | |
| Genre | Hip hop | |
| Length | 4 min 28 s | |
| Label | Aftermath/Interscope | |
| Producer(s) | Dr. Dre | |
| Chart positions | ||
| Eminem singles chronology | ||
| "F@#!in' Backstabber" (1995) |
"My Name Is" (1999) |
"Guilty Conscience" (1999) |
"My Name Is" is a song by Eminem, released in 1999. It was the first single from his major label debut album, The Slim Shady LP, also released that year. This song was the first to propel him (and his debut album) up the mainstream singles charts, and helped establish his rapping styles, which lead to further chart-topping success the following year. Due to the single's widespread exposure, it became the first rap song to grace the top spot on Total Request Live, which was maintained until it was retired after 30 number one days in a row.
Producer Dr. Dre wanted to use a sample of Labi Siffre's "I Got The" for the rhythm track; however, as revealed in the sleeve notes of the re-mastered CD of the source album, Remember My Song, Siffre stated, "attacking two of the usual scapegoats, women and gays, is lazy writing. If you want to do battle, attack the aggressors not the victims." Eminem made lyric changes and Siffre cleared the sample.
"My Name Is" was later re-released in 2005, on Eminem's double disc album, The Funeral.
Changed lyrics[]
Due to the obscene nature of the original lyrics, the Radio/Video edit version of the song consists of a substantial number of lyrical changes. When the original was re-released on The Funeral, the second verse was reconciled between the Original and the Radio Edit, removing references that some regarded homophobic.
First Verse[]
Original: Hi kids! Do you like violence? (Yeah yeah yeah!)
Edit: Hi kids! Do you like Primus? (Yeah yeah!)
Original: Try 'cid and get fucked up worse than my life is? (Huh?)
Edit: Try 'cid and get messed up worse than my life is?
Original: Well since age twelve, I've felt like I'm someone else/'Cause I hung my original self from the top bunk with a belt/Got pissed off and ripped Pamela Lee's tits off/And smacked her so hard I knocked her clothes backwards like Kris Kross/I smoke a fat pound of grass and fall on my ass/Faster than a fat bitch who sat down too fast/C'mere slut! (Shady, wait a minute, that's my girl dawg!)/I don't give a fuck, God sent me to piss the world off!
Edit: Well since age twelve, I've felt like a caged elf/Who stayed to himself, in one space, chasin' his tail (bla bla bla bla)/Got ticked off and ripped Pamela Lee's lips off/Kissed em and said, "I ain't know silicone was 'sposed to be this soft"/I'm 'bout to pass out and crash, and fall in the grass/Faster than a fat man who sat down too fast/C'mere ladies! (Shady, wait a minute, that's my girl dawg!)/I don't give a damn, Dre sent me to tick the world off!
Second Verse[]
Original: My English teacher wanted to have sex in junior high/The only problem was, my English teacher was a guy/I smacked him in his face with an eraser, chased him with a stapler/And stapled his nuts to a stack of papers (Owwwwwwww!)
Edit: My English teacher wanted to flunk me in junior high/Thanks a lot, next semester I'll be thirty-five/I smacked him in his face with an eraser, chased him with a stapler/And told him to change the grade on the paper (Now!)
The Funeral Version: My English teacher wanted to flunk me in junior high/Thanks a lot, next semester I'll be thirty-five/I smacked him in his face with an eraser, chased him with a stapler/And stapled his nuts to a stack of papers (Owwwwwwww!)
Original: Walked in the strip club, had my jacket zipped up/Flashed the bartender, then stuck my dick in the tip cup/Extraterrestrial, killin' pedestrians/Rapin' lesbians, while they're screamin', "LET'S JUST BE FRIENDS!"
Edit: Walked in the strip club, had my jacket zipped up/Served the bartender, then walked out with a tip cup/Extraterrestrial, runnin' over pedestrians/in a spaceship while they're screamin' at me: "LET'S JUST BE FRIENDS!"
The Funeral Version: Walked in the strip club, had my jacket zipped up/Flashed the bartender, then stuck my dick in the tip cup/Extraterrestrial, runnin' over pedestrians/in a spaceship while they're screamin' at me: "LET'S JUST BE FRIENDS!"
Third Verse[]
Original: Am I comin' or goin'? I can barely decide/I just drank a fifth of vodka – dare me to drive? (Go ahead)
Edit: Am I comin' or goin'? I can barely decide/I just drank a fifth of Kool-Aid – dare me to drive? (Go ahead)
Original: Put a bulletproof vest on and shoot myself in the head (BANG!)
Edit: Put a bulletproof vest on and tap myself in the head (BANG!)
Original: And by the way when you see my dad? (Yeah?)/Tell him that I slit his throat, in this dream I had
Edit: And by the way when you see my dad? (Yeah?)/Ask him if he bought a porno mag and seen my ad
Hidden message[]
Allegedly, there is backmasking within the chorus of the song,
| “ | 'Hi! My name is...(what?) My name is...(who?) My name is... {scratches} Slim Shady 'Hi! My name is...(huh?) My name is...(what?) My name is... {scratches} Slim Shady |
” |
When played backwards, it sounds like "It is Slim. It's Eminem, it's Eminem, it's Eminem. It is Slim. It's Eminem, it's Eminem, it's Eminem." [1]
Trivia[]
In an episode of King of The Hill Bobby Hill making a hand shadow says "Hi my name is what, my name is who? my name is Slim Shady"
Single Track listing[]
- "My Name Is" (Slim Shady Radio Edit)
- "My Name Is" (Explicit Version)
- "My Name Is" (Instrumental)
Promo Track Listing[]
- "My Name Is" (Clean Version)
- "My Name Is" (Album Version)
- "My Name Is" (Instrumental)
- "My Name Is" (Acapella)
References[]
| Eminem |
| Discography |
|---|
| Infinite | The Slim Shady EP | The Slim Shady LP | The Marshall Mathers LP | The Eminem LP | Straight from the Lab EP | Encore | The Funeral | Eminem Presents: The Re-Up |
| Singles |
| "My Name Is" | "Guilty Conscience" | "The Real Slim Shady" | "The Way I Am" | "Stan" | "Without Me" | "Cleanin' Out My Closet" | "Lose Yourself" | "Sing for the Moment"| "Superman" | "Business" | "Just Lose It" | "Encore" | "Like Toy Soldiers" | "Mockingbird" | "Ass Like That" | "When I'm Gone" | "Shake That" | "You Don't Know" |
| Other songs and collaborations |
| "Forgot About Dre" | "Just Don't Give a Fuck" | "Dead Wrong" | "My Fault" | "Role Model" | "Mosh" | "Smack That" |