My Name Is

"My Name Is"
Single by Eminem
from the album The Slim Shady LP
Released	January 25, 1999
Format	12" CD cassette
Recorded	1998
Genre	Comedy hip hop horrorcore[1]
Length	4:27
Label	Aftermath Interscope
Writer(s)	Eminem Dr. Dre Labi Siffre
Producer(s)	Dr. Dre
Eminem singles chronology
"Just Don't Give a Fuck" (1998) "My Name Is" (1999) "Role Model" (1999)
Curtain Call: The Hits track listing "The Way I Am" (3) "My Name Is" (4) "Stan" (feat. Dido) (5) Music sample Eminem - "My Name Is"

"My Name Is" is a song by American rapper Eminem from his major-label debut album The Slim Shady LP (1999). The song samples Labi Siffre's 1975 track "I Got The...". The song was ranked at #26 on "VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 90's".^[2] "My Name Is" also was ranked #6 on Q Magazine's "1001 Best Songs Ever". ^[3] 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.^[4] The recording garnered Eminem his first Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 42nd Grammy Awards in 2000.

Background

Producer Dr. Dre wanted to use a sample of Labi Siffre's "I Got The ..." for the rhythm track; as revealed in the sleeve notes of the re-mastered CD of the source album, Remember My Song. Siffre, who is openly gay, 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. There are currently three different versions available. The "clean" and "explicit" versions are available on iTunes. There is also another version which is more explicit than the one available on iTunes, released as the B-side to "Guilty Conscience" on the CD single. The kid's voice at the beginning of the song has reverb on the explicit version on iTunes, but not on the clean version. During the time the song was released, Eminem and Insane Clown Posse were having a "rap feud". After the release of this song, Insane Clown Posse parodied this song with a song called "Slim Anus". "My Name Is" was later re-released in 2005 on Eminem's compilation album Curtain Call: The Hits. The song is mixed with Jay Z's song "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" and Beck's song "Loser" on the video game DJ Hero. Eminem also made a remix of it, using the most explicit version, over the top of AC/DC's "Back In Black".

Before The Slim Shady LP was released, an explicit version was available on the Internet. The original lyrics on the dirty version of the song were: "Extra-terrestrial, killing pedestrians / Raping lesbians while they're screaming, 'Let's just be friends!'" The version on the album was changed to "Extra-terrestrial, running over pedestrians in a spaceship / While they're screaming at me, 'Let's just be friends!'" There is also a line that was changed from "My English teacher wanted to have sex in junior high / The only problem was, my English teacher was a guy" to "My English teacher wanted to flunk me in junior high / Thanks a lot; next semester, I'll be 35." These lyrics appear on the a cappella version of the song, featured on a 12" release of the song.

There are also lines that were changed in the clean version of the song. The line "Chased him with a stapler / Stapled his nuts to a stack of paper" from the album version was changed to "Chased him with a stapler / Told him to change the grade on the paper (now!)" in the clean version. The song ends with a line that was changed from "And by the way, when you see my dad / Yeah, tell him that I slit his throat in this dream I had" which was changed to "And by the way, when you see my dad / Yeah, ask if he bought a porno mag to see my ad" in the clean version. The album version opens with the line "Hi kids! Do you like violence? Wanna see me stick Nine Inch Nails through each one of my eyelids?" while the clean version replaces the word "violence" with Primus.^[5]

Music video

The video premiered on MTV TRL on January 21, 1999. It was directed by Phillip Atwell, who would later direct music videos for several other Eminem songs, including "Stan", "Lose Yourself", "The Real Slim Shady", and "Just Lose It". The video starts out 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 then President Bill Clinton, a porn star, and others.

The video was ranked #97 in NME's 100 Greatest Music Videos.^[6]

Critical reception

Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine highlighted the song.^[7] Rolling Stone wrote that "Eminem is on some serious Dangerfield shit in loser anthems like 'My Name Is'".^[8] David Browne wrote that this single and its accompany video were both "attention-grabbing".^[9]

Track listing

• UK CD1^[10]

1. "My Name Is" (Clean) - 4:27
2. "My Name Is" (Explicit) - 4:27
3. "My Name Is" (Instrumental) - 4:27

• UK CD2^[11]

1. "My Name Is" (Clean) - 4:27
2. "My Name Is" (Instrumental) - 4:27
3. "Just Don't Give A" (Clean Version) - 4:02

• UK Cassette

1. "My Name Is" (Clean) - 4:27
2. "My Name Is" (Instrumental) - 4:27

Controversy

Eminem's mother Debbie Mathers filed a $10,000,000 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".^[12] 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."

Awards

Grammy Awards

• Best Rap Solo Performance

Charts

Chart (1999)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)[13]	13
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[14]	24
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[15]	33
Canada (RPM)[16]	38
France (SNEP)[17]	68
Germany (Media Control AG)[18]	37
Ireland (IRMA)[19]	4
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[20]	12
New Zealand (RIANZ)[21]	4
Norway (VG-lista)[22]	8
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[23]	16
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[24]	29
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)[25]	2
US Billboard Hot 100[26]	36
US Alternative Songs (Billboard)[27]	37
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[28]	18
US Rap Songs (Billboard)[29]	10
US Pop Songs (Billboard)[30]	29

References

1. Spence, D. (November 12, 2004). "The Slim Shady LP". IGN.
2. "100 Greatest Songs of the '90s". Blog.vh1.com. 2007-12-13. Retrieved 2012-09-09.
3. "1001 Best Songs Ever". Rocklistmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-09-09.
4. "Rolling Stones' 100 Greatest Hip-Hop songs of all time". Rollingstone.com. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
5. My name is. "Eminem - My Name is". Youtube. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
6. "100 Greatest Music Videos". NME. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
7. Eminem "Hi, My Name Is". Allmusic. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
8. Eminem "Hi, My Name Is". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
9. Eminem "Hi, My Name is". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
10. "My Name Is [CD 1]: Amazon.co.uk: Music". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-09-09.
11. "My Name Is [CD 2]: Amazon.co.uk: Music". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-09-09.
12. "Eminem Sued By His Mom". Rolling Stone.
13. "Eminem - Hi! My Name Is". australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
14. "Eminem - Hi! My Name Is" (in German). austriancharts.at. Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
15. "Eminem - Hi! My Name Is" (in Dutch). ultratop.be. Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
16. "Top Singles - Volume 68, No. 26, April 19, 1999". RPM. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
17. "Eminem - Hi! My Name Is" (in French). lescharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
18. "Chartverfolgung / Eminem / Single" (in German). musicline.de. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
19. "The Irish Charts - All there is to know" (insert "Eminem" into the "Search by Artist" box, and "My Name Is" into the "Search by Song Title" box). irishcharts.ie. Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
20. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 18, 1999" (in Dutch). top40.nl. Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
21. "Eminem - Hi! My Name Is". charts.org.nz. Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
22. "Eminem - Hi! My Name Is". norwegiancharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
23. "Eminem - Hi! My Name Is". swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
24. "Eminem - Hi! My Name Is" (in German). hitparade.ch. Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
25. "Eminem" (select "View Singles" tab). The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
26. "Eminem Album & Song Chart History: Hot 100". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
27. "Eminem Album & Song Chart History: Alternative Songs". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
28. "Eminem Album & Song Chart History: R&B/Hip-Hop Songs". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
29. "Eminem > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles". Allmusic. Macrovision. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
30. "Hot 100 Songs & New Music: 1 - 10 Songs | Billboard Music Charts" (in German). Billboard.com. Retrieved 2012-09-09.

External links

• "My Name Is (Dirty Version)" Official music video on YouTube
• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics