« My Name Is » from Eminems debut album scored a massive success in 1999. The beats are catchy and the video is funny. When I first discovered the video of the song, I couldnt stop laughing from the beginning to the end.
Eminem intelligently manages to mix up so many different elements that would not match in reality.
Although Eminem doesnt like his former song at all, many of his fans still appreciate it a lot.
‘I can’t stand that fucking song. This album is rawer. Fans looking for bubblegum rap aren’t going to get it here”- (Eminem)
Maybe Eminem is too strict with himself, because this song is well made and funny as hell.
As well as « My Name Is » pushed Eminem to the top, it also caused him some serious personal problem. His mom, Debbie sued him on the famous line :
“I just found out my mom does more dope than I do…”
Another line also gave birth to some typical stereotypes against Eminem :
« 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!) »
Because he said that his English teacher (who happened to be a man) wanted to have sex with him, some people began to say that Eminem was homophobic.
I seriously wish people could relax on Eminems text and not always take everything so seriously.
My Name Is is also about dropping out of school. Eminem brings us back to his own experience, when he failed 9th grade for the third time and left school for good.
It takes us back to the period Debbie used to lie to him and made his life a real nightmare. It is well known that Debbie Mathers was a drug addict. Her former boyfriends and husbands can relate to Debbie as a drug addicted person.
Three of them, Don De Marc, Berger Olsen Au Gres and Fred Samra ( Nathans father) have whitnessed Debbies instable and addicted behavior.
Those are Don de Marcs words to describe Debbies behavior:
She complained of headaches, backaches and toothaches, she always seemed to be in pain. She was always looking for pain pills.
Berger Olsen au Gres remembers Debbie throwing her son out of the house all the time and Marshalls rage against her:
She was throwing him of the house all the time. I remember Marshall telling her : I want to do my rap, and when I do, Im going to do all about you.
Fred Samra confirms Marshalls childhood being living hell:
She is lying about drugs and stuff, I wont say any more. You would not believe the shit he( Marshall) has been through.
When Marshall claims:
My mother did a lot of dope and shit – a lot of pills – so she had mood swings.She’d go to bed cool, then wake up like, ‘Motherfuckers, get out! », we know that it is so true.
But telling the truth caused Marshall a lot of personal problems with his mom who filed a 10 million dollars lawsuit against her son.
My Name Is is Slim Shadys introduction to the world.
The text begins with a provocative sentence:
Hi kids, do you like violence?
This provocative sentence is there on purpose to piss parents off. Slim Shady becomes the mad accomplice of angry kids.
One of the most amusing moments of the video is certainly the mad professor whose hair sits up and who knocks at the screen and who says:
« Ahem.. excuse me!
Can I have the attention of the class
for one second? »
But the parodies of the Lewinsky affair and of Marilyn Manson are full of humor too. Eminems many disguises in the video represent so many different personalities.
The song and the video are full of crazy and comical effects, also created by Dres presence who is supposed to operate Slim Shady whos gone totally crazy (you guessed it).
Eminem also expressed his rage against his dad:
“And by the way when you see my dad? (Yeah?)
Tell him that I slit his throat, in this dream I had…”
A clear message for Marshall Mathers Jr to leave his son alone.
The My Name Is video is funny from the beginning to the end. I just love it.
My Name Is
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
Ahem.. excuse me!
Can I have the attention of the class
for one second?
[Eminem]
Hi kids! Do you like violence? (Yeah yeah yeah!)
Wanna see me stick Nine Inch Nails through each one of my eyelids? (Uh-huh!)
Wanna copy me and do exactly like I did? (Yeah yeah!)
Try ‘cid and get fucked up worse that my life is? (Huh?)
My brain’s dead weight, I’m tryin to get my head straight
but I can’t figure out which Spice Girl I want to impregnate (Ummmm..)
And Dr. Dre said, “Slim Shady you a basehead!”
Uh-uhhh! “So why’s your face red? Man you wasted!”
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 dog!)
I don’t give a fuck, God sent me to piss the world off!
Chorus
[Eminem]
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!)
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 screamin at me: “LET’S JUST BE FRIENDS!”
Ninety-nine percent of my life I was lied to
I just found out my mom does more dope than I do (Damn!)
I told her I’d grow up to be a famous rapper
Make a record about doin drugs and name it after her (Oh thank you!)
You know you blew up when the women rush your stands
and try to touch your hands like some screamin Usher fans (Aaahhhhhh!)
This guy at White Castle asked for my autograph
(Dude, can I get your autograph?)
So I signed it: ‘Dear Dave, thanks for the support, ASSHOLE!’
Chorus
[Eminem]
Stop the tape! This kid needs to be locked away! (Get him!)
Dr. Dre, don’t just stand there, OPERATE!
I’m not ready to leave, it’s too scary to die (Fuck that!)
I’ll have to be carried inside the cemetery and buried alive
(Huh yup!) Am I comin or goin? I can barely decide
I just drank a fifth of vodka — dare me to drive? (Go ahead)
All my life I was very deprived
I ain’t had a woman in years, and my palms are too hairy to hide
(Whoops!) Clothes ripped like the Incredible Hulk (hachhh-too)
I spit when I talk, I’ll fuck anything that walks (C’mere)
When I was little I used to get so hungry I would throw fits
HOW YOU GONNA BREAST FEED ME MOM? (WAH!)
YOU AIN’T GOT NO TITS! (WAHHH!)
I lay awake and strap myself in the bed
Put a bulleproof vest on and shoot myself in the head (BANG!)
I’m steamin mad (Arrrggghhh!)
And by the way when you see my dad? (Yeah?)
Tell him that I slit his throat, in this dream I had
Chorus