2002 single by Eminem
"Without Me " is a song by American rapper
Eminem from his fourth studio album
The Eminem Show (2002). "Without Me" was released on May 13, 2002,
[1] as the
lead single from the album, and re-released on his greatest hits compilation album
Curtain Call: The Hits (2005). "Without Me" is one of Eminem's most successful singles, reaching number two on the U.S.
Billboard
Hot 100 , and number one in fifteen countries.
Content
The song was Eminem's return after the successful
Marshall Mathers LP , intended as a sequel to "
The Real Slim Shady " and essentially says that he is back to save the world. It also refers to Eminem's role in the music industry and his effect on culture.
The song mocks a number of Eminem's critics, including Vice President
Dick Cheney (including his recurring heart problems) and his wife
Lynne , the
FCC ,
Chris Kirkpatrick (of
NSYNC ),
Limp Bizkit and
Moby ,
[4]
[5] as well as parodying
Prince 's decision to change his name to an unpronounceable symbol. It also lampoons comparisons of him to
Elvis Presley as a white man succeeding commercially in a predominantly black art form. A line also attacks his mother Debbie Mathers for the lawsuit she filed for the lyrics of his breakthrough hit "
My Name Is ".
The opening lyric "Two
trailer park girls go round the outside" is based on the
country rap single "
Buffalo Gals " by
Malcolm McLaren .
[6] The introduction—"
Obie Trice , real name, no gimmicks"—is sampled from Obie Trice's own track "
Rap Name ".
Critical reception
Stephen Thomas Erlewine marked it as one of the best tracks on The Eminem Show .
[7] David Browne was positive: "'I've created a monster, 'cuz no one wants to hear Marshall no more,' he (Eminem) whines, partly in jest, in the beat-crazy single 'Without Me'."
[8]
HipHopDX noted that the blazing single "Without Me" is one of the only light-hearted songs on the album.
[9]
NME magazine noted that this song is "tackling disco."
[10] RapReviews wrote: "His fearlessness continues on the lead single "Without Me" when he lambasts everyone from Dick Cheney's wife to the leading electronic artists of the day."
[11] Kris Ex of
Rolling Stone calls it "a fun-loving, barb-laden romp on which [Eminem] flits from one topic to the next like a bumblebee with ADD."
[12]
Chart performances and awards
"Without Me" is one of Eminem's most successful singles. The song reached the number one position in the charts in numerous countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand for 7 weeks. In the United States, the song reached a peak of number two on the
Billboard Hot 100 , behind "
Hot in Herre " by
Nelly , although it reached number one on both the
Mainstream Top 40 and
Rhythmic charts.
"Without Me" was nominated for
Record of the Year at the
Grammy Awards of 2003 (losing to
Norah Jones 's song "
Don't Know Why "), being Eminem's first song to receive a Grammy nomination in a major category. It also received a nomination for
Best Male Rap Solo Performance , but lost that award as well to
Nelly 's "Hot in Herre", behind which it had peaked on the
Billboard Hot 100 .
In 2009, the song was honored by
Pitchfork Media as the 251st-greatest song of the 2000s.
The song was the 69th-best-selling single of the 2000s in the United Kingdom.
[13]
Music video
The song's music video, directed by
Joseph Kahn , features a number of scenarios built around its context, including Eminem and
Dr. Dre as parodies of comics in general, specifically
Batman ,
Robin (Rap Boy), and
Blade trying to save a child who bought a copy of The Eminem Show that has a
Parental Advisory sticker. Rap Boy and Dre rush to the rescue before the child puts the CD in his CD player and when they arrive Rap Boy snatches it away from him, showing that his CD has explicit lyrics that are not suitable for him to listen to. The kid cries and is upset after Rap Boy and Dre confiscate the album away from him. The video was shot from April 12–13 at Barwick Studios.
[14] The comic and the scene with Moby feature a rabbit costume, a possible reference to the one featured in two
Love Inc. music videos.[
citation needed ] The video also features Eminem (as Slim Shady) appearing in a variety of fictional television shows, such as a parody of
ER , an infomercial,
The Real World , and a talk show.
This video received
MTV Video Music Awards for
Video of the Year ,
Best Male Video ,
Best Rap Video , and
Best Direction (for
Joseph Kahn ), as well as gaining nominations for
Best Editing and
Viewer's Choice . It also won
Best Short Form Music Video at the
Grammy Awards of 2003 .
Track listing
European CD single
Title Writer(s) Producer(s) 1. "Without Me" 4 :53 2. "The Way I Am" (
Danny Lohner remix) (featuring
Marilyn Manson ) Mathers Eminem 4 :59 3. "Without Me" (acapella) Mathers Bass Bell Dudley McLaren Horn 4 :53 4. "Without Me" (instrumental) Mathers Bass Bell Dudley McLaren Horn 4 :53 Total length: 19 :38
UK CD single
Title Writer(s) Producer(s) 1. "Without Me" 4 :53 2. "The Way I Am" (
Danny Lohner remix) (featuring
Marilyn Manson ) Mathers Eminem 4 :59 3. "Without Me" (instrumental) Mathers Bass Bell Dudley McLaren Horn 4 :53 Total length: 14 :45
Australian CD single
Title Writer(s) Producer(s) 1. "Without Me" 4 :53 2. "The Way I Am" (
Danny Lohner remix) (featuring
Marilyn Manson ) Mathers Eminem 4 :59 3. "Without Me" (acapella) Mathers Bass Bell Dudley McLaren Horn 4 :53 4. "Without Me" (instrumental) Mathers Bass Bell Dudley McLaren Horn 4 :53 5. "Say What You Say" (featuring
Dr. Dre )
Dr. Dre 5 :09 6. "Without Me" (video) Mathers Bass Bell Dudley McLaren Horn 4 :53 Total length: 29 :40
Notes
^[a] signifies a co-Record producer.
^[b] signifies an additional producer.
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Decade-end charts
Certifications and sales
In popular culture
In September 2002, the
Fox Network sketch comedy show
MadTV featured a parody titled "What's on TV", featuring
Josh Meyers impersonating Eminem.
In December 2002,
Nickelodeon 's flagship sketch comedy show
All That created a parody video of this song, entitled "Without Meat".
In the music video of
50 Cent 's 2003
single "
In da Club ", video clips of the "Without Me" music video can be seen.
The song is included in the
soundtrack for the 2016 film
Suicide Squad .
[109]
The song is featured in the 2017 film
Last Flag Flying .
The song is also featured in the dance rhythm game,
Just Dance 2021 .
The song was also used in the trailer for
Despicable Me 2 .
The song was played in
Despicable Me 3 .
The teaser and trailer for the 2020 mockumentary/comedy
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm produced by British comedian
Sacha Baron Cohen features a brief Kazakh iteration of the song.
The song was parodied on
Saturday Night Live with a song named "NFTs" with
Pete Davidson as Eminem,
Chris Redd as Dr. Dre, and a cameo by
Jack Harlow .
Attorney
Alex Spiro in a court filing for
Elon Musk against
SEC to rescind SEC decree requiring Musk's tweets about
Tesla to be reviewed before posting, quoted "(SEC) won't let me be or let me be me so let me see; They tried to shut me down" ,
[110]
[111] replacing FCC with SEC.
The song is currently used as the goal song for the
Detroit Red Wings of the
National Hockey League .
Rap Boy appears as one of three different Eminem outfits in
Fortnite Battle Royale .
The song was played in
Trolls Band Together .
See also
References
^
a
b
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^ Stephen Thomas Erlewine.
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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Awards for "Without Me"
1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s