The Way I Am (Eminem song)
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| “The Way I Am” | |||||
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| Single by Eminem from the album The Marshall Mathers LP |
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| Released | August 8, 2000 | ||||
| Format | CD | ||||
| Genre | Hip hop | ||||
| Length | 4 min 49 s | ||||
| Label | Aftermath/Interscope | ||||
| Writer(s) | Marshall Mathers | ||||
| Producer | Eminem | ||||
| Eminem singles chronology | |||||
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"The Way I Am" is a song by the rapper Eminem, released in 2000. It was the second single from his worldwide hit album, The Marshall Mathers LP. In the tradition of most of Eminem's follow-up singles, "The Way I Am" features a much darker and emotionally driven sound than the album's lead single, in this case "The Real Slim Shady."
It features the first beat Eminem produced on his own, featuring an ominous bassline, a piano loop, and chimes. In the song, Eminem lashes out at people he feels are putting too much pressure on him, including overzealous fans and record executives expecting him to top the success of his hit single "My Name Is" (which he ironically was able to do with "The Real Slim Shady.") He slows down his typical flow for the song and delivers each line very aggressively, almost shouting them out.
The song has also been remixed by Danny Lohner featuring Marilyn Manson, who has performed the song with Eminem on stage.
In 2005 "The Way I Am" was released on the album Curtain Call: The Hits.
[edit] Lyrics
Excluding the chorus, almost the entire song is written in an anapest metrical foot. The song addresses his fans, primarily. He begins by explaining the sources of his music:
- "I sit back with this pack of Zig Zags and this bag
- of this weed it gives me the shit needed to be
- the most meanest MC on this -- on this Earth
- And since birth I've been cursed with this curse to just curse
- And just blurt this berserk and bizarre shit that works
- And it sells and it helps in itself to relieve
- all this tension dispensin these sentences
- Gettin this stress that's been eatin me recently off of this chest"''
The rest of the verse addresses his legions of devoted fans. He makes no apologies for his rude behavior, demanding that he be granted his own privacy: "I'm not Mr. 'N Sync, I'm not what your friends think/I'm not Mr. Friendly, I can be a prick". He threatens violence against those who offend him and won't leave him alone, inviting fans so injured to "file you a lawsuit/I'll smile in the courtroom and buy you a wardrobe".
In the next verse, Eminem addresses his critics again, mentioning the negative response "Guilty Conscience" received. Eminem addresses his anger that "the media immediately points a finger at me" "when a dude's gettin bullied and shoots up his school" (another Columbine reference). He also commiserates with fellow Interscope Records labelmate Marilyn Manson, a shock rocker who was similarly blamed for acts of violence. Eminem responds by asking "where were the parents at?"; he then accuses the middle class of ignoring problems like heroin abuse until it hits "Middle America, now it's a tragedy/Now it's so sad to see, an upper class city/havin this happenin". Similar accusations were made in the wake of Columbine and other school shootings, in that such violence in schools had been occurring for decades in largely working-class African-American inner-city schools, but was ignored by the national media until middle-class white suburban children began killing other middle-class white suburban children.
The final verse is Eminem ranting about the stress of his fame, and his insecurity about being unable "...to top on "My Name Is", Eminem's first hit off his previous major label album. With much scrutiny due to his racial background, Eminem also lashes out at those who were unwilling to believe his tales of poverty, drugs and violence, asking him continually "what school did I go to, what hood I grew up in/The why, the who, what, when, the where, and the how/'til I'm grabbin my hair and I'm tearin' it out".
In the chorus to "The Way I Am", Eminem questions his identity in the face of massive amounts of attention from millions of strangers. While his previous album, The Slim Shady LP, was somewhat more cartoonish than this album, and he rapped therein as a distinct character who goes by Slim Shady, his critics believed that Eminem, Marshall Mathers and Slim Shady were identical. Similar to other musicians and artists who lost their identity in some fictional construct (David Bowie, Alice Cooper), Eminem expresses his doubts about who he has become.
- "And I am, whatever you say I am
- If I wasn't, then why would I say I am?
- In the paper, the news everyday I am-
- Radio won't even play my jam
- Cause I am, whatever you say I am
- If I wasn't, then why would I say I am?
- In the paper, the news everyday I am...
- I don't know it's just the way I am"
The chorus is similar to a rhyme used by rapper Rakim in the song "As the Rhyme Goes On".
- I’m the R the A to the K-I-M
- If I wasn’t, then why would I say I am?
In some live performances of the song Eminem samples "What I Am" by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians. Proof of this is on his Anger Management Tour DVD.
[edit] See also
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