The Real Slim Shady (Eminem) song history.
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"The Real Slim Shady" is a song by American rapper Eminem from his third album The Marshall Mathers LP (2000). The track was released as the title single just one month before the album's release!
"The Real Slim Shady" became Eminem's first song to reach number one in the United Kingdom, as well as number four on the Billboard Hot 100! What's more! In the UK, the song became the best-selling song of 2000... In 2011, it was included in NME Magazine's list of "The 150 Best Tracks of the Last 15 Years". Also, "The Real Slim Shady" is among the top 500 songs of all time....
Here's a look back at the story behind the hit's creation!
The story of the song
At the time of writing "The Real Slim Shady", Eminem was experiencing a bit of a creative crisis... "The Way I Am" was planned to be released as the first single. However, the rapper's record company insisted otherwise... "The Real Slim Shady" was one of the last songs recorded for the album. Eminem didn't want to include it on the release, causing the label to put a lot of pressure on him. According to the company, the track was supposed to help Eminem get to the top charts and radio!
In the track, the rapper lashes out at his critics, adding a bunch of pop culture and celebrity references (a comedian named Tom Green was still popular at the time). The song was intended as a parody of stereotypical pop songs, although many listeners did not realise the irony.
The lyric was so offensive that Wisconsin radio station WZEE was fined $7,000 for playing the unedited version! It was only after the rap industry claimed the ban was a violation of free speech that the fines were cancelled.
Music video
The video for the song features a group of young people with blond hair dressed as Eminem. They are a nightmare for parents - a legion of fans who want to be just like their idol.
The video won "Best Rap/Hip-Hop Video of the Year" at the Billboard Music Awards. Later, the clip also won Video of the Year and Best Male Video at the MTV Video Music Awards. A year later, the track won "Outstanding National Single" at the Detroit Music Awards and "Best Rap Solo Performance" at the Grammy Awards.
Interesting facts
Like his first hit "My Name Is", Eminem stopped performing "The Real Slim Shady" in concerts a few years after its release. In the following years, he occasionally did a medley of these songs.
Eminem performed "The Real Slim Shady" at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards, and it was one of the most memorable performances in history! Pursued by a legion of lookalikes, Eminem performed the song on the way inside Radio City Music Hall. The guys playing the lookalikes had to dye their hair blonde just for the performance!
