My Name Is (song)

my name is
publication	January 25, 1999
length	4:28
Genre (s)	Hip hop
text	M. Mathers , A. Young
music	Dr. Dre
Award (s)	Grammy 2000 ( Best Rap Solo Performance )
album	The Slim Shady LP

My Name Is (English for: " My name is ") is a song by the American rapper Eminem . The song is the second release of his second studio album The Slim Shady LP , after the underground single Just Don't Give a Fuck, and was released on January 25, 1999. The song is also featured on Eminem's best-of album Curtain Call: The Hits .

background

My Name Is is Eminem's first globally released single and the first track in which he and his discoverer Dr. Dre worked together. The title is based on the song Who Am I (What's My Name)? from Snoop Dogg , which was also released as the artist's first single at the time. Snoop Dogg was also supported by Dr. Dre discovered and promoted. Both tracks should make the artists known to the audience.

content

The song begins with the chorus in which Eminem introduces himself with his alter ego Slim Shady . In the stanzas he raps about his life in an exaggerated and ironic way, taking up above all the themes of violence, drugs and sex. As in the first singles on later albums, Eminem gives swipes at various celebrities: He makes allusions to the Spice Girls and Pamela Anderson and says that his mother smokes more dope than he does . The rapper also makes it clear that he was created to excite the world.

Production and samples

The beat of the song was created by Eminem's discoverer and producer Dr. Dre created. He used a sample of the track I Got The by British artist Labi Siffre and elements of the song I Don't Love You by US singer Millie Jackson .

Music video

In the video for My Name Is , Philip Atwell and Dr. Dre director.

content

The music video begins with a scene that shows a lower-class couple sitting in front of the television switching through the program. You stop at a show called The Slim Shady Show - Starring Marshall Mathers . Most of the video now shows the television picture, with Eminem playing various roles in his program and parodying Bill Clinton , among others . Several scenes are based on the lyrics and Dr. Dre is in the video.

Award

The video won the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards in the Best New Artist in a Video category .

single

Cover design

The single cover is kept quite simple and contains the white lettering Eminem on a black background in the upper part . In the center of the picture is written in white on a red background Hi! My Name Is and in black Slim Shady .

Chart successes and awards

My Name Is is the first Eminem single to hit the charts in his home country and internationally. The song rose to number 37 in the German charts, which it occupied for two weeks. In total, the song stayed in the top 100 for eight weeks. The single was most successful with second place in Great Britain. At the Grammy Awards 2000 the song won the award in the category Best Rap Solo Performance .

Chart placements Charts Top ranking Weeks Chart placements  Germany (GfK) 37 (8 weeks) 8th  Austria (Ö3) 24 (6 weeks) 6th  Switzerland (IFPI) 29 (7 weeks) 7th  United Kingdom (OCC) 2 (13 weeks) 13  United States (Billboard) 36 (10 weeks) 10

Annual charts Charts (1999) placement Annual charts (1999)  United Kingdom (OCC) 49

For more than 600,000 copies sold, My Name Is received a platinum record in the UK in 2017 . In the United States, it went double-platinum in 2018 for over two million sales.

Country / Region	Award	Sales
Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales)
United States (RIAA)	2 × platinum	2,000,000
United Kingdom (BPI)	platinum	600,000
All in all	3 × platinum	2,600,000

Main article: Eminem / Music Sales Awards

Web links

• Lyrics with interpretations (English)
• Lyrics (German)
• Music video on YouTube.com

swell

1. ↑ Lyrics in the booklet
2. ↑ Single cover
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
4. ^ Grammys 2000
5. ↑ Annual charts 1999: DE AT CH UK US
6. ↑ US: 2x platinum