In 1999, Eminem made his global breakthrough with Hi! My name is Slim Shady. The song caused quite a stir because it put his mother in a bad position.
The origins of the song can be found in 1975 in the instrumental work I Got The by Labi Siffre, which can be heard at around 2 minutes 30. This is a striking choice as Eminem was quite critical of homosexuals in his early days. Labi Siffre did not hide his orientation and he was very upset when he heard the lyrics. He changed some of the text to make it less homophobic.
Before it was officially released, Hi! My Name Is Slim Shady is a more explicit version. However, it was never released. Eminem wrote a song with Dr. Dre later announced that the recording of the song was only two hours long. Within five seconds of starting the recording, Eminem says ‘Hi… my name is…’ and the piece of text still resonates.
In the UK, Hi! My Name Is Slim Shady reached number 2, where the song reached number 12 in the Netherlands.
Want to know more about the origins of Top 40 hits? Then take a look Aslihits.nl
(28/08/2022)
“Falls down a lot. General tv buff. Incurable zombie fan. Subtly charming problem solver. Amateur explorer.”
