My Name Is

Lore & Background

The song was ranked at #26 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '90s and #6 on Q Magazine's 1001 Best Songs Ever. It peaked at number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Eminem's first top 40 hit. Outside the US, it peaked within the top ten in Iceland, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom. Rolling Stone placed it at #39 on their list of 100 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs of all time in April 2016.

The recording earned Eminem his first Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 42nd Grammy Awards in 2000. On the first day of recording, Eminem and Dr. Dre finished the song in an hour. The song contains an interpolation from Labi Siffre's track "I Got The..." from his 1975 album Remember My Song. Siffre, who is openly gay, said in a 2012 interview that he refused to approve the usage until certain sexist and homophobic lyrics were removed.

The original uncensored version is mistakenly included on the compilation The Source Hip Hop Music Awards 1999. The bass and guitar riff was originally performed by Siffre's session musicians Charles Hodges and David Peacock, who later became Chas & Dave. The song is written in the key of F major with a tempo of 86 beats per minute. Famous names referenced include Primus, Nine Inch Nails, the Spice Girls, Pamela Anderson, and Kris Kross (album version only).

The music video premiered on MTV Total Request Live on January 21, 1999, co-directed by Dr. Dre and Philip G. Atwell. The video starts with a redneck family watching television, then Eminem parodies several TV shows and movies, imitating Bill Clinton, Johnny Carson, Marilyn Manson, and a porn star. Basketball player Gheorghe Mureșan appears as a ventriloquist with Eminem as the dummy. Dre has a cameo as a therapist.

The video features a Monica Lewinsky lookalike and Eminem imitating a chemistry teacher. Eminem wears a red tuxedo in some parts, which he paid homage to in his 2020 single "Gnat". The video was ranked #71 in NME's 100 Greatest Music Videos. AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine singled out the song as an album highlight, while Entertainment Weekly's David Browne called it and its video "attention-grabbing".

Eminem's mother Debbie Mathers filed a $10 million slander lawsuit over lyrics insinuating she does drugs. The lawsuit was settled in 2001 for $25,000, of which Debbie received only $1,600.

Reader's Guide

The song is known for its catchy interpolation of Labi Siffre's riff, its controversial lyrics that were altered after Siffre's objection, and its iconic music video parodying pop culture. It marked Eminem's breakthrough into the mainstream and earned him his first Grammy.