Kim

Eminem raps in this song about his wife, Kimberly, who is also the mother of his daughter Hallie. They had a very volatile relationship and divorced in 2001, but reconciled and got back together in 2006 before splitting up again a short time later.

The song is a prequel to Eminem's 1999 track "'97 Bonnie & Clyde," where he raps about throwing Kim's body in the trunk and dumping it in a lake. "Kim" depicts what led to this point, how they got into an argument and he killed her. It's pretty shocking stuff, especially since Eminem used the real names of his wife and daughter in the song. And while no rational person believes he wanted to kill her in real life, their relationship was fraught with turmoil. The buffer here is Eminem's character Slim Shady, who expresses his base impulses. Much of Em's early work depicts a battle between his true self (Marshall Mathers), and the volatile Shady, who he can't always control. His fans got it, but many listeners didn't and found the song misogynist and offensive. The ensuing controversy got him in the news even more, especially when he and Kim divorced, and helped sell a lot more albums.

Eminem says he was tripping on the drug Ecstasy when he wrote this song. "Ecstasy amplifies whatever mood you're in - love or hatred," he told Q magazine. "I've wanted to kill people on Ecstasy. And then I've had times when I've been telling people I don't know, 'I love you man!'"