1999Released
4:28

Did You Know?

Interesting facts and trivia about My Name Is. By Songfacts®.

This introduced the character "Slim Shady." Eminem claims to have three characters he uses: Marshal Mathers (his real name), Eminem, and Slim Shady. "In the video, Em taps on the inside of the TV, literally interrupting American culture with a nasal, grating, 'HI!' Then he lays out a manifesto of who he is, where he's from, what he thinks about everything, and by the end of the song, you've either bought in, or not," says Music, Lyrics, and Life author Mike Errico. "But he made sure no one was left sitting on the fence. It's an ultimate Mission Song."

The warbley rhythm that forms the backing track is built around a sample of a 1975 song called "I Got The..." by Labi Siffre. Siffre is a gay activist, so before he let Eminem use his song, he insisted that he change the line: "My English teacher wanted to have sex in junior high. The only problem was, my English teacher was a guy." to: "My English teacher wanted to flunk me in junior high. Thanks a lot, next semester I'll be 35."

Eminem's producer Dr. Dre claimed they finished this song in only an hour or two. It was the first time they worked together in the studio, and the pair had an instant connection. Dre told Esquire in 2013: "I put the track on, we had a little bit of idle chitchat, I put on the beat, and maybe five seconds in - I swear to God - he goes, 'Hi, my name is.' That was it. And it's still clicking." Dre and Em recorded three other songs that day that were also included on the album.

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Song Analysis

Key, BPM (tempo) and time signature of My Name Is.
C♯Key
MajorMode
4/4Time Signature
86BPM

Album

The album My Name Is is released on.

Released By

The record label that has released My Name Is.
Aftermath
© 1998 Aftermath Entertainment/Interscope Records
℗ 1999 Aftermath Entertainment/Interscope Records

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