Recognised as the wordsmith of hip hop, and ultimately, the official ‘Rap God’, Eminem has recently been taking time out of his working days to share with us what was really going through his head when he wrote some of his most well-known lyrics and songs.
From some of his oldest classics such as Stan & Cleanin’ Out My Closet, to a collection of his more recent tracks from the Shady XV release, Marshall shares all…
Where’s my snare?<br> I have no snare in my headphones
― Eminem – Cleanin’ Out My Closet
And you can’t stop me from droppin’ each March<br> With a brand new CD for these fuckin’ retards
― Eminem – Criminal
Yo, why does it always sound like I’m grabbing my nostrils?<br> Fuck that, I’ll battle ’em all, I’ll battle a mall<br> I’ll stand there and yell that at a wall<br> Until the mannequin dolls scatter and the inanimate objects<br> That I’m battering all shatter and fall
― Eminem – Shady XV
‘Cause the very thing that I love’s killing me<br> And I can’t conquer it<br> My OCD is conking me in the head,
― Eminem (Ft. Rihanna) – The Monster
Oh, that’s Dre with an AK to his face<br> Don’t make me kill him too<br> And spray his brains all over the place<br> I told you, Dre, you should’ve kept that thang put away<br> I guess that’ll teach you not to let me play with it, eh?
― Eminem – Criminal
[Chorus: Gwen Stefani]
― Eminem (Ft. Gwen Stefani) – Kings Never Die
You can check out more of Eminem’s annotation here on the Genius website.
