The Way I Am (Eminem song)

"The Way I Am"
Single by Eminem
from the album The Marshall Mathers LP
Released September 7, 2000
Format
Recorded 2000
Genre Hardcore hip hop
Length 4:50
Label
Songwriter(s) Marshall Mathers
Producer(s) Eminem
Eminem singles chronology
"The Real Slim Shady"
(2000)		 "The Way I Am"
(2000)		 "Stan"
(2000)

"The Way I Am" is a song by American rapper Eminem from his third album The Marshall Mathers LP (2000). "The Way I Am" was released as the second single from the album on September 7, 2000. It is also featured on his 2005 compilation album, Curtain Call: The Hits. In the tradition of most of Eminem's follow-up singles, "The Way I Am" is one of the songs for which he has sole songwriting credit. It features a much darker and emotionally driven sound than the album's lead single, which was "The Real Slim Shady".

Background

The song is a prominent hardcore hip-hop track for its angst-ridden lyrics and hostile, aggressive delivery by Eminem. It is ostensibly directed towards the record executives who had greatly stressed Eminem to top the success of his last album. As of the time of writing, which was shortly before the album's end of production, Eminem had yet to create any such singles that might replicate his previous success with "My Name Is", though he would soon pen "The Real Slim Shady", which would go on to be his most successful single to date. The song is directed at those who he perceived were placing undue burdens upon him and also lashes out at overzealous fans, telling them they should respect his privacy rather than harass him and his family.

It features the first beat Eminem produced on his own, featuring an ominous bass line, a piano loop, and bell chimes. In the song, Eminem lashes out at people he feels are putting too much pressure on him, including overzealous fans and record executives expecting him to top the success of his hit single "My Name Is", though in fact he went on to do so with "The Real Slim Shady," as well as other songs. He delivers each line extremely aggressively, almost shouting them out, representing the angry, resentful tone taken by the lyrics. The song contains the line "When a dude's gettin bullied and shoots up his school, and they blame it on Marilyn...", referring to either Eric Harris or Dylan Klebold, the bullied perpetrators of the Columbine High School massacre which took place the previous year, and the resulting media backlash against Marilyn Manson. The song has also been remixed by Danny Lohner featuring Marilyn Manson, who has performed the song with Eminem live on stage. The song reached number 8 in the United Kingdom, while in the United States it did not fare as well, not charting on the top 50. In 2005 it was re-released on the album Curtain Call: The Hits. "The Way I Am" was certified Gold in Sweden, selling over 20,000 copies.[1]

In 2008, Eminem released a second autobiography titled The Way I Am.

Structure

From the perspective of traditional poetic theory, almost the entire song, excluding the chorus, can be described as being written in anapestic tetrameter. Eminem's short-short-long "anapestic" rhythm is in a highly syncopated manner which is completely off the beat: he rests on the beat itself, 1,2,3,4, and delivers his words on the other 16th notes (e & a), accenting the last 16th note, the same place where the kick drum hits. This syncopated rhythm gives this piece much of its dramatic tension and is identical to the rhythm of the piano accompaniment.

The chorus adapts lines from the song "As the Rhyme Goes On" from Eric B. and Rakim's debut album Paid in Full in which Rakim raps,

I'm the R, the A, to the K, I, M; if I wasn't, then why would I say I am?

Critical reception

Cynthia Fuchs of PopMatters was positive: "In "The Way I Am," Eminem expounds, "Since birth I've been cursed with this curse to just curse / And just blurt this berserk and bizarre shit that works / And it sells and it helps in itself to relieve / All this tension, dispensin' these sentences." So there it is: he's performing therapy."[2] AllMusic highlighted the song.[3] Sputnikmusic described this song as "Amityville's portrayal of the Detroit he grew up in; The Way I Am as a whole". Same critic listed it in Recommended Downloads and praising the single: "Built over doomy, gothic arpeggios, rumbling bass, and church bells, Eminem lays down one of the most perfectly formed lyrics of his career, weaving in and out of a tight rhyme scheme that echoes the loping piano motif. Interesting aside: this is one of the first Eminem songs that gives him 100% of the writing credits."[4] IGN praised the song: "Eminem is an angry ass white boy and the vitriol continues on "I Way I Am," in which he soundly states "I am whatever you say I am/If I wasn't why would I say I am?" And when he complains that he's "so sick and tired of being admired…" one almost believes that he'll hang up the mic and disappear (but Em obviously loves the attention so that's not an option at this point in the game). The throbbing, tubular bell and piano laced beat only add to the intensity of the track (incidentally it was crafted by Em himself and it's one of the more stellar examples of his often hit or miss production techniques)."[5] Sal Cinquemani called this song: "He (Eminem) revels in the fact that there's teen violence in upper-class cities on the epic "The Way I Am."[6] The song was named the 35th Best Song of the decade by the magazine Complex.[7] The same magazine, in April 2011, ranked the song at #3 on their 100 Best Eminem Songs list.

Music video

The music video at the beginning plays a slow instrumental of his song "Kim", after the 'Kim' instrumental is played, the song carries on as normal and when the song starts, it shows him about to jump out the window of a tall building, and shows him falling through the sky, in a sequence inspired by the Coen brothers film The Hudsucker Proxy, in which the hero also falls slowly from a skyscraper window.[8] Marilyn Manson appears behind Eminem when the song refers to him — and a few more times thereafter. Other shots show fans coming up to him, asking for his autograph, as well as Eminem in his neighborhood in front of an old house. At the end of the video, when Eminem hits the ground, it bounces him safely like a giant mattress. It was named the 19th Best Music Video of the 2000s by Complex magazine. In the music video version of the song wind sound effects can be heard when Eminem is singing the intro, the first & last chorus. This can't be heard in the album version. The music video removes Eminem saying 'whatever'.[9]

Track listing

  1. "The Way I Am" - 4:50
  2. "Bad Influence" - 3:40
  3. "My Fault" (Pizza Mix) - 3:54
  4. "The Way I Am" (Video) - 4:52
  • UK Cassette
  1. "The Way I Am" - 4:50
  2. "Bad Influence" - 3:40
  • Australian CD single[11]
  1. "The Way I Am" (Unedited Version) - 4:50
  2. "The Way I Am" (Clean) - 4:49
  3. "Kids" (Uncensored Version) - 5:07
  4. "'97 Bonnie & Clyde" - 5:17
  5. "Steve Berman" (Skit) - 0:56
  6. "The Real Slim Shady" (Video) - 4:44

Charts

Chart (2000) Peak
position
Australian Singles Chart 34
Austrian Singles Chart 11
Belgian Singles Chart (Flanders) 16
Belgian Singles Chart (Wallonia) 9
Danish Singles Chart [12] 15
Dutch Top 40[13] 10
Finnish Singles Chart 8
German Singles Chart[14] 19
Irish Singles Chart 4
Swedish Singles Chart 6
Swiss Singles Chart 19
UK Singles Chart[15] 8
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[16] 58
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs[16] 26
U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 58

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/Sales
United States (RIAA)[17] Platinum 1,000,000double-dagger

^shipments figures based on certification alone
double-daggersales+streaming figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ "(Guld & Platina) ÅR 2000" [(Gold & Platinum) Year 2000] (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. pp. 8, 10. Archived from the original ("The Way I Am" at #2131) on March 4, 2012.
  2. ↑ "Eminem: The Marshall Mathers LP - PopMatters Music Review". Archived from the original on 22 April 2006. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  3. ↑ Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "The Marshall Mathers LP - Eminem - Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  4. ↑ "Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP (album review 15) - Sputnikmusic". Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  5. ↑ "The Marshall Mathers LP". IGN. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  6. ↑ Sal Cinquemani (16 January 2001). "Eminem: The Marshall Mathers LP - Album Review - Slant Magazine". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  7. ↑ "Complex - Style, Music, Sneakers, Entertainment, Girls, Technology". Best.complex.com. Archived from the original on 2009-12-05. Retrieved 2011-08-25.
  8. ↑ "The Hudsucker Proxy Trailer". YouTube. 2008-02-23. Retrieved 2011-08-25.
  9. ↑ "Complex | Style, Music, Sneakers, Entertainment, Girls, Technology". Best.complex.com. Archived from the original on 2009-11-20. Retrieved 2011-08-25.
  10. ↑ "Way I Am: Amazon.co.uk: Music". Amazon.com. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  11. ↑ "Way i Am: Amazon.co.uk: Music". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  12. ↑ "Single Top 20 Uge 1 - 2001". IFPI. Archived from the original on 2012-02-27. Retrieved 2012-01-11.
  13. ↑ "Dutch Chart 2000" (PDF) (in Dutch). Top40. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
  14. ↑ "Eminem singles, German Singles Chart" (in German). musicline. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
  15. ↑ "Eminem UK charts". Official Charts Company.
  16. 1 2 "Eminem". Billboard. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  17. ↑ "American single certifications – Eminem – The Way I Am". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved February 28, 2018. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH. 
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