Eminem’s commentary reveals the tidbits and intricacies behind making “My Name Is”, his groundbreaking hit from the 1999 album “The Slim Shady LP”.
Marshall gave an interview about recording the song and filming a music video for it. Vevo Music added his remarks to the fully remastered HD visuals:
This was the second song we did during my first session working with Dr. Dre. He had a turntable in the studio, dropped the needle on the records, and I just started saying “Hi, my name is” over that little snippet.
Once we hit on that section of Labi Siffre’s song Dre had the idea to make it into a beat. Dre and his musicians actually recreated Labi Siffre’s record… the interpolation made it more hip-hop.
I went back to the apartments in Los Angeles where I was living at the time and wrote some dummy verses that night. We both thought it would be a good way to introduce me to the world.
We shot a video a few months after recording the song — a big moment. It was only the second video I had ever done, and the first was real low budget.
Gheorge Murasan is 7 foot 7. He was the tallest guy we could think of that could play the ventriloquist so that I could sit on his lap and look like I’m the size of a dummy. I’m glad he had a sense of humor and was down to shoot with us.
This video was the first big budget thing I have ever done. It was such a big deal to experience a soundstage, a full crew, and all the things that come with shooting something at that scale. It was such a huge learning curve to see what a big Hollywood production looked like.
Dre had a working relationship with the director Phill Atwell. They created the vision. It’s hard to imagine the song existing without that video. They perfectly complement each other.
Phillip Atwell would later direct music videos for several other Emine songs, including “The Real Slim Shady”, “Stan”, “Lose Yourself”, and “Just Lose It”.
If you look closely at my eyes during the scene where I dressed like Bill Clinton, it may look like I was high on ecstasy during that part of the shoot… but that’s just a rumor.
Looking back this seems like the perfect introduction to the world, and a perfect first single for my major label debut. I don’t think I would have done it any differently, but I certainly had no idea how big it was going to become.
I don’t think I could write an update in 2024, but maybe I’ll have them write “Bye, My Name Was” on my tombstone.
Watch Eminem – The Making of ‘My Name Is’ (Vevo Footnotes) below:
