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"Without Me" is a song by American rapper Eminem from his fourth studio album The Eminem Show (2002). "Without Me" was released on May 13, 2002, as the lead single from the album, and re-released on his greatest hits compilation album Curtain Call: The Hits (2005). "Without Me" is one of Eminem's most successful singles, reaching number two on the U.S. BillboardHot 100, and number one in fifteen countries.
Content
The song was Eminem's return after the successful Marshall Mathers LP, intended as a sequel to "The Real Slim Shady" and essentially says that he is back to save the world. It also refers to Eminem's role in the music industry and his effect on culture.
The song mocks a number of Eminem's critics, including Vice President Dick Cheney (including his recurring heart problems) and his wife Lynne, the FCC, Chris Kirkpatrick (of NSYNC), Limp Bizkit and Moby, as well as parodying Prince's decision to change his name to an unpronounceable symbol. It also lampoons comparisons of him to Elvis Presley as a white man succeeding commercially in a predominantly black art form. A line also attacks his mother Debbie Mathers for the lawsuit she filed for the lyrics of his breakthrough hit "My Name Is".
Stephen Thomas Erlewine marked it as one of the best tracks on The Eminem Show. David Browne was positive: "'I've created a monster, 'cuz no one wants to hear Marshall no more,' he (Eminem) whines, partly in jest, in the beat-crazy single 'Without Me'." HipHopDX noted that the blazing single "Without Me" is one of the only light-hearted songs on the album. NME magazine noted that this song is "tackling disco." RapReviews wrote: "His fearlessness continues on the lead single "Without Me" when he lambasts everyone from Dick Cheney's wife to the leading electronic artists of the day." Kris Ex of Rolling Stone calls it "a fun-loving, barb-laden romp on which flits from one topic to the next like a bumblebee with ADD."
Chart performances and awards
"Without Me" is one of Eminem's most successful singles. The song reached the number one position in the charts in numerous countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand for 7 weeks. In the United States, the song reached a peak of number two on the Billboard Hot 100, behind "Hot in Herre" by Nelly, although it reached number one on both the Mainstream Top 40 and Rhythmic charts. In the United Kingdom, Without Me made its debut at number 1, on the week ending 1 June 2002, selling over 165,500 copies in its first week.
"Without Me" was nominated for Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards of 2003 (losing to Norah Jones's song "Don't Know Why"), being Eminem's first song to receive a Grammy nomination in a major category. It also received a nomination for Best Male Rap Solo Performance, but lost that award as well to Nelly's "Hot in Herre", behind which it had peaked on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 2009, the song was honored by Pitchfork Media as the 251st-greatest song of the 2000s.
The song was the 69th-best-selling single of the 2000s in the United Kingdom.
The song's music video, directed by Joseph Kahn, features a number of scenarios built around its context, including Eminem and Dr. Dre as parodies of comics in general, specifically Batman, Robin (Rap Boy), and Blade trying to save a child who bought a copy of The Eminem Show that has a Parental Advisory sticker. Rap Boy and Dre rush to the rescue before the child puts the CD in his CD player and when they arrive Rap Boy snatches it away from him, showing that his CD has explicit lyrics that are not suitable for him to listen to. The kid cries and is upset after Rap Boy and Dre confiscate the album away from him. The video was shot from April 12–13 at Barwick Studios. The comic and the scene with Moby feature a rabbit costume, a possible reference to the one featured in two Love Inc. music videos. The video also features Eminem (as Slim Shady) appearing in a variety of fictional television shows, such as a parody of ER, an infomercial, The Real World, and a talk show. The video also features the adult film performers Jenna Jameson and Kianna Dior as well as character actor Michael Berryman.
Sales figures based on certification alone. Shipments figures based on certification alone. Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. Streaming-only figures based on certification alone.
Attorney Alex Spiro in a court filing for Elon Musk against SEC to rescind SEC decree requiring Musk's tweets about Tesla to be reviewed before posting, quoted "(SEC) won't let me be or let me be me so let me see; They tried to shut me down", replacing FCC with SEC.
In 2024, Eminem sampled "Without Me" for his song "Houdini". The music video also pays heavy homage to the video for "Without Me".
Following his return as Reform UK leader during the 2024 United Kingdom general election, Nigel Farage used the song as his personal campaign theme. "Without Me" was further used in his social media videos as well as during the build up to his leader's speech at the Reform Annual Conference in September 2024.
"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 38. týden 2016 in the date selector. Retrieved 2016-09-26.
"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 45. týden 2022 in the date selector. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
