Genius | Song Lyrics & Knowledge

But at least have the decency in you
To leave me alone, when you freaks see me out
In the streets when I'm eatin' or feedin' my daughter
To not come and speak to me
I don't know you, and no, I don't owe you a motherfuckin' thing Eminem – The Way I Am

Genius Annotation 7 Contributors ?

What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Fame comes with a price, and Em knows this better than anyone. He was arguably the most talked about artist at the time.

Speaking of fans bothering him is a reoccurring topic in his music, especially on his guest verse on Xzibit’s “Don’t Approach Me.”

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse

But tonight, we ain't come in here to beef with nobody
We came to party: Banks, Ca$his, and Mr. Ferrari
So it's Shady, Aftermizath, back in that ass, you izzask?
Come izzon, what kinda fizzuckin' quizzestion is that? Eminem (Ft. 50 Cent, Ca$his & Lloyd Banks) – You Don’t Know

Genius Annotation 4 Contributors ?

What is this?

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

This track wasn’t meant to call out any rappers, but its intended purpose is more to celebrate their success. Mr. Ferrari, is one of Fif’s nicknames.

Similar to Fifty, Eminem adopts some of Snoop’s lingo. He’s not allowed to say niggas, so goes for a Snoopified version of wiggas instead. The last line reads, “Come on, what kinda fuckin' question is that?”, as in it’s painfully obvious Shady/Aftermath is running the game.

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse

Marked this as missing something ?

3 months

50 Cent’s used the Ferrari nickname a few times before in his songs such as in his song “Wanksta”

It’s 50 aka Ferrari F-50

His song “Thicker Than Water”

You’re now rockin' wit the grimiest nigga in New York
50, aka Ferrari, F-50, aka 50 Cent, now fuck wit me

His song “Follow Me Gangster” which is a alternate version of his song “Thicker Than Water”

Sha, you ready? drop that
Ferrari F-50 style baby

And also his song “Im A Rider”

It’s Ferrari
Nigga my name hold weight, like a diesel nigga on a bench press up state

Upvote +0 Downvote

7 years

i always thought it was “izzask/ask”, like, “you ask ‘who run it?”, but what kind of question is that?"

Upvote +1 Downvote

530

8 years

I think the lyric is “come it’s on, what kinda fuzukin quizition is that

Upvote +2 Downvote

Show all improvement suggestions

P.I.M.P. 50 Cent – P.I.M.P.

Song Bio 5 Contributors ?

What is this?

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Sit back and listen as Professor Jackson gives a lecture on the microeconomics of prostitution. Then head over to the remix for an extra lecture from uncle Snoop.

“P.I.M.P.” is the third single from Get Rich or Die Tryin'. The track was a great commercial success and peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was later certified Gold by the RIAA..

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse

Bitch, I'ma kill you! I ain't done, this ain't the chorus
I ain't even drug you in the woods yet to paint the forest Eminem – Kill You

Genius Annotation 8 Contributors ?

What is this?

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

He ended the previous verse by transitioning into the hook in an identical manner (“Bitch, I'ma kill you!”), so here he fakes out interpolating the hook to play with the listener. Biggie did something similar on “Warning”. This is one of Eminem’s favorite tricks, a fake-started hook, which can also be seen in “My Darling” in the first verse, his verse on his crew, D12’s “Shit Can Happen”, and his first verse on another D12 song called “Shit on You”.

It’s unknown if Em is unaware that ‘drug’ isn’t the correct past tense of ‘drag’, or if it’s intentional, as he has already used it in his somewhat unrecognized song, “Murder Murder”:

Drug her by her hair
Thinking fuck it, mug her while you’re there

“Paint the forest” means that when he drags her into the forest it will become covered with her blood, and hence “painted”.

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse

Marked this as missing something ?

2 years

It’s a dialect/nonstandard version of the past tense of drag:

drug - Wiktionary — Wiktionary

Upvote +1 Downvote

Marked this as restating the line ?

3 years

He also uses the word drug in the song As The World Turns Around

Upvote +0 Downvote

84,393

4 years

It might actually be “dropped”.

Upvote +9 Downvote

Show all improvement suggestions

Okay, I'm ready to go play, I got the machete from O. J.
I'm ready to make everyone's throats ache! Eminem – Kill You

Genius Annotation 4 Contributors ?

What is this?

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

O. J. Simpson was on trial for allegedly murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and waiter Ronald Lyle Goldman. While not a machete, the murder weapon was believed to be a 15-inch (380mm) meat cleaver. O. J. also got away with his alleged murder case, just like how Eminem will get away with his.

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse

Anyways, I hope you get this, man, hit me back
Just to chat, truly yours, your biggest fan, this is Stan Eminem (Ft. Dido) – Stan

Genius Annotation 5 Contributors ?

What is this?

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

The end of this verse/letter has a very casual tone. It shows how much Em means to Stan, but it doesn’t seem as if he’s overly worried that he won’t respond.

As a result of this song, “Stan” would enter the vocabulary to mean an overzealous fan. While it may be coincidental, some have speculated that Stan is chosen as a portmanteau of stalker and fan. Though the music video reveals that his full name is Stanley Mitchell, as indicated by his gravestone.

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse

Marked this as a stretch ?

19d

The “stalker fan” thing is a stretch.. Em just needed a name that rhymes with fan.

Upvote +0 Downvote

Show all improvement suggestions

"Oh, now he's rapin' his own mother
Abusin' a whore, snortin' coke and we gave him the Rolling Stone cover?" Eminem – Kill You

Genius Annotation 7 Contributors ?

What is this?

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Here Eminem is poking fun at the critics who question the spotlight the media lets him have. Since his lyrics often depict violence and drug use they can’t fathom why he would deserve that kind of coverage.

Eminem graced the cover of Rolling Stone in 1999 and had his own cover story. He was on the cover of the magazine another 4 times, so presumably they didn’t care much about his content.

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse

158

1 year

@BBaccSoon calm down mate, I deleted the previous comment because you can’t edit suggestions on Genius, just so it doesn’t get messy and confusing to other readers. You were wrong and got corrected, so what? No need to get mad about it, it’s the most normal thing in the world and this is exactly what people come here for, to better understand. At least I tried to help prevent you from spreading misinformation.

Upvote +1 Downvote

Marked this as a stretch ?

1 year

@BBaccSoon You completely misunderstood ‘Ma’, it doesn’t refer to some random girl and it would seem odd for him to say “Shut up, slut! (…) take it like a slut – okay, Ma!” (needless to say he’s not hollering at anybody). Em also doesn’t seem to have ever used that slang before or after for that matter (besides, the “Ma” you mean is short for ‘mami’, a Latino (Spanish) term of affection). Moreover, by “you’re goddamn right” he admits (or heavily implies) in the very next verse that he’s indeed referring to his mother. Lastly, he leaves no doubt about this in the song “I’m Back” (from the same album) to prove just how perverted his mind is: “If this chick was my own mother, I’d still fuck her with no rubber / And cum inside her and have a son and a new brother”.

This is the only way “Ma” has ever been interpreted in this line.

Upvote +3 Downvote

144

1 year

@LorenzoCsar if there is nothing to prove it then why did you delete your comment? If you are getting this literal over a line and completely ignorant of the slang then hip-hop isn’t for you bruh. Jfc. Go join a debate club or somethin' lol.

Upvote -4 Downvote

144

1 year

@LorenzoCsar funny how I never said it was a girl’s name. Ma is slang for a girl you’re trying to holla at i.e. ‘Hey Ma’ by Cam'ron. You can even look it up on Urban Dictionary if you don’t believe me.

Upvote -4 Downvote

Marked this as missing something ?

2 years

The “rapin' his own mother” line is witty wordplay from the end of the last line where he said “okay ma?” Ma in that line was a girl you’re trying to get at but critics will take it literally and think he meant ‘ma’ as in ‘mother.’

Upvote +3 Downvote

816

2 years

Damn I didn’t know Chris Chan used to ghostwrite for Eminem.

Upvote +9 Downvote

Show all improvement suggestions

You wacker than the motherfucker you bit yo' style from Eminem – Just Don't Give a Fuck

Genius Annotation 5 Contributors ?

What is this?

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

“Bitting,” or stealing, is highly frowned upon in hip hop. To not only accuse someone of stealing styles, but to claim that they’re worse than whom they’re stealing from, is incredibly disrespectful and is sure to hurt anyone’s pride.

Eminem himself was accused of imitating Nas and AZ on his independent debut Infinite, so he switched things up for The Slim Shady EP to create his own identity.

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse

Dear Slim, I wrote you, but you still ain't callin'
I left my cell, my pager and my home phone at the bottom
I sent two letters back in autumn, you must not've got 'em
There probably was a problem at the post office or somethin'
Sometimes I scribble addresses too sloppy when I jot 'em Eminem (Ft. Dido) – Stan

Genius Annotation 8 Contributors ?

What is this?

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

The fact that Stan addresses Eminem as “Slim” demonstrates how he cannot differentiate reality from fiction. Slim Shady is a made-up character, but Stan believes that’s who Eminem is.

Stan is so desperate for a response from Em he gave all the info he could. Sadly, the chance of Eminem responding back was slim (no pun intended), as he was a superstar at this time with presumably thousands of fans sending him mails everyday.

In Stan’s mind Eminem can do no wrong so someone else must be at fault for Eminem not coming back to him. His sloppy handwriting can even be seen as symbolic of how unhinged Stan is. In the music video, this letter actually does get left behind on the mailroom floor.

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse

My tea's gone cold, I'm wondering why I
Got out of bed at all
The morning rain clouds up my window
And I can't see at all Eminem (Ft. Dido) – Stan

Genius Annotation 16 Contributors ?

What is this?

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

This hook samples Dido’s 1999 track “Thank You,” and contains similar themes – Stan’s wall of pictures was full of Eminem posters. The song didn’t get much attention upon its release, but jumped up the charts after being sampled by Em.

Dido was terrified of meeting Eminem because of his legal troubles and subject matter, but described him as “lovely.”

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse

152

3 months

This could also be ironic since the song “Thank You” is a relatively positive song where she talks about someone helps her out. Eminem could be the person Stan is thanking.

Upvote +3 Downvote