In 1999, Eminem became a household name after he released “My Name Is." The song not only catapulted him into superstardom, but also marked the beginning of his relationship with Dr. Dre that started a run that includes classics like “Guilty Conscience,” “Forgot About Dre,” and “Say What You Say.”
In a clip from HBO’s The Defiant Ones, Dre and Eminem recount the first time they met and detail the events that led to the creation of “My Name Is.” Genius contributor Killersnowtiger breaks it all down in an annotation:
In a verified annotation on Genius, Eminem also recalls recording “three or four songs that day, in like six hours” and that “one song was called “Ghost Stories” and one was “When Hell Freezes Over.” "I feel like there was one more but I can’t remember what it was,” he tells Genius. “We always have this discussion, because Dre says it’s four.”
“My Name Is" is produced by Dre and features a sample of Labi Siffre’s 1975 song “I Got The…,” along with Eminem’s infectious “Hi, my name is, what? My name is, who?/My name is, chka-chka Slim Shady” hook.
The final episode of The Defiant Ones, airs tonight on HBO. You can watch the clip above and read all the lyrics to Eminem’s “My Name Is” on Genius now.
