The song Eminem felt he had to apologise for
Eminem doesn’t come across as the apologising type. From his humble beginnings as a battle rapper, he honed his lyrical skills in an arena that requires you to disrespectfully and unforgivingly dismantle your opponent.
Furthermore, like his close friend and longtime collaborator, 50 Cent, Eminem has never been afraid to name and shame other acts in the music industry. From Beyoncé to Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, Eminem has always mocked pop stars.
Furthermore, he was even calling out people in defence of his Aftermath label behind the scenes, getting into battles with figures such as Suge Knight. At one point, he even had a bit of a misunderstanding with Snoop Dogg.
However, when fans look behind the hard-face façade, whether it’s a documentary or a quick Google search, fans find out how a lot of Eminem’s early anger and hostility (humorous or not) stem back to some serious childhood issues that are known to go back generations.
Since his explosion onto the scene in 1999 with the Slim Shady LP, Eminem (real name Marshal Mathers) has become one of the most popular hip-hop artists in the world and is, officially, the best-selling rapper of all time.
Despite having some of the most recognisable hits of all time, Mathers has admitted that on many occasions, there are songs of his own that he hates today. Furthermore, he has admitted that he regrets some of the tracks he made. In fact, he regretted them so much that he even penned an apology following their release.
Eminem’s problematic relationship with his mother was somewhat of a spectacle in the early 2000s, and in his later age, he has grown to regret his 2002 track ‘Cleanin Out My Closet.’In the song, he labels his mother a “selfish b*tch” and proudly declares he hopes she “burn in hell”. Furthermore, he alleges his mother was faking illnesses to get attention.
Mathers also mocks her previous addiction, with lyrics concerning his mother, ‘poppin’ prescription pills.’ This is not the only song in which the Detroit native scolds his mum, Debbie.
In ‘Without You’ he screams, “F*ck you Debbie!” However, in his 2013 song ‘Headlights’, the rapper apologised to his mother for ‘Cleanin Out My Closet’, and declared he would no longer play it at shows.
On the track, he raps, “I’m sorry mama for ‘Cleanin’ Out My Closet,’ at the time I was angry / Rightfully maybe so, never meant that far to take it though / Now I know it’s not your fault, and I’m not making jokes / That song I no longer play at shows, and I cringe every time it’s on the radio.”
Following the track’s release in 2002, Mathers’ mother was so offended she sued him for defamation, which was a long and costly hindrance to the lyricist who had only recently entered the mainstream.
In a 2010 interview with RapUp magazine, when asked about his mother and whether he would ever talk to her again, Mathers responded, “I’m not sure, to be honest. It’d be very hard to repair that relationship.”
Aside from his daughter Hailie, Eminem keeps his family in the background, and he is estranged from many of his relatives, he has previously revealed that many of those he loved are now deceased. Therefore, it appears that his 2013 apology was his first and last.