“Kill You” by Eminem

“Kill You” exemplifies Slim Shady at its worst, so to speak. In fact “Kill You was cited by Congress itself in expressing a need for the music industry to update its rating’s system to properly accommodate such tracks. The point they were trying to make is that some songs, apparently using this one as the most-outstanding example, were so graphic that consumers need to be really, really warned before venturing therein. But Eminem, being who he is, has always held the position that what he does is just art.

Moreover, Shady had explained that the lyrics of this song were put together more or less on-the-fly. And his goal at the time was to let listeners know that he was just as “f—ed-up”, no, “worse” than he was on “The Slim Shady LP”, which is why “Kill You” is the lead-off song on “The Marshall Mathers LP”.

In any event, it was songs like this which helped establish Eminem as the most-unique voice in the entire world of hip-hop. Rappers who preceded him have of course said some pretty wild things themselves. But for instance, Marshall was perhaps the first major rapper to call his mom “crazy” on record, as the intro to this track reads.

Em’s Advantage

Let’s be honest – the fact that Mathers is White gave him a level of mainstream notoriety in a way that no Black artist would be considered. In other words, middle-American White fans could identify with him in a manner that they simply could not with African-Americans.

For example, in the 1990s rap singles, even those that hit, didn’t achieve platinum status nearly as frequently as they do now. But between 1999 and 2000, Eminem had scored four multi-platinum hits. So when you couple his popularity with his complete lack of lyrical respect for authority, it was a situation where his voice had to be acknowledged as more powerful than that of others. Or more simply explained, his work was met with a lot of mainstream analysis and criticism, including, as stated earlier, powerful politicians being on Em’s behind.

The Lyrics of “Kill You”

So as of the release of this track in the year 2000, Eminem was far from a struggling artist. So some pundits, once again according to Slim’s own explanation of this piece, were like the angst he experienced in his previous album, now at least that had undoubtedly worn off. But from the onset of the first verse he’s letting them know that no, such is not the case. Or let’s say that if Eminem can’t find one way to piss them off, then he’s bound to find another. So maybe he can’t “rap about being broke no more”. But he could “rap about coke”, with drug abuse actually being one of the central themes of “The Slim Shady LP”.

But what really got critics’ panties in a bunch in relation to this track is how overtly violent the vocalist is against women. Indeed we know that Black rappers, even back in those days, used the B-word quite liberally. But it’s hard to imagine even the most-criminal gangsta rapper implying that he would r-pe his own mother, as implied in the first verse of this track.

But Marshall isn’t stupid. He knows that, as stated indirectly in this piece, he is afforded a level of publicity that none of his peers possess. But he also goes on to imply that such outbursts are not his fault. Or viewed from a different angle, he shouldn’t be judged for the crazy things he says as what his artistry represents is the times, not vice versa.

Thesis Sentiment of “Kill You”

To make a long story short, the thesis sentiment of this track is supposed to be that the vocalist, as some analysts put it, is a tortured soul. But this is not a reality that Eminem is lamenting, as perhaps a normal artist would. Instead, he appears to be reveling in it. He also seems to derive pleasure from knowing that some of the songs he drops pisses off the establishment. And lastly, he knows that he’s hot, i.e. his artistry being a talking point due to the fact that his music/character is indeed selling.

But as we have stated in the past, even though Em may have been getting into legal drama here and there, no one was truly concerned about him personally, say, dragging a girl into the woods to murder her, as he puts forth in the second verse. The bigger issue, as inferred earlier, has always been how his music affects others, i.e. those who are more inclined to actually engage in such behavior. 

The First Amendment 

On one hand, it’s hard to imagine what the rap game would look like without the presence of Slim Shady. America is a country that prides itself on free speech, and in a way it can be said that no rapper has taken advantage of the First Amendment more so than Eminem.

But on the other hand yes, just keeping it totally real, it must also be said that listening to stuff like this may prompt some listeners to partake of criminality or self-destructive activities themselves, despite understanding that these lyrics are all part of Eminem’s shtick. Whenever some young male turns around and does some crazy criminal sh*t, a question that is always brought up, understandably, is how the media he was ingesting may have influenced such actions.

But Eminem’s argument seems to be that instead of focusing on him – a theatrical rapper, if you will – it would behoove the powers that be to rather pay more attention to the likes of the aforementioned individuals. For Slim Shady, being who he is, is always liable to ‘pop off at the mouth with sh*t he shouldn’t have said’. Or put more plainly, no matter what he’s not going to stop spittin’ some off-the-wall content.

Facts about “Kill You”

“Kill You” was never released as a single but is still considered an Eminem classic, dating back to what can be regarded as his signature album, “The Marshall Mathers LP”.  That is a project which Aftermath Entertainment and its industry partner, Interscope Records, put on 23 May 2000. 

And since then, once again keeping in mind this song is not a single, “Kill You” has performed exceptionally well, such as being certified gold by the RIAA, silver by the BPI as of the writing of this post.

This song was produced by Dr. Dre and Mel-Man. Dre, the head of Aftermath Entertainment, is also the industry figure that gave Eminem his big break. And back in those days Mel-Man, an Aftermath employee, was also heavily involved in Marshall’s career. And it is the three of them who also wrote “Kill You”.

This song is acknowledged as sampling a track titled “Pulsion” (1979) by one Jacques Loussier. By the looks of things, said acknowledgment was achieved after Loussier sued Eminem and co. for illegally copying his work.