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"Without Me"
Single by Eminem
from the album The Eminem Show
Released	c. May 2002
Format	CD
Genre	Hip hop
Length	4 min 50 s
Label	Shady/Aftermath/Interscope
Writer(s)	Eminem
Producer(s)	Eminem
Chart positions
#1 (UK, Australia, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Sweden, New Zealand, Taiwan, Norway, Ireland, Denmark, Netherlands) #2 (US, Finland, Italy) #3 (France)
Eminem singles chronology
"Stan" (2000)	"Without Me" (2002)	"Cleanin' Out My Closet" (2002)

"Without Me" was a hit single from Eminem's 2002 album The Eminem Show.

The song was Eminem's return after the successful The Marshall Mathers LP, intended as a sequel to "The Real Slim Shady" and essentially saying that he is back to save the world. It also refers to Eminem's role in the music industry and his cultural effects.

The song mocks a number of Eminem's critics, including Dick Cheney (and his wife Lynne Cheney), the FCC and MTV, Chris Kirkpatrick (of *NSYNC), Limp Bizkit, Elvis, and Moby. A line in the song also attacks his own mother Debbie Mathers for the lawsuit she filed against him for the lyrics of his debut single "My Name Is".

The opening lyric ("Two trailer park girls surround me outside...") is based on the single "Buffalo Gals" by Malcolm McLaren, while the introduction which is spoken by Obie Trice ("Obie Trice, real name no gimmicks."), had helped the rapper who was soon (at the time) to achieve some success under Eminem's Shady Aftermath label (the intro was actually taken from the beginning of Trice's own track called "Rap Name").

A sample from the track, the phrase "nobody listens to techno", became an underground techno bootleg anthem produced by Deep Dish and Danny Howells under the alias Size DDD (Deep Dish Danny). The song was played by many well-known DJs to satirize the claim. The song was also parodied on All That, a skit show on Nickelodeon.

The background saxophone riff was sampled for Drunkenmunky's 2002 club hit "E" (help·info).

The music video of the song features a number of scenarios built around its context, including Eminem and Dr. Dre as parodies of Batman and Robin (though Eminem is dressed as Robin, Dre isn't as Batman) trying to save the youth from the bad influence of music. Eminem also appears barefoot throughout some of the video whereby he is on a hospital bed being pushed through a ward (a reference to ER, which here is called EM drawing from the rapper's stage name). Porn stars Jenna Jameson and Kianna Dior appear in bed with Eminem at the beginning of the video. Eminem also spoofs Osama Bin Laden who sings along at the end of the music video but is then chased by the members of D12. At the end he surrenders, waves a white flag and starts to dance on which D12 fall in.

This video received MTV Video Music Awards for Video of the Year, Best Male Video, Best Rap Video, and Best Direction (for Joseph Kahn, who directed it), as well as gaining nominations for Best Editing and Viewer's Choice. It also won Best Short Form Music Video at the Grammy Awards of 2003.

The video for "Without Me" can also be seen playing in a number of other music videos, including 50 Cent's "In Da Club" and Tony Yayo's "I Know You Don't Love Me".

“Without Me” was Eminem’s most successful single at that point. It reached #1 in many countries, including the U.K., Australia and New Zealand It also reached the #2 spot in the U.S.- none of his singles other than “Lose Yourself” have ever charted as high.

“Without Me” was nominated for Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards of 2003 (losing to Norah Jones' 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 the song "Hot in Herre" by rapper Nelly.

"Without Me" was later released on Eminem's album, "Curtain Call", with a small edit. The word "fag" was substituted with "Stan".

Preceded by "Underneath Your Clothes" by Shakira	ARIA (Australia) number one single May 26, 2002 - June 2, 2002	Succeeded by "Kiss Kiss" by Holly Valance
Preceded by "Kiss Kiss" by Holly Valance	ARIA (Australia) number one single June 16, 2002	Succeeded by "A Little Less Conversation" by Elvis vs JXL
Preceded by "A Little Less Conversation" by Elvis vs JXL	ARIA (Australia) number one single July 14, 2002 - July 21, 2002	Succeeded by "A Little Less Conversation" by Elvis vs JXL
Preceded by "Just a Little" by Liberty X	UK Singles Chart number one single May 26, 2002 - June 1, 2002	Succeeded by "Light My Fire" by Will Young

v • d • e Eminem
Discography
Albums
Mainstream albums: The Slim Shady LP • The Marshall Mathers LP • The Eminem Show • Encore • Eminem's fifth studio album
Special releases: 8 Mile Soundtrack • Curtain Call • The Re-Up
D12 albums: Devil's Night • D12 World • D12's third studio album
Singles
Mainstream singles: "My Name Is" • "Guilty Conscience" • "The Real Slim Shady" • "The Way I Am" • "Stan" • "Without Me" • "Cleanin' Out My Closet" • "Lose Yourself" • "Sing for the Moment" • "Superman" • "Business" • "Just Lose It" • "Encore" • "Like Toy Soldiers" • "Mockingbird" • "Ass Like That" • "When I'm Gone" • "Shake That" • "You Don't Know" • "Jimmy Crack Corn" • "The Tide Is In"
Collaborations and other songs: "Forgot About Dre" • "Just Don't Give a Fuck" • "Dead Wrong" • "My Fault" • "Role Model" • "'Till I Collapse" • "Mosh" • "Smack That" • "Welcome 2 Detroit"
Related articles
8 Mile • Interscope • Aftermath • Shady Records • D12 (Bizzare • Swift • Kuniva • Kon Artis • Proof • Bugz) • G-Unit • Dr. Dre • 50 Cent • Stat Quo • Obie Trice • Nate Dogg • Akon • Trick-Trick • Kim Mathers