Sunday Night Sample: Eminem - My Name Is
Now with football over, I'm going to try to get back to doing these again on Sundays.
A lesser-known song, sampled in a wildly popular rap song, is "I Got The..." by Labi Siffre, which was sampled in Eminem's iconic track "My Name Is" from his 1999 album "The Slim Shady LP". Labi Siffre, a British singer-songwriter and poet, released "I Got The..." in 1975.
(This song fucks hard.)
The song features a distinctive guitar riff and a funky beat that Dr. Dre, the producer of "My Name Is", sampled to create the iconic backdrop for Eminem's breakthrough single.
While "I Got The..." had its own charm and groove, it wasn't widely known in the mainstream music scene until its sample brought it an unexpected resurgence and introduced Labi Siffre's work to a new generation of listeners.
Though Labi Siffre's 'I Got The...' would go on to become most famous for its use in 'My Name Is,' Beck revealed that he and his producers, The Dust Brothers, were planning on putting their own twist on the instrumental for his project Midnite Vultures (1999). As Beck was signed to the sub-label Geffen, Interscope's Jimmy Iovine was made aware of these plans and knew that Eminem (newly-signed to the Interscope-distributed Aftermath Records) already had a Dr. Dre-produced single in the works that sampled the same track.
Iovine sat Beck down in a meeting and invited him to watch a music video for 'My Name Is', which had just been completed, telling Beck that "this kid" he had just signed was "going to be massive." As a result, Beck's work-in-progress track had to be shelved indefinitely.
Fun fact- Following the release of 'My Name Is,' Eminem's mother, Debbie Mathers, filed two defamation lawsuits against her son, totaling $11 million. Eminem's lawyer at the time, Paul Rosenberg, defended the lyrics in question, saying that they were a reflection of the real-life relationship between Eminem and his mother, and that the rapper expected such consequences from releasing the song publicly.
The claims were reportedly settled for $25,000, with Debby receiving just $1,600 after a substantial portion of the settlement was used to cover legal fees.