Iconic rapper Eminem takes viewers behind the scenes of the official music video for “My Name Is,” in the latest installment of Vevo Footnotes, premiering today. The exclusive content releases alongside the 25th Anniversary of the renowned rapper’s major-label debut single in 1999.
During the video, Eminem shares how the song came together during his first session with Dr. Dre and how Dre transformed the memorable sample to give it a more hip-hop feel. Eminem explains his experience filming the music video, noting that it was only the second video he had ever filmed, and reflects on the learning curve of being on the set of such a large-scale production for the first time.
Eminem also discusses finding the tallest person they could think of for the ventriloquist scene and how thrilled they were when the 7-foot-7 Gheorge Murasan agreed to shoot and had a great sense of humor about it. He describes the collaborative vision, shaped by Dr. Dre and director Philip Atwell, who went on to direct many more classic music videos for Eminem. Last but not least, Eminem hints that if you look closely, rumors have it that you might notice him being high on ecstasy during one scene in the video.
FULL FOOTNOTES BELOW:
00:22 – This was the second song we did during my first session working with Dr. Dre. He had a turntable in the studio, dropped the needle on the record, and I just started saying “Hi, my name is” over that little snippet.
00:43 – Once we hit that section of Labi Siffre’s song Dre had the idea to make it into a beat. Dre and his musicians actually recreated Labi Siffre’s record…the interpolation made it more hip-hop.
01:03 – I went back to the apartments in Los Angeles where I was living at the time and wrote some dummy verses that night. We both thought it would be a good way to introduce me to the world.
01:22 – We shot this video a few months after recording the song – a big moment. It was only the second video I had ever done, and the first was real low budget.
01:44 – Gheorge Murasan is 7 foot 7. He was the tallest guy we could think of that could play the ventriloquist so that I could sit on his lap and look like I’m the size of a dummy. I’m glad he had a sense of humor and was down to shoot it with us.
02:03 – This video was the first big budget thing I had ever done. It was such a big deal to experience a soundstage, a full crew, and all the things that come with shooting something at that scale. It was such a huge learning curve to see what a big Hollywood production looked like.
02:25 – Dre had a working relationship with Phil Atwell. They created the vision. It’s hard to imagine the song existing without that video. They perfectly complement each other.
02:46 – Phillip Atwell would later direct music videos for several other Eminem songs, including “The Real Slim Shady,” “Stan,” “Lose Yourself,” and “Just Lose It.”
03:03 – If you look closely at my eyes during the scene where I was dressed like Bill Clinton, it may look like I was high on ecstasy during that part of the shoot…but that’s just a rumor.
03:23 – Looking back this seems like the perfect introduction to the world, and a perfect first single for my major label debut. I don’t think I would have done it any differently, but I certainly had no idea how big it was going to become.
