The rapper didn’t mince his words on the controversial track
Featured Image Credit: Vevo/Jeff Kravitz / Contributor
Eminem has been one of the top dogs in rap for decades now.
But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have any tracks that he’d rather see the back of.
The 51-year-old disliked one song so much that he even released an apology track about it years later.
What is the song in question?
Interscope Records
Featured on his album Without Me, Eminem details his fraught relationship with his mother Debbie.
He used several choice phrases to describe his mum in the song, calling her a ‘selfish b**ch’ and saying he hoped she would ‘burn in Hell’.
Not exactly stuff you’d be putting in a Mother’s Day card.
The Slim Shady rapper also branded her the ‘queen of popping prescription pills’ and vowed not to let her meet his daughter.
At the time the song was released, the two had a turbulent relationship.
Of course, we are talking about the controversial ‘Cleanin’ Out My Closet’, released in 2002.
Interscope Records
Debbie had sued her son in 1999, accusing him of slander and defamation.
She’d originally hoped to get $10 million (£7.7 million) out of her famous son, but eventually settled for $25,000 (£19.4k) in 2001.
Although this isn’t the only song in which Eminem slammed his mum, he decided to retire ‘Cleanin’ Out My Closet’.
A follow-up apology track, ‘Headlights’ would be released years later.
The 2014 track begins: “My mum probably got it the worst.
“The brunt of it, but as stubborn as we are, did I take it too far?
“‘Cleaning Out My Closet’ and all them other songs.
“But regardless, I don’t hate you ‘cause ma.
“You’re still beautiful to me, ‘cause you’re my mum.”
The heartfelt apology continues: “But I’m sorry mama for ‘Cleanin’ Out My Closet,’ at the time I was angry.
Getty Images / Jeff Kravitz
“Rightfully maybe so, never meant that far to take it though, ‘cause.
“Now I know it’s not your fault and I’m not making jokes.
“That song I no longer pay at shows and I cringe every time it’s on the radio.”
While the track is essentially an apology, the rapper doesn’t shy away from his often turbulent childhood, revealing how he was kicked out on Christmas Eve and his young brother Nathan, was taken into foster care.
Despite this, he admits that he hates the ‘dysfunctional relationship’ between him and his mum.
He continues: “But ma, I forgive you, so does Nathan yo.
“All you did, all you said, you did your best to raise us both.
“Foster care, that cross you bare, few may be as heavy as yours.”
Rounding off the heartfelt apology, he says: “But I love you Debbie Mathers, oh what a tangled web we have.
“And I’m mad I didn’t get the chance to thank you for being my mom and my dad.”
Debbie herself spoke about the possibility of reconciling with Eminem in an interview: “I’m not ever gonna give up on my kids. I won’t give up on anybody.
“There’s hope for everybody. It’s a matter of just basically swallowing your pride. It’s like a cashed check. It’s over, it’s done. You need to move on.”
