Kim (song)

Infobox Song
Name = Kim


Caption =
Artist = Eminem
Album = The Marshall Mathers LP
Published =
Released = 23 May 2000
track_no = 16
Recorded = 1999
Genre = Hip hop
Horrorcore
Length = 6:18
Writer = M. Mathers
Composer =
Label = Aftermath
Interscope
Producer = F.B.T.
prev = "Bitch Please II"
prev_no = 15
next = "Under the Influence"
next_no = 17

"Kim" is a song by Eminem which is the 16th track in his third studio album "The Marshall Mathers LP", which was released in 2000. It is a song of hatred aimed against his wife Kim Mathers, and features Eminem imitating the voice of hers, with the music being a dramatic piano loop.

ong information

Kim Mathers is Eminem's ex-wife, with an on-and-off relationship from the day they first met in a friend's party in 1989, had Hailie together in 1995, marrying in 1999 and divorcing in 2001, later re-marrying in 2006 and divorcing the same year. The song is the second song against Kim after "97' Bonnie & Clyde" from his debut album "The Slim Shady LP", though this one is a direct aim to her, hence the title of the song. In the song, Eminem is emotional and aggressive, pouring his heart out, with anger and cursing away throughout and he is rapping by shouting. It simulates the murder of his wife by him, starting off with him in her home (after murdering her husband and her step-son), talking calmly to baby Hailie Jade, who's sleeping, then starts to shout verbal abuse at his wife, which he does throughout the song, while he, as his wife, screams. In the second verse, they are in a car and Eminem is driving, and in the third, they are in the woods, and ends with Eminem slitting her throat, while repeatedly shouting "Bleed, bitch! Bleed!". The song ends with a prolonged outro in which the listener can hear the sounds of a body being dragged through the grass and placed in the trunk of a car; this same clip is played as the beginning of "97' Bonnie & Clyde," indicating the association between the two songs and the direct chronology of events.

The song is one of Eminem's best known songs, despite not being a single. It is 6:18 long, and is the second longest track in the album, after "Stan." Though there was no music video made for the song, there are fan-made videos on YouTube, with the actors lip syncing and acting the various parts.

Kim also saw him perform this song live in Detroit, with a mock-up doll of her being abused by Mathers on stage to audience approval. This was a recurring part of Mathers's performance in the Up In Smoke Tour. Following this concert, on July 7, 2000, Kim attempted suicide by slashing her wrists. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/827159.stm Eminem wife's suicide bid. BBC News. July 10, 2000.] ] She sued Eminem for defamation after he depicted her violent death in the song. [ [http://marriage.about.com/od/entertainmen1/p/eminem.htm Marshall (Eminem) Mathers and Kimberley Scott Marriage Profile] About.com. Retrieved 3 July 2008.]

Critical reception

The "Rolling Stone" album review of "The Marshall Mathers LP" stated that:

While "Entertainment Weekly" wrote that:

And "Sputnikmusic" wrote:

"Sputnikmusic" also wrote a whole section of "Kim" in the article of being one of the 5 out of 5, recommended download songs from the album, along with "The Way I Am", "Stan" and "Marshall Mathers". [ [http://sputnikmusic.com/album.php?albumid=1386 Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP Review - sputnikmusic] . Accessed July 19 2008.]

Censorship

The song censors the words "four" and "boy" in the album version when he says "There's a four year old little boy, laying dead with a slit throat!" in verse 2, because of the Columbine High School massacre and its reference to child murder offending mothers. It also has the line "And while this is goin' on/His son just woke up and he just walks in/She panics and he gets his throat cut", but is not censored. An uncensored, rare version of "Kim" was leaked into the internet, [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpgkFiYSRyA&feature=related Kim Leaked Version, Rare] YouTube.] before the massacre and album release, which was known as "Bitch So Wrong", which doesn't censor the words "four" and "boy", but has bad quality and is very different from the album version: It doesn't have the intro and outro, smashes are not heard when he says "This couch, this TV, this whole house is mine", the truck's horn is different when he says "What the fuck's this guy's problem on the side of me?!", and rustling is not heard in the woods when Kim is running away from Eminem. The chorus of the uncensored version is also different from the album version, with the album version echoing Eminem's voice, the choruses sound different each time in the uncensored version, but the last chorus is similar to the choruses of the album version. Apart from that, everything else is the same.

Instead of Kim being in the censored version of the album, it is replaced by a South Park-themed song called "The Kids" because of the violent messages aimed at his wife.

References