When the Music Stops
Eminem Lyrics
Music, reality, sometimes it's hard to tell the difference
But we as entertainers have a responsibility to these kids
Psych
If I were to die, murdered in cold blood tomorrow
Would you feel sorrow, show love?
Or would it matter?
Could never be the leadoff batter
If there ain't shit for me to feed off
I'm see-saw battling
There's too much on my plate
I done came way too far in this game to turn and walk away
And not say what I got to say
What the fuck you take me for? A joke? You smoking crack?
'Fore I do that, I'd beg Mariah to take me back
I get up 'fore I get down, run myself in the ground
'Fore I put some wack shit out
I'm tryna smack this one out the park, five-thousand mark
Y'all steady tryna drown the shark
Ain't gon' do nothing but piss me off
Lid to the can of whip-ass, just twist me off
See me leap out, pull the piece out
Fuck shooting, I'm just tryna knock his teeth out (woo)
Fuck with me now, bitch, let's see you freestyle
Talk is cheap, motherfucker, if you're really feeling froggish, leap
Yo Slim, you gon' let him get away with that?
He tried to play you, you can't let him 'scape with that
Man, I hate this crap, this ain't rap
This is crazy the way we act
When we confuse hip-hop with real life when the music stops
Ain't no way of getting rid of McVay
If so, you would've tried
The only way I'm leaving this bitch is suicide
I have died clinically, arrived back at my enemy's crib with Hennessey
Got drunk then I finished him
I'm every nigga's favorite archenemy
Physically fitted to be the most dangerous nigga with beef
I spark willingly with a Dillinger in the dark diligently
I'm not what you think, I appear to be fucked up, mentally endangered
I can't stay away from a razor, I just want my face in a paper
I wish a nigga had a grenade to squeeze tight to awake neighbors for acres (baow)
I murder you
I gauge and have me turn into a mad man, son of Sam, bitch, I'm surgical
I'm allergic to dying, you think not? You got balls?
We can see how large when the music stops
I was happy having a deal at first
Thought money would make me happy
But it only made my pain worst
It hurts when you see your friends turn their back on you, dawg
And you ain't got nothing left but your word and your balls
And you're stressed from the calls of your new friends
Beggin' with they hands out
Checking for your record when it's selling
When it ain't, that's the end, no laughs, no friends, no girl
Just the gin you drink 'til your car spin, you think "Damn!"
When you slam into the wall and you fall out the car
And try to crawl with one arm
I'm 'bout to lose it all in a pool of alcohol
If my funeral's tomorrow, wonder would they even call when the music stops
Let's see how many of your men loyal
When I pull up looking for you
With a pistol sippin' a can of Pennzoil
I'm revved up, who said what would lead bust?
Your head would just explode with red stuff
I'm hand cuffed tossed in the paddy wagon
Braggin' about how you shot it like a coward
Bullets devoured you, showered you niggas
If I was you niggas, I'd run while given a chance
Understand I can enhance the spirit of man
Death itself, it can't hurt me
Just the thought of dying alone that really irks me
You ain't worthy to speak thoughts of cheap talk
Be smart and stop tryna walk how G's walk before we spark
Hug the floor while we playin' tug-o-war with your life
Fuck a tour and a mic
I'd rather fuck a whore with a knife
Deliver that shit the coroner's like
You hype, poppin' shit in broad daylight
Nigga, you're a goner at night (when the music stops)
Instigators, turn pits in cages
Let loose and bit the neighbors, wrist to razors
Y'all don't want war, y'all want talk
In the dark, my dogs all bark like, "Woof"
Proof, nigga I'm a wolf, get your whole roof
Caved in like reindeer hooves
Stomp the booth, shake the floor tiles loose
The more y'all breathe, shit, the more I moves
It's Hill Street, this is hardcore blues
Put a gun to rap, check in all our dues (nigga)
Or make the news, betcha all y'all move
When the Uzi pop, you better drop when the music stop
Music has changed my life in so many ways
Brain's confused, been fucked since the fifth grade
LL told me to rock the bells
N.W.A said, "Fuck the police," now I'm in jail
'93 was strictly R&B
Fucked up hair cut, listened to Jodeci
Michael Jackson, who gon' tell me I ain't Mike?
Ass cheeks painted white, fucking Priscilla tonight
Flying down Sunset smoking crack
Transvestite in the front
Eddie Murphy in the back
M.O.P. had me grimy and gritty
Marilyn Manson, I dyed my hair blue and grew some titties
Ludacris told me to throw them bows
Now I'm in the hospital with a broken nose and a fractured elbow
Voices in my head, I'm going in shock
I'm reaching for the Glock but the music stops
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Capitol CMG Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Denaun M Porter, Deshaun Dupree Holton, Marshall B Mathers, Ondre C Moore, Ronald Feemster, Rufus Johnson, Von M Carlisle
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
To comment on specific lyrics, highlight them
Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972, in St. Joseph, MO), known professionally as Eminem (often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, record executive, and actor.
Eminem is the best-selling artist of the 2000s in the United States. Throughout his career, he has had 10 number-one albums on the Billboard 200 and five number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100. With more than 47.4 million albums and 107. Read Full BioMarshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972, in St. Joseph, MO), known professionally as Eminem (often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, record executive, and actor.
Eminem is the best-selling artist of the 2000s in the United States. Throughout his career, he has had 10 number-one albums on the Billboard 200 and five number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100. With more than 47.4 million albums and 107.5 million singles sold in the US and 220 million records globally, he is among the world's best-selling artists of all time and is consistently cited as one of the greatest and most influential artists in any genre. He is the only artist to have eight albums consecutively debut at number one on the Billboard 200. Rolling Stone ranked him 83rd on its list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, calling him "King of Hip-Hop".
After his debut album Infinite (1996) and then Slim Shady EP (1997), Eminem signed with Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment and subsequently achieved mainstream popularity in 1999 with [album artist= Eminem The Slim Shady LP[/album], which earned him his first Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. His next two releases, 2000's The Marshall Mathers LPand 2002's The Eminem Show, were worldwide successes, with each being certified diamond in U.S. sales and both winning Best Rap Album Grammy Awards—making Eminem the first artist to win the award for three consecutive LPs. They were followed by Encore in 2004, another critical and commercial success. Eminem went on hiatus after touring in 2005, releasing Relapse in 2009 and Recovery in 2010. Both won Grammy Awards and Recovery was the best-selling album of 2010 worldwide, the second time he had the international best-selling album of the year (after The Eminem Show). Eminem's eighth album, 2013's The Marshall Mathers LP 2, won two Grammy Awards, including Best Rap Album; it expanded his record for the most wins in that category and his Grammy total to 15. In 2017, he released his ninth studio album, Revival. On August 31, 2018, Eminem released his tenth studio album, Kamikaze, to streaming services Apple Music, Spotify, and Amazon Music.
In addition to his solo career, Eminem is an original member of the Midwest hip-hop groups Soul Intent and D12. He is also known for his collaborations with fellow Detroit-based rapper Royce da 5'9"; the two are collectively known as Bad Meets Evil. Eminem has developed other ventures, including Shady Records, with manager Paul Rosenberg, which helped launch the careers of artists such as 50 Cent. Eminem has also established his channel, Shade 45, on Sirius XM Radio. In November 2002, he starred in the hip-hop film 8 Mile, which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Lose Yourself", becoming the first rap artist to ever win the award. Eminem has made cameo appearances in the films The Wash (2001), Funny People (2009), The Interview (2014), and the television series Entourage (2010).
Marshall Bruce Mathers III was born on October 17, 1972, in St. Joseph, Missouri, the only child of Marshall Bruce Mathers Jr. and Deborah Rae "Debbie" Nelson. His mother nearly died during her 73-hour labor with him. Eminem's parents were in a band called Daddy Warbucks, playing in Ramada Inns along the Dakotas–Montana border before their separation. Bruce left the family, moving to California and having two other children: Michael and Sarah. Debbie later had a son Nathan "Nate" Kane Samara. During his childhood, Eminem and Debbie shuttled between Michigan and Missouri, rarely staying in one house for more than a year or two and living primarily with family members. In Missouri, they lived in several places, including St. Joseph, Savannah, and Kansas City.
Eminem uses alter egos in his songs for different rapping styles and subject matter. His best-known alter ego, Slim Shady, first appeared on the Slim Shady EP. In this persona, his songs are violent and dark, with a comic twist. Eminem downplayed Slim Shady on Recovery because he felt it did not fit the album's theme.
As a white performer prominent in a genre influenced by black artists, Eminem has been compared, much to his chagrin, to Elvis Presley, as a lyricist, and as aforementioned to Bob Dylan. Rapper Asher Roth has been compared to Eminem, and Roth devoted a song on his album ("As I Em") to him, which he took offense to. The accomplished trumpeter Nicholas Payton has called Eminem "the Bix Beiderbecke of hip hop".
Coming up from Detroit's rap battle scene, Eminem proved he could withstand the test of time to become one of the greatest and best-selling artists in hip-hop. The lackluster debut of Infinite in 1996 ignited his Slim Shady violent persona, whom Em debuted in Slim Shady EP in 1997. Somehow, Dr. Dre got a copy of the EP, and well, the rest is history. Since then, many other great rappers have listed Eminem as one of their influences while growing up. From Detroit's very own Big Sean to Compton's finest Kendrick Lamar, here's how Eminem influenced the style of some of these rappers.
Big Sean:
Coming from the Motor City of Detroit, Big Sean grew up with Eminem's The Slim Shady LP tape. The two ended up collaborating several times, including in Detroit's posse cut "Detroit vs. Everybody" from the Shady XV album.
"He’s the biggest rapper of all time," the rapper told Tim Westwood of Capital Xtra, citing the album as one of his childhood favorites. “If you just look at the numbers. You can imagine what that’s like coming up in Detroit and looking up to that."
B.o.B:
North Carolina rapper B.o.B rose to stardom in the early 2010s after his Bruno Mars-supported single "Nothin' on You" scored a massive commercial success. He's also won an Eminem feature in "Airplanes" from The Adventures of Bobby Ray's debut album.
"I grew up listening to Eminem, so to be able to work and get advice on your music from him is a dream come true," he told MTV.
Tyler, The Creator:
While the two had exchanged some not-so-nice words about each other between 2017 and 2018, one of Tyler the Creator's favorite albums of all time is Eminem's 2009 Relapse. The drug-fueled and heavy-accented album plays a serial killer role, in which Tyler's early works were heavily influenced. Some of his favorite songs from the horrorcore album were "Stay Wide Awake," "Deja Vu," "Underground," and "Hello."
Logic:
Logic hailed Eminem as one of his all-time favorites, but it wasn't until 2019 that they finally linked up. The two collaborated on "Homicide" from Logic's Confession of a Dangerous Mind album.
"Em, if you’re reading this I want you to know how much I love and appreciate you. I’ll never forget the experience and I’m more than happy and ecstatic to now call you my homie!," the rapper took to social media to detail his encounter with the Rap God.
Mac Miller:
The late Mac Miller grew up with the angst and explosive anger of The Marshall Mathers LP, but it wasn't until he turned 15 or 16 that he finally realized the genius of Em.
"I think people assume that that was how I got into rap, by the way of like Marshall Mathers LP. Had some good moments with that when I was younger," The Divine Feminine rapper told Mass Appeal's Time Alone.
XXXTentacion:
If there's something that Eminem and XXXTentacion have shared in common, is that the two are bravely candid about their struggle with substance abuse in their early works. When the train of hate started coming towards Em in 2017 for "Walk on Water" from Revival, X is one of the few people who defended the single.
Juice WRLD:
Coming up from the rap battle scene, Eminem's freestyling ability should not be put in question. The late Juice WRLD did an hour of non-stop freestyle over Eminem's classic beats at Tim Westwood. The two ended up collaborating for Juice's first-ever posthumous feature, "Godzilla," from Eminem's Music to Be Murdered By album in 2020.
"That kid was so talented," Eminem showed the late some love during a rare chat on King Crookxd's Crooked Corner interview series. "To be so young, he mastered that so f—ing quickly. His potential was so off the charts."
Nicki Minaj:
Over the years, Eminem and Nicki Minaj have shared a unique timeline of friendship and name-dropped each other in their respective crafts. Both are fans of each other's works, with Nicki Minaj listing Em as one of her all-time favorites.
"As a fan of rap, I think I would say the people that have influenced me the most with the way I rap, that would definitely be Lil Wayne, JAY-Z, Foxy Brown, Eminem," she told XXL.
J. Cole:
J. Cole always shows love for Eminem. Interestingly, he also cited rap veteran Canibus, one of Eminem's early nemesis, as another inspiration. His favorite album was The Marshall Mathers LP.
"I have people's raps on my wall, but his raps and then Canibus' raps were the only ones that could get close to the bedspread," he told DJ Whoo Kid in an interview.
Kendrick Lamar:
Just like Eminem back in the late 1990s, in the early 2010s, Kendrick Lamar also signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment label. This trio link-up is what propelled "Kung Fu Kenny's" career to the next level.
The "King Kunta" rapper spoke highly of Eminem and often called him one of his favorites. Em's aggressiveness in The Marshall Mathers LP influenced Lamar's hard-hitting and determined approach in his early works, especially in his 2013 verse in Big Sean's cut "Control".
Eminem is the best-selling artist of the 2000s in the United States. Throughout his career, he has had 10 number-one albums on the Billboard 200 and five number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100. With more than 47.4 million albums and 107. Read Full BioMarshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972, in St. Joseph, MO), known professionally as Eminem (often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, record executive, and actor.
Eminem is the best-selling artist of the 2000s in the United States. Throughout his career, he has had 10 number-one albums on the Billboard 200 and five number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100. With more than 47.4 million albums and 107.5 million singles sold in the US and 220 million records globally, he is among the world's best-selling artists of all time and is consistently cited as one of the greatest and most influential artists in any genre. He is the only artist to have eight albums consecutively debut at number one on the Billboard 200. Rolling Stone ranked him 83rd on its list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, calling him "King of Hip-Hop".
After his debut album Infinite (1996) and then Slim Shady EP (1997), Eminem signed with Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment and subsequently achieved mainstream popularity in 1999 with [album artist= Eminem The Slim Shady LP[/album], which earned him his first Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. His next two releases, 2000's The Marshall Mathers LPand 2002's The Eminem Show, were worldwide successes, with each being certified diamond in U.S. sales and both winning Best Rap Album Grammy Awards—making Eminem the first artist to win the award for three consecutive LPs. They were followed by Encore in 2004, another critical and commercial success. Eminem went on hiatus after touring in 2005, releasing Relapse in 2009 and Recovery in 2010. Both won Grammy Awards and Recovery was the best-selling album of 2010 worldwide, the second time he had the international best-selling album of the year (after The Eminem Show). Eminem's eighth album, 2013's The Marshall Mathers LP 2, won two Grammy Awards, including Best Rap Album; it expanded his record for the most wins in that category and his Grammy total to 15. In 2017, he released his ninth studio album, Revival. On August 31, 2018, Eminem released his tenth studio album, Kamikaze, to streaming services Apple Music, Spotify, and Amazon Music.
In addition to his solo career, Eminem is an original member of the Midwest hip-hop groups Soul Intent and D12. He is also known for his collaborations with fellow Detroit-based rapper Royce da 5'9"; the two are collectively known as Bad Meets Evil. Eminem has developed other ventures, including Shady Records, with manager Paul Rosenberg, which helped launch the careers of artists such as 50 Cent. Eminem has also established his channel, Shade 45, on Sirius XM Radio. In November 2002, he starred in the hip-hop film 8 Mile, which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Lose Yourself", becoming the first rap artist to ever win the award. Eminem has made cameo appearances in the films The Wash (2001), Funny People (2009), The Interview (2014), and the television series Entourage (2010).
Marshall Bruce Mathers III was born on October 17, 1972, in St. Joseph, Missouri, the only child of Marshall Bruce Mathers Jr. and Deborah Rae "Debbie" Nelson. His mother nearly died during her 73-hour labor with him. Eminem's parents were in a band called Daddy Warbucks, playing in Ramada Inns along the Dakotas–Montana border before their separation. Bruce left the family, moving to California and having two other children: Michael and Sarah. Debbie later had a son Nathan "Nate" Kane Samara. During his childhood, Eminem and Debbie shuttled between Michigan and Missouri, rarely staying in one house for more than a year or two and living primarily with family members. In Missouri, they lived in several places, including St. Joseph, Savannah, and Kansas City.
Eminem uses alter egos in his songs for different rapping styles and subject matter. His best-known alter ego, Slim Shady, first appeared on the Slim Shady EP. In this persona, his songs are violent and dark, with a comic twist. Eminem downplayed Slim Shady on Recovery because he felt it did not fit the album's theme.
As a white performer prominent in a genre influenced by black artists, Eminem has been compared, much to his chagrin, to Elvis Presley, as a lyricist, and as aforementioned to Bob Dylan. Rapper Asher Roth has been compared to Eminem, and Roth devoted a song on his album ("As I Em") to him, which he took offense to. The accomplished trumpeter Nicholas Payton has called Eminem "the Bix Beiderbecke of hip hop".
Coming up from Detroit's rap battle scene, Eminem proved he could withstand the test of time to become one of the greatest and best-selling artists in hip-hop. The lackluster debut of Infinite in 1996 ignited his Slim Shady violent persona, whom Em debuted in Slim Shady EP in 1997. Somehow, Dr. Dre got a copy of the EP, and well, the rest is history. Since then, many other great rappers have listed Eminem as one of their influences while growing up. From Detroit's very own Big Sean to Compton's finest Kendrick Lamar, here's how Eminem influenced the style of some of these rappers.
Big Sean:
Coming from the Motor City of Detroit, Big Sean grew up with Eminem's The Slim Shady LP tape. The two ended up collaborating several times, including in Detroit's posse cut "Detroit vs. Everybody" from the Shady XV album.
"He’s the biggest rapper of all time," the rapper told Tim Westwood of Capital Xtra, citing the album as one of his childhood favorites. “If you just look at the numbers. You can imagine what that’s like coming up in Detroit and looking up to that."
B.o.B:
North Carolina rapper B.o.B rose to stardom in the early 2010s after his Bruno Mars-supported single "Nothin' on You" scored a massive commercial success. He's also won an Eminem feature in "Airplanes" from The Adventures of Bobby Ray's debut album.
"I grew up listening to Eminem, so to be able to work and get advice on your music from him is a dream come true," he told MTV.
Tyler, The Creator:
While the two had exchanged some not-so-nice words about each other between 2017 and 2018, one of Tyler the Creator's favorite albums of all time is Eminem's 2009 Relapse. The drug-fueled and heavy-accented album plays a serial killer role, in which Tyler's early works were heavily influenced. Some of his favorite songs from the horrorcore album were "Stay Wide Awake," "Deja Vu," "Underground," and "Hello."
Logic:
Logic hailed Eminem as one of his all-time favorites, but it wasn't until 2019 that they finally linked up. The two collaborated on "Homicide" from Logic's Confession of a Dangerous Mind album.
"Em, if you’re reading this I want you to know how much I love and appreciate you. I’ll never forget the experience and I’m more than happy and ecstatic to now call you my homie!," the rapper took to social media to detail his encounter with the Rap God.
Mac Miller:
The late Mac Miller grew up with the angst and explosive anger of The Marshall Mathers LP, but it wasn't until he turned 15 or 16 that he finally realized the genius of Em.
"I think people assume that that was how I got into rap, by the way of like Marshall Mathers LP. Had some good moments with that when I was younger," The Divine Feminine rapper told Mass Appeal's Time Alone.
XXXTentacion:
If there's something that Eminem and XXXTentacion have shared in common, is that the two are bravely candid about their struggle with substance abuse in their early works. When the train of hate started coming towards Em in 2017 for "Walk on Water" from Revival, X is one of the few people who defended the single.
Juice WRLD:
Coming up from the rap battle scene, Eminem's freestyling ability should not be put in question. The late Juice WRLD did an hour of non-stop freestyle over Eminem's classic beats at Tim Westwood. The two ended up collaborating for Juice's first-ever posthumous feature, "Godzilla," from Eminem's Music to Be Murdered By album in 2020.
"That kid was so talented," Eminem showed the late some love during a rare chat on King Crookxd's Crooked Corner interview series. "To be so young, he mastered that so f—ing quickly. His potential was so off the charts."
Nicki Minaj:
Over the years, Eminem and Nicki Minaj have shared a unique timeline of friendship and name-dropped each other in their respective crafts. Both are fans of each other's works, with Nicki Minaj listing Em as one of her all-time favorites.
"As a fan of rap, I think I would say the people that have influenced me the most with the way I rap, that would definitely be Lil Wayne, JAY-Z, Foxy Brown, Eminem," she told XXL.
J. Cole:
J. Cole always shows love for Eminem. Interestingly, he also cited rap veteran Canibus, one of Eminem's early nemesis, as another inspiration. His favorite album was The Marshall Mathers LP.
"I have people's raps on my wall, but his raps and then Canibus' raps were the only ones that could get close to the bedspread," he told DJ Whoo Kid in an interview.
Kendrick Lamar:
Just like Eminem back in the late 1990s, in the early 2010s, Kendrick Lamar also signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment label. This trio link-up is what propelled "Kung Fu Kenny's" career to the next level.
The "King Kunta" rapper spoke highly of Eminem and often called him one of his favorites. Em's aggressiveness in The Marshall Mathers LP influenced Lamar's hard-hitting and determined approach in his early works, especially in his 2013 verse in Big Sean's cut "Control".
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hope
on The Real Slim Shady
hi
eminem
on Crazy In Love
great song
serenity noble
on Lose Yourself
awesome
serenity noble
on The Real Slim Shady
awesome
serenity noble
on Lose Yourself
i love it #eminemfan
Mind Space Apocalypse
on ShadyXV
Greatest of all time