The second single from Eminem’s Marshall Mathers LP, also featured on his 2005 album Curtain Call: The Hits

In the tradition of most of Eminem’s follow-up singles, “The Way I Am” features a much darker and… Read More [Intro]

Man, whatever

Dre, just let it run

Ayo, turn the beat up a little bit

Ayo

This song is for anyone

Fuck it, just shut up and listen

Ayo

[Verse 1]

I sit back with this pack of Zig-Zags and this bag of this weed

It gives me the shit needed to be the most meanest MC on this—

On this Earth, and since birth, I've been cursed with this curse to just curse

And just blurt this berserk and bizarre shit that works

And it sells and it helps in itself to relieve

All this tension, dispensin' these sentences

Gettin' this stress that's been eatin' me recently

Off of this chest, and I rest again peacefully

But at least have the decency in you

To leave me alone, when you freaks see me out

In the streets when I'm eatin' or feedin' my daughter

Do not come and speak to me

I don't know you, and, no, I don't owe you a motherfuckin' thing

I'm not Mr. *NSYNC, I'm not what your friends think

I'm not Mr. Friendly, I can be a prick

If you tempt me, my tank is on empty

No patience is in me, and if you offend me

I'm liftin' you ten feet in the air

I don't care who was there and who saw me, just jaw you

Go call you a lawyer, file you a lawsuit

I'll smile in the courtroom, and buy you a wardrobe

I'm tired of all you

I don't mean to be mean

But that's all I can be, it's just me

[Chorus]

And I am whatever you say I am

If I wasn't, then why would I say I am?

In the paper, the news, everyday I am

(Ha) Radio won't even play my jam

'Cause I am whatever you say I am

If I wasn't, then why would I say I am?

In the paper, the news, everyday I am

(Ha) I don't know, that's just the way I am

[Verse 2]

Sometimes I just feel like my father, I hate to be bothered

With all of this nonsense, it's constant

And, "Oh, it's his lyrical content

The song "Guilty Conscience" has gotten such rotten responses"

And all of this controversy circles me

And it seems like the media immediately points a finger at me

So I point one back at 'em, but not the index or pinkie

Or the ring or the thumb, it's the one you put up

When you don't give a fuck, when you won't just put up

With the bullshit they pull, 'cause they full of shit too

When a dude's gettin' bullied and shoots up his school

And they blame it on Marilyn and the heroin

Where were the parents at?

And look where it's at

Middle America, now it's a tragedy

Now it's so sad to see

An upper-class city havin' this happenin'

Then attack Eminem 'cause I rap this way, but I'm glad

'Cause they feed me the fuel that I need for the fire to burn

And it's burnin', and I have returned

[Chorus]

And I am whatever you say I am

If I wasn't, then why would I say I am?

In the paper, the news, everyday I am

Radio won't even play my jam

'Cause I am whatever you say I am

If I wasn't, then why would I say I am?

In the paper, the news, everyday I am

(Ha) I don't know, that's just the way I am

[Verse 3]

I'm so sick and tired of bein' admired that I wish that I would just die or get fired

And dropped from my label, let's stop with the fables

I'm not gonna be able to top a "My Name Is"

And pigeon-holed into some poppy sensation

To cop me rotation at rock 'n' roll stations

And I just do not got the patience

To deal with these cocky Caucasians who think

I'm some wigga who just tries to be black

'Cause I talk with an accent and grab on my balls

So they always keep askin' the same fuckin' questions

What school did I go to, what hood I grew up in

The why, the who, what, when, the where, and the how

'Til I'm grabbin' my hair and I'm tearin' it out (Argh)

'Cause they drivin' me crazy, I can't take it

I'm racin', I'm pacin', I stand, and I sit

And I'm thankful for every fan that I get

But I can't take a shit in the bathroom without someone standin' by it

No, I won't sign your autograph

You can call me an asshole, I'm glad

[Chorus]

'Cause I am whatever you say I am

If I wasn't, then why would I say I am?

In the paper, the news, everyday I am

Radio won't even play my jam

'Cause I am whatever you say I am

If I wasn't, then why would I say I am?

In the paper, the news, everyday I am

(Ha) I don't know, that's just the way I am

[Produced by Eminem]