Eminem Once Revealed He Stopped Listening to His Song ‘Kim’ Because the Pain Was Just Too Real
In the year 2000, Eminem released the record-breaking and critically acclaimed album The Marshall Mathers LP. At the time, the album generated much controversy because of the dark content of its songs.
But perhaps one of its most controversial songs was the song “Kim,” which was a record Eminem couldn’t continue listening to.
Eminem and Kim Scott have had a rocky relationship
Eminem and Scott are both well known for having a rather wild and tumultuous relationship. The two have been a couple since a very young age and have broken up and gotten back together frequently. One of the rapper’s closest friends, the late star Proof, once gave insight into their on again off again relationship.
“One time we came home and Kim had thrown all his clothes on the lawn—which was, like, two pairs of pants and some gym shoes. So we stayed at my grandmother’s and Em’s like, ‘I’m leaving her, I’m never going back.’ Next day, he’s back with her. The love they got is so genuine, it’s ridiculous. He’s gonna end up marrying her. But there’s always gonna be conflict there,'” Proof once told Rolling Stone (via People).
Eminem stopped listening to his hit song ‘Kim’
Eminem usually channels his real-life emotions and personal experiences for his records. He’s made no exception in regards to his own relationship issues. One of the first songs the rapper let out his frustrations with his relationship in was “97’ Bonnie and Clyde.” The song is a fictional account of Eminem driving with his daughter while he disposes his ex-girlfriend’s dead body. Scott at the time didn’t take kindly to him recording the song or putting their daughter on the record.
“I lied to kim and told her I was taking Hailie to Chuck E. Cheese that day,” Eminem recalled in an interview with Rolling Stone. “But I took her to the studio. When she found out I used our daughter to write a song about killing her, she f****** blew. We just got back together for a couple of weeks. Then I played her the song, and she bugged the f*** out.”
Eminem would later write a prequel to the song called “Kim” on The Marshall Mathers LP. The record is another fictional account of the rapper’s emotions as he pretends to murder his girlfriend. But it was a track Eminem found difficult to go back to later on.
“It’s really weird for me to listen to that song,” he said. “The pain that I felt at that time was so real that I really actually wanted to do that. That’s why I just don’t listen to the song anymore.”
Kim Scott sued Eminem to stop him from writing songs about her
Eminem once shared that the record didn’t sit well with Scott. But the rapper asserted at the time that was the way he handled his feelings.
“[Kim] doesn’t like the fact that it went on the album, but I’m like this — music is a form of expression,” he said.
But the rapper’s ex eventually became so fed up with Eminem writing songs about her that she ended up suing the 8 Mile star. Eminem’s longtime manager, Paul Rosenberg, didn’t think there was any basis in the lawsuit. Rosenberg believed that “Kim” was just an example of artistic expression.
“[This lawsuit] changes the tenor. Em’s not going to be happy with that,” Rosenberg once told Detroit Free Press (via MTV News). “Everybody on our side wanted to keep things low-key and work things out amicably.”
