Eminem is one of the most recognizable rappers in the world today, but back in 1999, his debut video for “My Name Is” completely shocked the world. A relative unknown at the time the video dropped, Eminem quickly became a figure of fascination — and controversy –primarily because of the video. It featured imaginative visuals, provocative lyrics, and in perhaps most unusually at the time (at least to the mainstream masses), a white guy who rapped really well. The video boggled the minds of the American public, who still largely thought of Vanilla Ice’s parachute pants when the words “white rapper” came up in conversation.
For the video’s 25th anniversary, Eminem revisited the video with Vevo, revealing some of the secrets of its making via footnotes (for my fellow millennials, think VH1 Pop-Up Videos). In addition to being only the second video of Em’s then-nascent career, it was also a prime case of art reflecting life; in the footnotes, Em jokes that he may or may not have been on ecstasy during the filming.
“If you look closely at my eyes during the scene where I was dressed like Bill Clinton, it may look like I was high on ecstasy during that part of the shoot,” he wrote. “… but that’s just a rumor.”
You can check out the “My Name Is” video above and the Vevo “Footnotes” video below.