Superman - Intellectual

Eminem’s lawyers make bank. By the time the song was released, Em was already involved in several high-stakes lawsuits: his mother sued him for defamation, and he was ordered to pay $100k in damages after allegedly pistol whipping John Guerrera, the bouncer who kissed Kim.

Since this song was released, Eminem has been involved in legal battles with, among others, Apple, Universal Music, Shady Inc., The Source, Miad Jarbou, and D'Angelo Bailey.

The latter case, in which the judge ruled for Eminem, provides an object lesson for why judges (not to mention lawyers, clerks and law students) should stick to explaining rap lyrics instead of writing them (seriously, check out pages 2-3 for cringe-inducing lyrics).

Eminem is being sarcastic as ever here, refusing to mention Kim by name even though you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out who he’s talking about. It’s not like he’s hesitated to call her by name in the past.

Eminem is referring to the money (in alimony) and the fines and jail time he went through for Kim out of belief that she loved him, which he says he will never put himself through for a woman and if someone is flirting with him just to get his cash, he’d rather them just display their hate for him outright. He speaks about what we went through for Kim in Hailie’s song as well

I’ve gone to jail for this woman, I been to bat for this woman
Man, I should’ve seen it comin', what’d I stick my penis up in?
Wouldn’t have ripped the prenup up if I'da seen what she was fuckin'
But fuck it, it’s over, there’s no more reason to cry no more
I got my baby-baby, the only lady that I adore, Hailie

Eminem - Hailie's Song — Genius

Hailie's Song Lyrics: Da-da-da-da / Yo, I can't sing, but / I feel like singing / I wanna fuckin' sing / 'Cause I'm happy / Yeah, I'm happy / Haha / I got my baby back / Yo, check it out / Some days I

This line was the first time Eminem and Mariah Carey’s beef was brought up on wax. The main source of conflict is Em’s claims that the two dated (and according to him, did a lot more than that). But Mariah insists that

“I hung out with him, I spoke to him on the phone. I think I was probably with him a total of four times. And I don’t consider that dating somebody.”

This line in particular points out the fact that she denies any interest in him, but she still flew her private jet out to meet him multiple times, a point he repeated later on.

This led to a semi-beef between Slim, Mariah, and her husband Nick Cannon. Slim called her out later on this album, Mariah fired back with “Clown”, then Slim responded with a line on “Jimmy Crack Corn”. Things went quiet besides a few jabs here and there (Em allegedly leaked some of the voicemails Mariah sent to him at a concert), but they heated up again around the time Em made his comeback. After hearing about Mariah’s engagement to Nick Cannon, he wished “Nick good luck with the fucking whore” on “Bagpipes from Baghdad”. This led to a blog post (ha) from Nick Cannon, claiming Eminem is “still obsessed with my wife, the same female that wouldn’t let him get to second base from 8 years ago”, and also went as far as to call Em a racist for dissing a famous black woman like Mariah, saying, “You may have been able to rape and pillage our artform like an old school Caucasian con man and nobody said anything because we respected your talent, but now you’ve made the ultimate mistake”. But things didn’t end there. Mariah dropped a track shortly after called “Obsessed”, where a man in a hoody follows her around in the music video, a clear imitation of Eminem. But Em responded to that and a whole lot more in “The Warning”. That was the last major event in the beef, besides some sly references here and there, so the case is more or less closed here.

This is a reference to the song “97 Bonnie and Clyde where he says to Hailie:

Just the two of us
Just the two of us (and when we ride)

Eminem - '97 Bonnie & Clyde — Genius

'97 Bonnie & Clyde Lyrics: (Just the two of us, just the two of us) / Baby, your dada loves you / And I'ma always be here for you / (Just the two of us, just the two of us) / No matter what happens / You're

By saying this, he implies that there is no other woman/girl in the world where it could be just them and the only woman/girl he truly loves and will give his attention to is his daughter, which he also brings up in Hailie’s song:

But fuck it, it’s over, there’s no more reason to cry no more
I got my baby, maybe, the only lady that I adore: Hailie
So sayonara, try tomorrow, nice to know ya
Our baby’s traveled back to the arms of her rightful owner
And suddenly it seems like my shoulder blades have just shifted
It’s like the greatest gift you can get, the weight has been lifted

Eminem - Hailie's Song — Genius

This could reference Mariah Carey’s alleged alcoholism, where she would carry around a thermos, which is often used to carry water as well, but it would contain some form of clear alcohol, such as gin or vodka.

Em used to be ok with playing the game of love in the past, but his breakup with Kim made him much more cynical. Now he is even more hostile towards females and won’t tolerate the hoops they make him jump through for sex.

At this final refrain, the chorus is playing in the background before getting its own separate spot right after (with Dina Rae ad-libbing).

Imitating Snoop Dogg’s flow from “Gin and Juice”:

So turn off the lights and close the doors
But (but what?) we don’t love these hoes

Em would have fit in just fine with the misogynists on the West Coast in the gangsta rap era.

Anthrax is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis. The 2001 anthrax attacks, also known as “Amerithrax”, began one week after the September 11 attacks, starting on September 18, 2001. Anonymous letters containing anthrax spores were sent through the U.S. Postal Service to media companies, congressional offices, and postal facilities. The attacks lasted several months, sickening 22 people and killing five, including two postal workers. Instead of a letter Eminem would put it on a Tampax which is feminine product.

He is done trying to spit game to chicks and having to go through the motions to have sex with them. “Straight from the hip” and “cut to the chase” are both phrases that imply great speed, so Slim just wants sex with no strings attached; and he isn’t afraid to make it clear to these women that this is all he wants.

All these gold digging women know that Eminem loves his daughter Hailie more than life in itself. So they try to get close to him by complimenting his daughter since they know she’s close to his heart.

Superman actually couldn’t fly at first, he just had incredible leaping abilities (hence “able to leap tall buildings in a single bound”). Slim is able to leap hoes just as successfully, meaning that he gets over them quickly after a breakup.

Eminem liked to read comics as a kid, so it’s no surprise they are referenced in some of his songs.

Eminem allegedly followed Kim to bars after he caught her kissing a bouncer; the constant threat of being stalked by one’s jealous ex certainly puts a damper on girls' night out.

Back in this time, up until Encore, every 13th track off each of his albums would be a song with singer Dina Rae. He previously did “Drug Ballad” and “Cum On Everybody” with her, the 13th tracks off the Marshall Mathers and Slim Shady LPs, respectively, as well as “Pimp Like Me” and “Bitch” from D12’s albums Devil’s Night and D12 World.

Em describes a line a female might use to make it seem like she’s not overly interested in him (the chase is half the fun), and prove she’s not using him for his fame and money.

This would definitely make sense if it was directed at Mariah, since she’s used to the superstar lifestyle.

Eminem and his ex-wife, Kim got divorced in 2001, about a year before The Eminem Show dropped.

He also married her again in 2005, that time their marriage only lasting a month.

This could be read as a reference to Mariah Carey “hurling” in disgust after Eminem allegedly came early, saying in the song The Warning in 2009 (referencing their 2002 relationship):

Listen, girly, surely you don’t want me to talk about how I nutted early
‘Cause I ejaculated prematurely
And bust all over your belly and you almost started hurling
And said I was gross, go get a towel, your stomach’s curling

Eminem - The Warning — Genius

The Warning Lyrics: Only reason I dissed you in the first place / Is 'cause you denied seeing me, now I'm pissed off / Sit back, homie, relax, in fact, grab a six pack / Kick back while I kick facts

This could be read as a reference to Mariah Carey “hurling” in disgust after Eminem allegedly came early, saying in the song The Warning in 2009 (referencing their 2002 relationship):

Listen, girly, surely you don’t want me to talk about how I nutted early
‘Cause I ejaculated prematurely
And bust all over your belly and you almost started hurling
And said I was gross, go get a towel, your stomach’s curling

Eminem - The Warning — Genius

The Warning Lyrics: Only reason I dissed you in the first place / Is 'cause you denied seeing me, now I'm pissed off / Sit back, homie, relax, in fact, grab a six pack / Kick back while I kick facts

This girl pretends to admire Em’s clever play on the phrase “rest in peace.” But, she’s obviously put off by Em’s overt hostility toward his ex, Kim, which is permanently etched on his skin for the world to see:

Em notices her ploy, and implies that she doesn’t know what happened between him and Kim, so she shouldn’t pass judgment on him (or get attached to anything but his dong)

This is a double-entendre. To say someone “blew their chance” means they missed their opportunity. However, going with the theme of the song, Eminem says she gave head to the only man who could save her (going along with the superhero theme), but now he’s kicking her to the curb.

Eminem isn’t interested in taking part in the awkward beginning stages of a relationship where a young couple might babysit another child together to pick up valuable experience should they have a kid of their own in the future. He does it all for the nookie. Additionally, he could be saying that there’s no chance he would ever let a random groupie near his daughter Hailie. So if they asked him to babysit her he would shut them down immediately.

Many girls are looking for their superman, the one to save them from their current lifestyle. Eminem is saying he isn’t up for saving what he considers to be “hoes”. Maybe one day when he has matured but not for now.

Notice the use of the word “runway”, as in an airplane runway, in relation to the previous reference to Mariah about “flying through twice”.

Note: The lyric “sit your drunk ass on that fucking runway ho” could also be a possible reference to Mariah Carey’s speculated alcoholism.