"Superman" is a song by American rapper Eminem, from his fourth studio albumThe Eminem Show (2002). It features backing vocals from singer Dina Rae, a frequent collaborator, and was released on January 27, 2003, as a single from the album in the U.S. only, peaking at #15 and #42 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the New Zealand Singles Chart, respectively.
The song is about the rocky relationships and promiscuous nature of the girls Eminem has had in his life and how he plans to deal with it. In his 2008 autobiography The Way I Am, Eminem revealed that the song is, to an extent, about his alleged relationship with singer Mariah Carey.[1] The song is very similar to his song "Drug Ballad" and "Pimp Like Me" with D12. The music video for the song features porn starGina Lynn and can only be found on the 8 Mile DVD. It also contains an edit different from the album version. The uncensored video contains nudity, and is rarely shown on MTV or BET, although it is available on YouTube and VEVO. Shannon Elizabeth was Eminem's first choice to star in the video, although this never came to fruition, as they could not come to terms.
Critical reception[]
Entertainment Weekly editor described: "In the creepy-crawly, mesmerizing Superman, he depicts himself as both sexual predator and commitment-phobic single guy."[2] DX magazine named the production "the southern bounce", lyrics as dealing with groupies and the critic called the chorus cheesy.[3] Steve Juon described: ""Superman" features Eminem playing with his flow in a stuttered cadence, but he's done the gimmick before and his beat on this one inspires only partial attention to his flow."[4] Rolling Stone concluded that his divorce fuels the slow Southern bounce of the hypermisogynist "Superman."[5]
