Quick ThoughtWho's that dude? I don't even know his name
I laid hands on her, I'll never stoop so low again
Eminem has not one, not two, but three different personas. Disassociation from real life seems to be a big part of his public image, but this line shows Eminem questioning his feelings about his own violent side.
Deep ThoughtEminem has said that "Slim Shady is a name for my temper and/or anger. Eminem is just the rapper. Marshall Mathers is who I am at the end of the day." And he brought all three to his performances, shocking audiences with Slim Shady, impressing them with Eminem, and drawing them into his real life story as Marshall Mathers.
"Who's that dude?" could be a line about another man, but we think it could also be Marshall Mathers wondering aloud who he is during his violent episodes. And that's when it all gets kind of meta—is this violent but ashamed man the real Eminem, the real Marshall Mathers, or the return of the Slim Shady persona who is such an expert on issues of woman-bashing?
It actually seems like we might be seeing Eminem rapping about Marshall Mathers grappling with Slim Shady. And that violent, temperamental dude that he doesn't recognize is also one he doesn't want to be. Deeper yet, that same dude, in his Slim Shady guise, is a liar ("I know I'm a liar," he quips later on the track). He lies to himself and to his partner. He promises he won't hurt her, but as soon as she comes back, he threatens to kill her. He says the violence won't continue, even though he knows it will.
This is a deep psychological struggle of the sort that Eminem has a definite knack for portraying, however hair-raising the outcome.
