"My Band" | ||||||||
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Single by D12 | ||||||||
from the album D12 World | ||||||||
Released | March 14, 2004 | |||||||
Format | CD single | |||||||
Recorded | 2003 | |||||||
Genre | Comedy hip hop | |||||||
Length | 4:58 (album version) 4:44 (radio edit) |
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Label | Shady, Interscope | |||||||
Writer(s) | Denaun Porter; Ondre Moore; DeShaun Holton; Von Carlisle; Rufus Johnson; Marshall Mathers; Luis Resto; Steve King | |||||||
Producer(s) | Eminem | |||||||
D12 singles chronology | ||||||||
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"My Band" is a song by the American rap group D12. It was released in March 2004 as the first single from their second album D12 World. The song is a parody of the false concept that Eminem is the lead singer of the "band" D12.
The single became the group's most successful so far (outside the United Kingdom), reaching number two there, number six in the United States and number one in Australia, New Zealand and Norway. My Band was the first song to top the revamped singles chart introduced in New Zealand in April 2004.
The brief introduction summarizes the song's satirical message: that Eminem is the lead "singer" of the "band" and it makes everyone else in D12 jealous and looked down upon. In the chorus, he describes how girls have confidence in the group just because he is in it, even though they “don’t even know the name of [his] band”.
Eminem talks about his own popularity in the first verse. It describes episodes such as him meeting some of his fans offstage, and when group member Kuniva tries to attack him when he claims that Jessica Alba is his future wife.
In the second verse, Swift wrestles the mic from Eminem and then describes some of the negative consequences this propaganda has for the rest of the D12’s members, such as not recording with Pro Tools, being stuck driving a van whilst Eminem rides in a tour bus, getting their names mixed up, and being provided a dressing room "smaller than a decimal". Kon Artis and Kuniva talk about this together in the third verse, with Eminem occasionally interrupting. The two find themselves unable to find a proper insult for him.
Just like Swift, Proof complains about the propaganda in his solo part, and says how people that view it this way know nothing about the group (To back up his point, fans yell out “Where’s Obie and Dre?”, referring to rappers Obie Trice and Dr. Dre).
In the fifth verse, Bizarre, after attacking Eminem who is at the time singing in traditional boy band, attacks the media for promoting a concept that he clearly views as nonsense, and claims that it's actually he that's the most popular person in the group. He also threatens to leave D12 on several occasions, claiming he'll "start a group with The Real Roxanne."