The Way I Am lyrics

[Segue from "Steve Berman (Skit)"]

…Man, whatever

[Intro]

Dre, just let it run

Ayo, turn the beat up a little bit

Ayo

This song is for anyone...

Fuck it, just shut up and listen

Ayo

[Verse 1]

I sit back with this pack of Zig-Zag's and this bag

Of this weed, it gives me the shit needed to be

The most meanest MC on this... on this Earth

And since birth I've been cursed with this curse to just curse

And just blurt this berserk and bizarre shit that works

And it sells and it helps in itself to relieve all this tension

Dispensing these sentences, getting this stress

That's been eating me recently off of this chest

And I rest again peacefully

But at least have the decency in you

To leave me alone, when you freaks see me out

In the streets when I'm eating or feeding my daughter

To not come and speak to me, I don't know you

And no, I don't owe you a mothafuckin' thing

I'm not Mr. N'Sync, I'm not what your friends think

I'm not Mr. Friendly, I can be a prick if you tempt me

My tank is on empty, no patience is in me

And if you offend me, I'm lifting you ten feet in the air

I don't care who was there and who saw me just jaw you

Go call you a lawyer, file you a lawsuit

I'll smile in the courtroom and buy you a wardrobe

I'm tired of all you, I don't mean to be mean

But that's all I can be, it's just me

[Chorus]

And I am whatever you say I am

If I wasn't, then why would I say I am?

In the paper, the news, every day I am

Radio won't even play my jam

'Cause I am whatever you say I am

If I wasn't, then why would I say I am?

In the paper, the news, every day I am

I don't know, that's just the way I am

[Verse 2]

Sometimes I just feel like my father

I hate to be bothered with all of this nonsense

It's constant, and, "Oh, it's his lyrical content

The song 'Guilty Conscience' has gotten such rotten responses."

And all of this controversy circles me

And it seems like the media immediately points a finger at me

So I point one back at 'em, but not the index or pinkie

Or the ring or the thumb, it's the one you put up

When you don't give a fuck, when you won't just put up

With the bullshit they pull, 'cause they full of shit too

When a dude's getting bullied and shoots up his school

And they blame it on Marilyn and the heroin

Where were the parents at? And look where it's at!

Middle America, now it's a tragedy

Now it's so sad to see, an upper-class city havin' this happening

Then attack Eminem ‘cause I rap this way

But I'm glad, ‘cause they feed me the fuel that I need

For the fire to burn, and it's burning, and I have returned

[Chorus]

And I am whatever you say I am

If I wasn't, then why would I say I am?

In the paper, the news, every day I am

Radio won't even play my jam

'Cause I am whatever you say I am

If I wasn't, then why would I say I am?

In the paper, the news, every day I am

I don't know, that's just the way I am

[Verse 3]

I'm so sick and tired of being admired

That I wish that I would just die or get fired

And dropped from my label, let's stop with the fables

I'm not gonna be able to top on "My Name Is"

And pigeon-holed into some poppy sensation

To cop me rotation at rock-n-roll stations

And I just do not got the patience

To deal with these cocky Caucasians

Who think I'm some wigger who just tries to be black

‘Cause I talk with an accent and grab on my balls

So they always keep asking the same fucking questions

What school did I go to, what hood I grew up in

The why, the who, what, when, the where and the how

'Til I'm grabbing my hair and I'm tearin' it out

‘Cause they driving me crazy, I can't take it

I'm racin', I'm pacin', I stand and I sit

And I'm thankful for every fan that I get

But I can't take a shit

In the bathroom without someone standing by it

No, I won't sign you an autograph

You can call me an asshole, I'm glad

[Chorus]

'Cause I am whatever you say I am

If I wasn't, then why would I say I am?

In the paper, the news, every day I am

Radio won't even play my jam

'Cause I am whatever you say I am

If I wasn't, then why would I say I am?

In the paper, the news, every day I am

I don't know, that's just the way I am

• Artist:Eminem
• Album:The Marshall Matthers LP (2000)