The Warning (Eminem song)
Encyclopedia
"The Warning" is a controversial hip-hop diss song written by Eminem
as part of an ongoing conflict with Mariah Carey over claims that she once had a relationship with him. The song was provoked by Carey's song "Obsessed
" in which she sings about an obsessed man who claims to be having a relationship with her, raising suspicions with many that it was directed at Eminem, despite claims on the contrary by Carey's husband, Nick Cannon
.
bigotry", and joked that he may return to rapping as a means of getting revenge on him.
Although Eminem later stated that the couple misinterpreted the track, saying it was actually wishing the two the best, a few months afterwards Carey released the first single from her album Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel
, titled "Obsessed
," which talks of an obsessed fan who claims to be in a relationship with her. Many, clearly including Eminem himself, believed the song to be directed at him as a response to "Bagpipes from Baghdad", which inspired him to write the track as a response.
The song allegedly contains numerous vocal samples of Carey, which Eminem claims were voicemail messages that Carey left on his answer phone while they were in their relationship. He also claims he has more evidence of their relationship together ("Mariah, it ever occur to you that I still have pictures?").
's flow he takes shots at Eminem. He also later proposed a boxing match between himself and Eminem for charity - although it is unclear whether this was due to bad feeling surrounding the song - even setting up a Facebook
page to hype up the idea: however, the event never took place.
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...
as part of an ongoing conflict with Mariah Carey over claims that she once had a relationship with him. The song was provoked by Carey's song "Obsessed
Obsessed (song)
"Obsessed" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, taken from her twelfth studio album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel . It was written and produced by Carey, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart and Terius "The-Dream" Nash, and was released as the album's lead single on June 16, 2009...
" in which she sings about an obsessed man who claims to be having a relationship with her, raising suspicions with many that it was directed at Eminem, despite claims on the contrary by Carey's husband, Nick Cannon
Nick Cannon
Nicholas Scott "Nick" Cannon is an American actor, comedian, rapper, entrepreneur, record producer, radio, and television personality. On television, Cannon began as a teenage sketch comedian on All That before going on to host The Nick Cannon Show, Wild 'N Out, and America's Got Talent...
.
Background
Throughout his career, Eminem had made many previous claims that he had once had a close relationship with Carey, although she has always denied the claim, in songs such as "Superman" and "Jimmy Crack Corn". After the song "Bagpipes from Baghdad" was released on Eminem's album Relapse (2009), the song caused controversy as it disparaged Carey and husband Cannon's relationship, leading Cannon to claim that Eminem's career is based on "racistRacism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
bigotry", and joked that he may return to rapping as a means of getting revenge on him.
Although Eminem later stated that the couple misinterpreted the track, saying it was actually wishing the two the best, a few months afterwards Carey released the first single from her album Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel
Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel
Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel is the twelfth studio album by American R&B singer Mariah Carey. It was released on September 29, 2009 through Island Records in the U.S. and November 23, 2009 with Mercury Records in the UK...
, titled "Obsessed
Obsessed (song)
"Obsessed" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, taken from her twelfth studio album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel . It was written and produced by Carey, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart and Terius "The-Dream" Nash, and was released as the album's lead single on June 16, 2009...
," which talks of an obsessed fan who claims to be in a relationship with her. Many, clearly including Eminem himself, believed the song to be directed at him as a response to "Bagpipes from Baghdad", which inspired him to write the track as a response.
Content and composition
Produced by Dr. Dre, "The Warning" is a mid-tempo track that is almost entirely made up of soft piano keys playing in the background, a consistent drum beat, and occasional horns every few seconds. The song also contains no chorus: the vocals provided by Eminem unsurprisingly contain many disparaging comments against Carey and Cannon and numerous claims of his and Carey's alleged relationship.The song allegedly contains numerous vocal samples of Carey, which Eminem claims were voicemail messages that Carey left on his answer phone while they were in their relationship. He also claims he has more evidence of their relationship together ("Mariah, it ever occur to you that I still have pictures?").
Response
Although there has been no response from Carey as of yet, in September 2010 Cannon responded with the song "I'm a Slick Rick" which in Slick RickSlick Rick
Richard Walters , better known by his stage name Slick Rick is a Grammy-nominated English-American rapper...
's flow he takes shots at Eminem. He also later proposed a boxing match between himself and Eminem for charity - although it is unclear whether this was due to bad feeling surrounding the song - even setting up a Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
page to hype up the idea: however, the event never took place.
Chart performance
Although it was not officially released as a single or featured on any album, "The Warning" charted on several Billboard charts.| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles (Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... ) |
8 |
| US Rap Songs (Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... ) |
23 |
| US Rhythmic Top 40 Rhythmic Airplay Chart The Rhythmic Airplay Chart is an airplay chart that is featured weekly in Billboard Magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on Rhythmic stations, whose playlist includes mostly hit-driven R&B/Hip-Hop, Rhythmic pop, and some Dance tracks... (Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... ) |
31 |