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Darkness
Eminem
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- Album
- Music To Be Murdered By
- Released
- 2020
- Genres
- rap, hip hop
- Length
- 5:37
- Tempo
- 75 BPM
- Label
- Shady/Aftermath/Interscope Records
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About this song
"Darkness" is the lead single from Eminem's surprise album Music to Be Murdered By, and it was released with its music video alongside the album. The song takes the rap habit of comparing words to weapons and performances to murders to extremes. It ends with overlaid news clips from recent shootings in the United States, which the text presents as an effort to raise awareness of the country's gun problems.
What it's about
The narrator is revealed to be Stephen Paddock, the murderer behind the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, so an opening that seems to describe pre-performance nerves becomes an allegory comparing high-profile killings to an artist's performance.
Fun facts
- Samples “The Sound of Silence by Simon & Garfunkel”.
- Written by Eminem, Royce Da 5'9", Luis Resto and Paul Simon.
- Produced by Eminem, Royce Da 5'9" and Luis Resto.
- Recorded at Effigy Studios in Detroit.