A few of the songs on Eminem‘s The Death of Slim Shady: (Coup de Grâce) album hit a bit too close to home for the rapper’s daughter, Hailie Jade Scott. On this week’s episode of her Just a Little Shady podcast, Hailie tackled her emotional reaction to a pair of songs on Em’s Billboard 200 chart-topping twelfth LP that have a very personal message.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
“Speaking of things I watched this past week, which I guess I’ll say watched, but I refused to watch again — the ‘Somebody Save Me’ music video is out and I did watch the thing,” Hailie, 28, said of the emotional clip featuring footage of her as a child underneath lyrics from her dad lamenting the countless hours and days he missed due to his struggle with drugs and alcohol; Em celebrated 16 years of sobriety in April.
“I watched it in its entirety. I don’t think I can do it again. I definitely cry every time I hear it at all,” Hailie said of the song featuring Em lashing himself for his shortcomings as a father. “Another pill as I start to spiral/ Message to my daughters/ I don’t even deserve the father title/ Hailie, I’m so sorry/ I know I wasn’t there for your first guitar recital,” Eminem raps on the tune featuring a mournful chorus from Jelly Roll about seeking salvation. “Didn’t walk you down the aisle/ Missed the birth of your first child/ Your first podcast, lookin’ down, sweetie.”
The clip features home video footage of Hailie playing the guitar at a recital, walking across the stage for graduation and celebrating her birthday as well as video of Em’s other children, Alaina Marie Scott, 31, Stevie Laine Scott, 22 and his younger brother Nate in scenes that bring Em to his knees as he seeks forgiveness.
Hailie said in addition to getting emotional over the heartbreaking lyrics and video for “Somebody Save Me,” she also can’t quite bring herself to listen to another one of her dad’s new songs, the Skylar Grey collab “Temporary.” That song features audio of Hailie as a baby and Marshall rapping, “A lot of people ask me, am I afraid of death?/ The truth is, I think what scares me the most/ Is not being able to say all the things I wanna say to you/ When I’m no longer here/ So this song is for Hailie for when that day comes/ Where’s Hailie? Where’s she at?”
Co-host and BFF Brittany Ednie said she wasn’t sure when she’d be able to watch “Save Me” either. “I’m gonna have to brace myself for that one.” Ednie had listened to “Temporary,” however, and she said the song “broke me.”
For now it’s to too much for Hailie. “I audibly sobbed… I think for both songs, but especially ‘Temporary.’” However, after watching the video and listening to the songs, Hailie praised her parents for “doing such a good job” when she was growing up to shield her from the reality of “how bad things were. But now as an adult in hindsight it’s so scary to think about and I think that’s why I get emotional… I will say if you’ve ever lost an addict or loved one, I feel for you,” she added on the verge of tears.
Eminem shares Hailie with ex-wife Kim Scott and as any Slim Shady fan knows, the rapper and his ex have had a tumultuous history over the years. Hailie said she really enjoyed the video and watching clips of her and her siblings when thy were younger, though she noted that another very personal Eminem track, “Mockingbird,” is yet another one she can’t listen to anymore without getting very emotional. “The older I get the less I can listen to any of the songs,” she said.
Watch Hailie discuss her reaction to “Somebody Save Me” below.
