"My Band" is a song by American hip hop group D12. It was released in March 2004 as the first single from their second albumD12 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 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. Due to its success in the United States, the radio version of the song serves as the kickoff song to the 2004 compilation albumNow That's What I Call Music! 16.
Content
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 band”. Eminem talks about his own popularity in the first verse and the conflict it creates within the group. He describes episodes such as female fans attempting to make sexual advances when meeting him offstage, and group member Kuniva trying to attack him with a knife when he claims that Jessica Alba is his "wife-to-be". In the second verse, Swift wrestles the mic from Eminem and then describes some of the negative consequences of this propaganda-like media coverage on the rest of the D12’s members, such as not recording with Pro Tools, being stuck driving a van while 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 interjecting. The two find themselves unable to confront him. Just like Swift, Proof complains about the propaganda in his solo part, implying that people who promote this perception know nothing about the group. He also complains that Eminem gets "ninety and we only get ten percent" after explaining that they "ain't a band" because they "don't play instruments". In the fifth verse, Bizarre, after attacking Eminem who is at the time singing in a traditional boy band, attacks the media for focusing on Eminem when discussing and covering the group, and claims that he is actually the most popular member of the group. He also threatens to leave D12 on several occasions, claiming he will "start a group with The Real Roxanne". After this fifth verse, there is a short hook by Eminem, and Bizarre follows by trying to sing the chorus, which results in laughter. After that, some members yell out random comments while the others sing the song's title repeatedly. At the end of the song, Eminem sings in a Spanish-style accent about how his "salsa makes all the pretty girls want to dance and take off their underpants", then facetiously promoting his fictional next single "My Salsa". The song then ends abruptly, followed by Eminem saying, "Where did everybody go?".
The music video begins by showing the rest of D12 looking through the window of a door to find Eminem receiving a massage, which is similar to the song's preceding skit on the album, "Dude". It then cuts to shots of Eminem in a limousine while the others are forced to wait for a bus, and the whole song's context is picked up from there. Later scenes include Bizarre attempting to get in shape, Bizarre and a Verne Troyer spoofing fellow Michiganders Kid Rock and Joe C., Bizarre in the background of Eminem's "Lose Yourself" and "Superman" music videos, the entire band performing a boy band-style song while dressed like The Backstreet Boys, and a re-enactment of Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction". At the MTV Video Music Awards in 2004, "My Band" was nominated for Video of the Year, Best Group Video, and Best Rap Video, but did not win in any of the categories. During their performance of the song, Eminem moonedthe audience. MTV originally planned to blur Eminem's bare bottom, but in light of their recent problems with the aforementioned "wardrobe malfunction" they instead decided to cut the mooning from the performance altogether. Pictures of Eminem's mooning have been spread across the internet. In an uncensored version of the video, a topless woman appears next to Eminem and a topless woman dances on a pole.
