Hailie Jade's role in Eminem's music through the years

The making of a little star
Dedicated to Hailie Jade Scott Mathers, for her 10th birthday
« I want her to be able to grow up and look back on this and be like , whether people agree with it or not , “My dad put me on a song. My dad wrote songs for me, my dad said my name all over the place.” I want her to be able to look back in magazines and everything and just know. I don’t ever wanna be like my father was to me. » (Eminem)
Eminem’s little daughter is one of the best known little girls in the world. Each Eminem fan has heard about her existence.
Marshall Mathers has been criticized numerous times for putting his daughter in his songs. Some people always see something wrong in everything he does.
Marshall is a full mouthed rapper with some wicked lyrics. Those who have followed him since the beginning know how much controversial he was when his Slim Shady LP was released. His lyrics contained the whole rage, creativity and murderous intentions of his evil alter ego.
Hailie’s presence in the middle of Slim Shady’s shivery words softened his Cds harsh side.
People should consider that Eminem’s intentions were honorable when putting his little princess on his records. First, Hailie means the world to the loving daddy Marshall actually is.
Second, Hailie is the main source of his motivation to become a successful rapper.
Third, Eminem grew up fatherless and he wants to be a caring presence in his daughter’s life. He shared his concern and love with his numerous fans.
Eminem honored the daughter he adores in various songs and I find it touching and wonderful.
Hailie is featured on some songs, on some other tracks, her daddy sings about her.
Hailie on ‘97 Bonnie and Clyde

Back in the days Marshall was fighting with Kim. When their relationship was off, Kim didn’t allow Marshall to see his daughter. Hailie had become a bad weapon against Marshall.
I remember watching an old video from 1998 where you saw a younger Eminem wearing some glasses telling people about the release of the Slim Shady LP. While announcing his future release he kept saying, while flipping the bird: « I will talk about my baby’s mama. This is some real shit ».
Of course, he was referring to the ‘97 Bonnie And Clyde song.
Not only was the so much misinterpreted song in which a 2 year old Hailie ended up as her dad’s accomplice in her mom’s murder a reconciliation attempt with Kim, but it was also rich of a very touching message:
« Baby, your dada loves you (hey)
And I’ma always be here for you (hey)
No matter what happens
You’re all I got in this world
I would never give you up for nothin’
Nobody in this world is ever gonna keep you from me
I love you… »


People might reproach Eminem quantity of things. However who would dare to say that he is not a devoted and caring father?
The ‘97 Bonnie And Clyde song introduces Hailie to the world. Little Hailie chatters in the background and has become a hip hop heroine, a gangsta character.
Despite its scary background, the Bonnie And Clyde song is a beautiful treasure of fatherly love and devotion.
Eminem’s first ode to Hailie: Hailie’s Song

Several years later, after releasing his controversial Marshall Mathers LP, Eminem was back with a brand new and explosive CD: The Eminem Show. A CD that offered a critical view and some insight about American society and politics. A Cd that was mixed up with some funny and dramatic elements. In the middle of all those typical Eminem songs, Hailie’s Song, a touching ode from a daddy to his daughter.
When I bought The Eminem Show in 2002, Hailie’s Song was the song that I discovered just after White America.
Some critics accused Eminem of « turning pop » because of this beautiful song of his, but I think I understood his intentions quite immediately. Eminem merely wanted to show his audience that he was also capable of singing songs besides his rapping abilities. Hailie’s song is deep and touching. The song is a sweet combination of soft violin notes and real feelings put on paper.
Hailie’s song shows a daddy’s gratitude towards his daughter’s presence in his life.
Hailie in My Dad’s Gone Crazy

The last song of The Eminem Show is written like a comedy, a funny daddy-daughter dialogue in which Eminem acts crazy and Hailie comes to rescue her dad.
The listener should take attention at Eminem’s words:
« My songs can make you cry, take you by surprise
And at the same time, make you dry your eyes with the same rhyme »

While playing the fool with Hailie, Eminem talks about serious subjects and pours his heart out about the drama of September the 11th and his beloved uncle Ronnie’s death.
Hailie fires back in Doe Rae Me

“My daughter is the closest thing to my heart. You say something about my daughter, then there’s no boundaries, everything is open, and Hailie might come on the record and diss you, too. So don’t fuck with me when it comes to my daughter. (Eminem, Rolling Stone Interview, June 2004)
Four rappers have dissed Hailie in her songs: Everlast, Esham, Ja Rule and Benzino. If « personals » are part of the rap game, I do consider that they should be aimed at the rapper himself, not at their kid.
If you talk bad about one of my sons, I might kill you. A parent is driven mad when you attack his or her kid. It is a mean and cowardly way of rapping, as far as I am concerned.
Eminem is cleverer than most of his opponents. Ja Rule and Benzino put Hailie on a song, dissing her badly. Ok, guys, you put Eminem’s daughter on a record? Guess what, Hailie is gonna respond to your attacks and make you look ridiculous!
That’s exactly what Hailie did!
Eminem, Obie Trice and D12 might have assisted the little girl, but the last dialogue is killing Ja Rule through Hailie’s mouth:
[Hailie] Daddy is Ja Rule taller than me?
[Eminem] No honey you guys are the same size
If you want to mess with Eminem, don’t touch his daughter or you might regret it. Marshall doesn’t play with his feelings for his daughter. Hailie is the closest person to his heart.
Mockingbird: second ode to Hailie

Maybe the greatest gift Eminem has ever offered to his fans is his Mockingbird video. In that wonderful and touching video, Eminem went that far to invite us into his living room. He didn’t choose actors to play Hailie, Alaina or Kim. No, he took a real former video featuring his beloved ones.
This video is an open dialogue with Hailie during which Marshall is trying to explain his own failures and Kim’s whereabouts.
The video allows people to picture every day life scenes at Eminem’s home. Touching, deep and refreshing scenes of little Hailie’s life will allow people to understand the daddy- daughter relationship better.
When I’m Gone: Hailie reuniting her parents

Eminem’s most recent song and video are full of pain and When I’m Gone sounds like an apology to Hailie.
Very sincere and conscious of his addiction problems, Eminem pictures scenes of conflict with his daughter. Hailie suffers from his absence and sometimes wouldn’t let her father go.
Following her daddy like an angel in her thoughts and prayers, Hailie makes her dad realize that his place is at home with his family.
Since the beginning of his career, Hailie has played different roles in his music. Accomplice in crime, weapon between her parents’ struggles, Ja Rule’s opponent, daddy’s little angel, a little girl in pain.
Eminem has been criticized for putting his daughter in his songs. I find it wonderful that a full mouthed and offensive battle rapper with some incisive and wicked lyrics showed his soft side to his public. He managed to transform this love and dedication towards his daughter into beautiful music notes that please many fans’ ears.
Hailie, I think you have all reasons in the world to be proud of your daddy. Thank you for the beautiful songs you inspired him.
Copyright by Isabelle Esling
All Rights Reserved

57 thoughts on “Hailie Jade's role in Eminem's music through the years”

  1. That was a realy great post. I’m a huge Eminem fan and I agree with you fully, there’s nothing wrong with him putting Hailie in his songs. (It’s not like other rappers are constantly instilling fresh topics in their songs. Every other rap song with the exception of MEminem is about money, bling, women, cars, guns, etc.)
    Anyway, like I said I’m a huge Eminem fan and I recently decided to put my thoughts about his albums into words. I’m currently working on my review of the Slim Shdy LP, which you can find at my blog eminemreview.blogspot.com. More reviews to come.

  2. Thanks, Zelmo, for your comment:)
    well, since you’re running a blog too, let’s do some link exchange if you’re interested.

  3. I just got ”The Eminem Show” CD and I liked ”My Dad’s Gone Crazy” the most.
    Hailie was in there soo cute and i fell in love with that song instantly.
    I think Marshal is a really good dad to Hailie.

  4. And Hailie is a really pretty girl. No wonder theres boys around there…
    And thanx Hailie for beang there for him(Marshal).

  5. Thanks for your compliments (i’m a lady btw lol)…yea it takes me a lot of time, but well it is my passion and i do it in my spare time:)

  6. You are my favorite rapper eminem i believe a whole lot of thing you say and i am sad that you are leaving to take care of your baby girl hailie but i know that you will be back and I am olanning n getting your curtin call cd because i got all the other ones and because i thin you are so cute and your daughter is so pretty.

  7. I just want to say that Eminem is and always be my favourite rapper.And that Hailie doesn’t know how pretty and lucky she is to have a dad like him.And I think we should thank Hailie for always being their for him.

  8. eminem is one of my fave people in the world and i’ve wrote loads of essays on him at schooland i think that he is a good man and hailie is very lucky. sad to see him go! but im sure he’ll be back!

  9. u r gr8 eminem u show how much you love your daughter by makeing her apart of your life aswell in music u think of her fears and thoughts and put them into lyrics anybody who dont agree with your lyrics r jealouse coz u show your love more than wat they do xx mwah loves u

  10. eminem u have been through so much ur mum is bad and kim and hailie in there hearts r glade they got u HAILIE BE PROUD OF YOUR DADDY HE HAS DONE SOOO MUCH 4 U XXX

  11. Eminem i cant believe all the stuff that you had to go through in your life. But you have someone you can love now; Hailie. Hailie your dad loves you very much and he’ll never let you go.
    -Marissa

  12. YO EMINEM PUT ALOT OF HEART INTO THIS SONG IF ANYTHING THOSE PEEPS DISRESPECTINGEMS COUSE RAPS SHOULD JUST SAY FORGET IT AND THINK ABOUT EVERYTHING HES DONE AND THE ONLY WAY HE KNOWS HOW TO INTERACT IS THROUGH SONG SO IF SHADY HAS TO SAY SORRY TO JIS DOUGHTER LET HIM DO IT AND STOP UR BITCHIN

  13. Em’s a good rapper but Ja Rule shouldn’t be talkin’ shit bout’ Em’s daughter. She’s a really cute girl dissin’ Em’s family is like dissin’ Em. I wish they would go to fuckin’ hell for sayin’ dat shit.They dont need to be dissin’ her anyway wat did she do to them. She was just a kid mindin’ her own bid-ness. They wanna dis her why if u do Em’s gonna kick you’re ass bitch. Peace out dog

  14. Now i believe that it could be Hailie, wow that girl looks so much like Eminem so much, How could it not be Hailie. Also congratulations to the creator of this website, it has shown me more information on Eminem then any other web site that i have visited about him, Thankyou. You have done such a wonderful job and i’m sure Eminem would be grateful for the great comments made about him.
    We All Admire You So Much Eminem!!!

  15. This girl in When I’m Gone is not Hailie. She is an actress. Eminem always expressed the wish to protect his daughter from the media, that’s why the footage in Mockingbird are former video shots and not current hailie pictures. This girl does NOT look like Eminem nor like Hailie as far as i am concerned…
    Thanks for your compliments about the Eminem blog…I try to do my best in informing people about Em:)

  16. i agree i am a huge eminem fan and him puting his daughters in the mocking bird video really touched me i cry everytime i here that song i love it so much and hailie i am glad u are there beside ur daddy when times get rough and marshall i am pround of u for all the work u do with hailie and alina and kim and i wana give a huge shout out to D12 we didnt only lose a rappr but a close and personail freand to u marshall and a great daddy and a fun and loveing person i just hope these words of comfront will help u realise the impraints of us fans that some times when things get rough and hard we look back on the ones that have died before us and realize that when u die u take some of ur fans herats with u leave a whole in there hearts u just wake up every morning thinking how can some one just rap about love be shot i dont wana put any one down or hurt any one in my saying but i wish they would take a gun or hang the man that killed proof because he didnt desviver to die he was just getting started in his crear and he wanted to watch his kids grow up and i know he would be pround of his family and his kids and d12 i will miss u proof not only have u touched me but u have touched us all i just wish we could all just take back what was taken from us all love u all laurie

  17. to me there is nothing wrong with putting hailie in his songs. that is one way to tell the world about how much he loves his daughter and he is doing a very good job at it.as a matter of fact my favorite songs are the ones about hailie(i think my daddys gone crazy, worlds on my shoulders, and when im gone)i just got his new cd and i almost cried when i heard when im gone, it is so sweet and im glad he took some time to spend time with hailie so he can come back with frest things.

  18. oh i also love the song mocking bird i know every word to that song and i have a little brother and i seing that song to him all the time

  19. This is so stupid but i don’t get the comment. ‘daddy is ja taller than me. No ur both the same size” will someone explain???

  20. the comment is is ja rule taller than me no honey u guys are the same size means that hailie askes her dad is ja rule taller then her and he said to her no honey u guys are the same size means that ja jule is th same size as Hailie Jade

  21. that was the best post iv read about eminem and hailie in a long time( or ever) and ur right when u say when other rapper target hailie it was cowrardly n just fucking stupid
    any way im gone peace out

  22. The line ‘is ja rule taller than me’ is eminem taking the p**s out of ja rule for taking a shot at a child instead of someone his own size…. least thats what i got from it.
    Ja rules f**ked up saying something like that about a little girl but eminem shouldnt have put her on the song especially making her say ‘i dont wanna be like ja rules dirty ass kids’- hes giving people ammo to take shots at her. if an adult dissed your kid in an argument with you, would you bring your kid out the house and make your kid fight back with the guy or would you do it yourself? it has made ja rule look stupid but its also given a whole bunch of ja rule fans a reason to hate a little girl whose done nothing wrong but is gonna have to watch her back very closely in a few years when shes all grown up and bumping into these people in the street. as everyone knows rapping aint a game, people die- eminems put his daughter in danger doing something like this.

  23. i dont think em should be critisized for putting his daughter in his music i think its very touching and hailie will always remember that she is the one who inspired her daddy and that i would be very proud of

  24. putting daug in video might be something fresh other artist might copy as eminem does..
    haha ENM ROX . RApe More 4 RApes.

  25. woooow!!! i cant believe everything poor hailies gone through ..that reeeeally sucks!! and i know her daddy has apaoligized a lot!!! but you know …..sometimes you gotta do more than just say the words!!!! i don know that much about evrything thats happened in eminems live cause im a christain so my mom doesnt like me to know tooo much about things like that ….i don have any t.v. in my whole houshold and i havent since i was 7 or 8 so i don really kow anything about him but the stuff i do know is eminem needs christ in his life ..i know hes done some reeeeeally bad things before …but jesus doesnt care !! as long as you just ask him ..ask him to help!! ask him for forgivness!! ask him to set things rite!!and he will ..i swear he will …forgive u and love u just like anyone else ..he loves us all equaly!!! i just started listening to his songs and i found myself really into the words and evrything ..my favorite is mockings bird and im proud of him for only using bad language once!! lol!! ne ways!! i just reeeeally wish hailie good luck in her life and that shell understand evrything as she grows older!!!! i hope she gets to learn about jesus!!! jesus is the one and only true answer to life…. well ..ill pray for eminem and hailie and kim and laney!!! i know one lil pray can help just a bit ..but imagine what it would be like if there were like…lets say…at least …25-100 people prying for all of them!!! i know it would help just more and more!!!! well …i hope things work out better for eminem and his family!! gooood luck!!!

  26. eminem is awesome. when i’m gone is a great song apologizing to hailie for never being there-which is weird because he’s always complaning about how his father wasn’t there but anyway i love this song, i love eminem, and for all you crazy fans who think you know him-BACK OFF! that’s just weird. how would you like it if somebody was stalking you?

  27. hailie u r so lucky you have a dad that care’s about
    u but dad left my mom so i live in a house but
    eminem my life is like your’s MESSED UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  28. Hailie u r so lucky 2 have Eminem as ur dad. He loves u so much and i kno u love him 2!I think Ja Rule is just jealous of Eminem cuz he knows if he had a kid it would be hideous like him. lol. also i think thjat ne1 who criticized Hailie n 1 of their songs is jus doin that cuz their 2 scared 2 criticize Eminem

  29. I think it is amazing that he can put his kid in his songs and I think it is messed up that people diss on him for it….the songs with hailie in them or about her are my favorite ones!!!Eminem is a talented rapper and I will alwasy be his,and Hailies fan

  30. hey hallie i think that ur daddy loves u and would do anything in the world for u. u are such a beautiful young girl who’s been through a lot but always kept ur head up and dont pay attention to what people say bout u that are negative. anyway baby girl keep ur head up. tell ur daddy that yall are my biggest fans.

  31. I was first inspired by Eminem by the music it self but now I see Marshall is a very good person and might be a much better person than me or anyone else! If someone disses his daughter then he is going to make him suffer his loss of fame, money and everything! Dont Fuck With Eminem Or Hailie!!!

  32. em loves his cjildren more than his wife. and he has got the best voice in the world. i will never let anyone diss him or i’ll diss them

  33. hey eminem is like my favorite artist ever. i am so glad my cuzin introduced me to your music cause if not i would be missing a bigg part in my haert! i really love eminem and he is like the best dad to hailie! hailie has a very caring and cool dad.i think its cool that he mentions hailie in his songs like like other people that hide them until they get caught or just tell the publicity for more fame and money and s***! he is my second heor cause my parents our always my first heros.I love you so much emienem and dont let yourself get critizied. the only person or peoples that can judge you is yourself. take care and hailie which i know you always will!!!!BUBBLES OUT!!!!!

  34. i agree cos if eminem didnt love hailie then he wouldent fight for her and want to protect her from evryone and evrything that could harm her.i once read a story about that eminem would be in the middle of writeing a song when hailie would ask him to play with her and he would just drop his work and go. also when they finished filming 8mile instead of staying for the afterparty he went home to tuck hailie into bed!!!!! this shows what a careing father he is

  35. mokinbird was basicly all about hailey and how he became fameous. i love mokingbird. when im gone is all bout how ems been neglecting hailie as well as killing him self. ems put her in bout 10 songs

  36. heeey
    okay everyone i saying hailie is soo lucky to have eminem for a daddy!
    well she dosent think of him as eminem the rapper
    she just thinks of him as her daddy!

  37. yo the song rock bootim on your 1st cd was the the greatest imsperation to me i never heard of enyone that had so much in common im going through the same stuggle as u times get really hard i have nothing in this life but my baby and my wife it suxx because i sit up at night and tear up about it and try to figure out ways to help me and my familey i guess like they say the rich get richer and the poor get porrer i just act in life like i gots somethhing but fuck it i ant got shit please some one email me back at marlboro_man_100@hotmail.com id really be happyer thanks

  38. i agree… i hate hw ppl do dat.. dame just diss the rapper not da child.. how the f*** do u think is feels 2 da kid? she might think she did somtin wrong. yah it gets the daddy all pist witch was wht u were tryin 2 do… but dame… think of the children! i think they were on the t.v. show… the fallen stars! o.. burn JACKA**! go get a life.. and leave lil’ kids out of it man! F***!

  39. i realy like EMINEM and i think he’s a great father and i’m sure that Hailie love’s him very much no dought
    anyway you are very very very good father & i think hailie is luky to a dad like you
    i love you

  40. hey man i love your music and hailie is very lucky to have you as a dad is it ok if i call you dad cuz i love you and my dad died like 2 years ago but its ok cuz i never loved him like i love you well i gotta go love you always smiley out ?always smiley

  41. All Hailie Jade posers will be IMMEDIATELY removed. Don’t waste your time and don’t waste mine. I don’t believe you and am definitely NOT INTERESTED in what kind of bs you are into. Get a life!
    As for calling me and other people on here obsessed- let me laugh my ass off…coming from people whose whole ambition is to make others believe they are Eminem’s daughter…get lost!

  42. hahahahaha eminems azz cause that shizz aint funny youre a friggin loser for sayin some bullshiizz like that

  43. Seriously people, its sick that you try an impersonate hailie.. If it was the other way round she wouldn’t do it to you people. Its sad that you do that and just get a life. Its horrible and kind of an insult to marshall himself.. Ever think of that? So yeah, fuck off and stop impersonating hailie, its not fair on her. -.-

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