let the muSSSic play

This song is Eminem's way of telling his fans that he has to go eventually, that he's afraid of losing his daughter Hailie, and he wants to have a normal life with his daughter and wife. He's telling us not to be sad that he is going to go, and that he's always thinking of his fans and his family. (thanks, Danielle - Justice, IL)

In the line, "Take another pill, yeah I bet you you will" Eminem is quoting Hailie. This refers to his stay at rehab for his dependency on sleeping pills. (thanks, Jeffrey - West Jordan, UT)

On this melancholy song Eminem raps about his struggles with drug addiction. In August 2005 Eminem entered drug rehabilitation in order to treat a dependency on sleep medication. He subsequently took a break during which he battled his addiction whilst industry insiders speculated that Shady had ended his rapping career. Eminem is now sober and he told Vibe magazine that this song is the only one he kept from the recordings he made during that dark period in his life. He explained: "One of the only reasons that I put that track on there is that I feel like it's the best song out of that batch that I did when I wasn't sober. At the time I felt like, 'This is it for me.' I wrote the first verse and a half in rehab, and when I came out, I finished it. It was the only song that marks that period without bringing me back to that place. Every other track not only didn't fit with the album, but when I listened to it, it would bring up bad memories."

This is the only track on Relapse that Eminem produced himself.

This samples Paul Rodgers and Queen's version of Rock Therapy's 1996 charity single "Reaching Out."

Eminem expanded to the Observer Music Monthly May 2009, on why this is the only song that he retained from the dark period in his life when he wasn't sober. He explained: "It's the only one I could actually listen to and feel OK about. It brings me back to a time when I was really depressed and down, but at the same time it reminds me of what that space is like and what never to go back to. There is a lot of honesty in that song that I wouldn't want to just throw away. I started writing the first verse and half of the second when I was in rehab going through detox. I didn't have a beat in my head or anything like that… I wrote the verse and just knew I wanted it to be a bounce-style, I guess. I got that first bit out and finished it when I got out of rehab, when I relapsed right back into taking pills. If you listen to that song and how it starts off, I'm just so f--king depressed."

Eminem told The Observer Music Monthly that he when he wrote this song he was "sitting on the end of the bed in detox, not fully committed to it and not fully detoxed. They give you medicine to make your detox not as rough." He added: "I wrote it during that period – the first two days. I was sitting there not knowing where I wanted to be in my career. I didn't even know if I wanted a career any more, because this s--t was too much. It just wasn't worth it."

This was the 5th song of that title to chart in the Hot 100. The four previous "Beautiful" songs were by Gordon Lightfoot (#58, 1972), Christina Aguilera (#2, 2003), Snoop Dogg featuring Pharrell & Uncle Charlie Wilson (# 6, 2003) and Akon featuring Colby O'Donis & Kardinal Offishall (#19, 2009).

Paul Rogers told Spinner he was not a great fan of the way Eminem sampled his song. Said the frontman: "It was interesting, the Eminem thing because it wasn't quite what I had planned. When we were touring, they tossed around a version of that song and how they planned to sample it. And it was very different to the final result. I wasn't actually crazy about the final result, in all honesty. I never use foul language onstage or on records. It's just not my thing. I do like Eminem, and I think he has a very credible point and lots to say, but he does it in a different way than I would ever do."

This reflective cut is the first single from American rapper Eminem's seventh studio album Recovery. Originally Marshall Mathers planned to do a sequel to his 2009 album, Relapse, but the rapper scrapped that idea to go in a different direction. He said on Twitter: "The music on Recovery came out very different from Relapse, and it deserves its own title."

In a pre-release interview with Billboard magazine, Eminem's manager, Paul Rosenberg, said that Recovery will be "more accessible to more fans. He [Eminem] had pretty much completed a whole second album worth of material but at some point he took a step back, looked at it and said, 'I think I want to record some more.' But in recording, the album started to sound so different and was going in such a different direction that he decided to keep it going and turn it into a whole new album. The last album was really for the core Eminem fans. I think this record will open that up a bit."

"Not Afraid" reflects the more positive mood of the album and finds Eminem rapping on how he has tried to overcome his personal troubles such as his battles with drug addiction. He goes on to admit to some artistic mistakes including dissing his previous album: "Let's be honest/ That last Relapse CD was ehh." Eminem finally declares that he wants to concentrate just on his family and music. Rosenberg commented to Billboard magazine, "It's an uplifting song. It's not a dark song, it's an uplifting song."

The single was produced by Toronto beatmaker Boi-1da, whose résumé also includes "Best I Ever Had" for Drake, "4 My Town (Play Ball)" for Birdman and the all star MC gathering including Eminem, "Forever."

This was the sixteenth single in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 to debut at #1. The previous artist to do so was Britney Spears whose hit "3" opened at the top position on the chart dated October 17, 2009.

The song was Eminem's third chart-topper following "Lose Yourself" in 2002-03 and "Crack a Bottle" in 2009.

The song became a sports anthem after receiving repeat play on national network TV during the NBA playoffs. It also aired frequently during HBO's 24/7, whilst showcasing the preparations of the Floyd Mayweather vs. Shane Mosley fight and was featured on the commercial of the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Philadelphia Flyers.

Recovery was Eminem's sixth #1 album in a row in the UK. In doing so, the Detroit MC became the American act with the most consecutive UK #1 albums, overtaking Bon Jovi's five successive sets between 1988 and 2000. Eminem also became the solo act with the most consecutive UK #1 albums beating Robbie Williams' five long players in a row between 1998 and 2002. Recovery was also Eminem's sixth consecutive #1 on the Billboard 200 chart. In a similar fashion to the UK Eminem became the solo act with the most consecutive US #1 albums beating three artists with five long players in a row:
Elton John (1972-74)
Paul McCartney (1973-77)
DMX (1998-2003)

The Detroit MC also became the American act with the most consecutive US #1 albums, overtaking the five consecutive chart-toppers of DMX and Chicago (1972-75).

Recovery sold 741,000 copies in its first week, the best weekly sales figure since AC/DC's Black Ice debuted at #1 with 784,000 copies in November 2008.

Recovery's seven non-consecutive weeks at #1 on the US album chart were the most for any album since Taylor Swift's Fearless topped the charts for 11 non-consecutive weeks in late 2008/ early 2009. It was also the most for any male artist since Usher's Confessions spent nine weeks on top of the chart summit in 2004.

According to Nielsen SoundScan, Recovery was the United States' best-selling album of 2010, with 3.42 million copies sold. This was the second time that Eminem had achieved the top-selling album of the year, as back in 2002 The Eminem Show moved 7.61 million.