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" Not Afraid" is a song by American rapper Eminem from his seventh studio album Recovery (2010). It was released as the album's lead single on April 27, 2010, by Interscope Records. "Not Afraid" was first revealed as a single by Eminem via Twitter, after which the song debuted on radio. To promote the single's release, a freestyle rap, "Despicable", was released on the Internet and received attention for its tone and lyrical content. "Not Afraid" was written and produced by Eminem, Boi-1da, Jordan Evans, and Matthew Burnett; keyboardist Luis Resto was also attributed with songwriting credit. According to Eminem's manager Paul Rosenberg and music critics, "Not Afraid" carries a positive message and depicts Eminem's change in direction from drugs and violence. The hip hop song features a choir that assists Eminem in a heavily layered chorus and vocals are sung over a guitar, synthesizer, and piano; no Auto-Tune was used on the sung vocals, but many reverberation tools were.
"Not Afraid" received positive reviews from music critics, who praised the song for being anthemic in nature and carrying a positive message. The song did, however, face criticism for its sudden change in theme from previous singles, and was considered to be less affecting than some of his other songs. "Not Afraid" became the 16th song in Billboard history to debut on the Billboard Hot 100 at number one; it also debuted as a chart-topper in Canada. In June 2014 the song was certified 10× Platinum by RIAA, making Eminem the first artist with digital diamond awards for two songs. "Not Afraid" has earned Eminem MTV Video Music Awards, MTV Video Music Awards Japan, Grammy Awards, Billboard Music Awards, and Detroit Music Awards.
The song was accompanied by a music video, which Rich Lee directed in May 2010. New York City and Newark, New Jersey, were chosen as settings to shoot the video. Reviewers praised the video as it followed the lyrics and praised the video for such depictions. However, the product placement in the video by Nike shoes and Beats by Dr. Dre headphones was criticized. In 2010, Eminem performed "Not Afraid" at Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010 (E3 2010), Oxegen 2010, T in the Park 2010, and the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards. He has also performed the song at the Bonnaroo Music Festival, Lollapalooza, and the V Festival. Rolling Stone ranked it the 24th best song of 2010, making it Eminem's most successful single since "Lose Yourself", until it was surpassed by "Love the Way You Lie".
The original tracks sent to Strange included mostly drums and musical keyboard pads; they were placed under an inactive track titled "Orig beatz". The instrumentation included a Roland TR-808 Bass drum, a regular live kick, a hi-hat, a ride cymbal and a snare drum. Underneath the track, there were French horn, orchestra hit and pads, including a Mellotron sound that plays the chord progression. Strange told Sound on Sound magazine, "I like to have the vocal tracks at the top of the Session, because in hip-hop they are the most important element." Two of Eminem's were placed underneath his main vocal track, as one of them featured his introductory words. Each play of the Refrain was an Overdubbing and not copies of a sample; the only exception was the intro. The vocals for the bridge were overdubbed six times; Auto-Tune was not used at all in the song. The Detroit musician Luis Resto provided keyboard tracks on the bridge, including piano and guitar sound effects. Resto also added orchestration in the chorus and bridge of the song.
Strange arranged the Pro Tools session in a more traditional manner by laying out the drums, bass instruments, guitars, keyboards, main vocals and overdubs from left to right. While mixing, he began with drums, then the main vocals. He added the chorus and bridge, followed by other instrumentation. Strange mixed the track to satisfy Eminem, who, after entering the studio, made his own adjustments, providing additional production; by then, Resto's tracks were added. Strange made adjustments to Boi-1da's tracks, using SSL equalization (EQ) and some compression. To keep the track in tune from pitch fluctuation, Strange used Trim and Auto-Tune on Resto's TR-808 kick. Strange arranged reverberation tools, including the Bricasti, Eventide 2016, the Lexicon 480, Lexicon PMC70, and the Yamaha SPX90.
The two rap tracks in the session used the Massenburg EQ plug-in, "the '9' send goes to the eighth-note delay track immediately above the two rap tracks" and Digidesign Extra Long Delay. Strange also used compressors, including the Alta Moda Unicomp, which he felt works well on vocals, as well as the kick and snare drums. Boi-1da's track mostly used SSL and compression, but the bass used an API 550a. A Digidesign compressor limiter was set up on one of the horn sounds while the Massenburg EQ was used on an OB8 sound. Answering Eminem's request, string overdubs were arranged and recorded by Jordan Evans and Matthew Burnett—providing additional production—and Robert Reyes recorded the choir's vocals.
The song begins with a brief introduction in which Eminem says while the chorus plays underneath, "Yeh, it's been a ride. I guess I had to go to that place to get to this one." When he begins the first verse, his lyrics threaten people who have looked down on him: "You can try to read my lyrics off of this paper before I lay 'em/ But you won't take the sting out these words before I say 'em." On the second verse, Eminem says that he has indeed made mistakes, commenting on his Relapse album: "That last Relapse CD was ehh/ Perhaps I ran them accents into the ground/ Relax, I ain't going to do that now." When he says "All I'm trying to say is get back, click clack, pow", a gunshot is heard. Approaching the end of the second verse, Eminem raps about his personal experiences: "But I think I'm still trying to figure this crap out/ Thought I had it mapped out, but I guess I didn't/ It's time to exercise these demons/ These motherfuckers are doing jumping jacks now." After the chorus, Eminem sings a bridge and focuses on a positive change, as he says "I just can't keep living this way, so starting today I'm breaking out of this cage." Before the final chorus, he says that he "shoots for the moon". The song features a choir composed of Kip Blackshire, Christal Garrick II, Terry Dexter, Rich King, Kristen Ashley Cole and Sly Jordan. This song is also about how Slim Shady is leaving Eminem so he can "handle his responsibilities as a father." He promises to get his life together for better. In his 2018 studio album Kamikaze, Fall shows him getting the Slim Shady part of him "back." As he desperately runs away from the shadow, it catches up with him and he realizes he can't escape it.
The new single was initially slated to impact radio on April 30, 2010; however, the date was changed to three days earlier and the song eventually aired at 10 am ET, on Shade 45's show The Morning After with Angela Yee. On May 5, 2010, the single was made available for Music download at online retailers through Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. In the song, Eminem makes a reference to Relapse and spoke at Friday Night with Jonathan Ross about it: "...looking back on it now in retrospect, I feel like there was a lot of stuff on there that was humorous and shock value and I had to go back and listen to my older material and figure out why ... Relapse didn't make me feel like what used to and kind of put the feeling back into what I do."
The song was featured in a trailer for the war film Act of Valor.
Music critics commented on the freestyle rap. Ray Roa of music website Consequence of Sound noted Eminem's obvious frustration in the song, saying that he "sounds pissed off as ever on a new freestyle". He also added, "The first minute and a half of the track is mellow by his standards, but when the beat switches to Banks' track, Eminem goes apeshit." Melinda Newman of HitFix gave a positive review and wrote that the freestyle sounds like a "blast that sucks all the air out of room. It's better than anything on Relapse, and the sheer dexterity of his rhyming skills is awe-inspiring." Thaindian Newss Madhuri Dey felt that "Eminem takes his usual route of taking a hit at some personality". Adam Downer of Sputnikmusic wrote positively: "Eminem spits with the crazed desperation we remember from the albums."
After "Not Afraid" leaked onto the Internet on April 29, 2010, Simon Vozick-Levinson of Entertainment Weekly magazine commented on the song, noting both positive and negative characteristics; he first complimented Eminem's change of lyrical theme, calling it anthemic in nature and noting its inspirational and powerful message. He compared the song's theme to Eminem's 2002 single "Sing for the Moment" and his 2009 single, "Beautiful". Vozick-Levinson called Eminem's rapping "wild" but was dismissive of the production, saying, "The track behind 'Not Afraid' has the same tinny, repetitive, wannabe-epic quality that's annoyed me on Boi-1da productions like 'Forever.'" Mayer Nissem of British site Digital Spy gave the song three stars out of a possible five, and wrote a mixed review; the reviewer first commented, "Thank heavens! – Marshall Mathers III has opted against his usual trick of cobbling together a hook and some 'satire' via two-year-old back issues of the Inquirer to trail it." However, Nissem criticized other aspects of the song, saying that Eminem's "decision to chronicle ... feels a little worthy and more than a touch dull." He felt that Eminem's previous songs never bored the listener, unlike "Not Afraid". Jeff Weiss of the Los Angeles Times commented that "Not Afraid" was an improvement from the lead singles of Encore (2004) and Relapse, "Just Lose It" and "We Made You", respectively, giving for a more serious and inspirational theme. However, Weiss misses the comic nature of Eminem's classic singles, such as "My Name Is"; instead, he felt that the song was composed of "vague self-help bromides and a bombastic but nondescript beat from ... Boi-1da." When discussing the chorus, Weiss commented that it "doesn't make for very engaging listening." Finally, he discussed possible influences by American rapper T.I., but overall, he named it a disappointing lead single.
John Ulmer of website One Thirty BPM gave the song seven points out of a possible ten, and published a mixed review; he praised it for being a more serious track compared to previous lead singles "Just Lose It" (2004) and "We Made You" (2009) but criticized it for being less powerful compared to his 2002 hit single, "Lose Yourself", and "Beautiful". According to Ulmer, "Upon first listen it's a bit corny, but it's appropriately anthemic, and not bad enough to deter from the strength of the overall track." He noted that although Eminem does not have as much of a frustrated voice as he does in "Despicable", he admits that Relapse was a silly album. Pitchfork Media's Jayson Greene wrote a rather negative review on Recovery and was very dismissive on the song: "Eminem spends nearly half of Recovery insisting he's the best rapper alive, but for the first time in his career, he actually sounds clumsy." Kitty Empire of newspaper The Guardian also wrote negatively on the song in her album review, criticizing the song's lyrics: "Rhyming 'through a storm' with 'whatever weather/ cold or warm' in the chorus is unforgivable for a master rhymer." As part of his album review, Greg Kot of daily newspaper Chicago Tribune criticized Eminem's lyrics and rhymes in "Not Afraid", comparing them to his rhyming skills back when his 2002 hip hop drama film, 8 Mile, premiered: "Doesn't he realize that's the kind of cheese that the battle-rhyming Eminem of 8 Mile would've mercilessly mocked?"
On May 22, 2010, "Not Afraid" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number one, a feat only 15 songs had accomplished previously. The song was Eminem's third number one single on the Hot 100 chart, coming after "Lose Yourself" and "Crack a Bottle". "Not Afraid" was also the first to debut at number one since October 17, 2009, when American recording artist Britney Spears's "3" debuted atop the chart. It became the first hip hop single by an unaccompanied male artist to debut at number one, and the first hip hop song to debut atop the chart, since "Doo Wop (That Thing)" by American rapper and singer Lauryn Hill in 1998.
After entering the Digital Songs chart at number one, the song fell down to number four the next week, and to number six on the Hot 100, with sales of 202,000 digital copies. On June 14, 2010, "Not Afraid" rose to number five again with sales of 157,000 copies. On July 14, 2010, it rose from 22 to 24 on the Hot 100; by then, the song was downloaded a total of 1,750,000 times. On July 25, 2010, the song crossed the two million mark, based on total sales. As of August 2013, the song has sold 5,000,000 digital copies. In June 2014 the song was certified 10× Platinum by RIAA.
In Canada, "Not Afraid" debuted at the top of the Canadian Hot 100, remaining on the chart for 20 weeks. In the United Kingdom, "Not Afraid" debuted and peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart on May 30, 2010 – for the week ending date June 5, 2010. It dropped to number six the following week, to number ten on July 4, 2010 – for the week ending July 10, 2010 – and to number 14 the week after. On August 1, 2010, the song dropped to number 20 and its last appearance on the UK Singles Chart would be on August 29, giving the song a total of 14 weeks on the chart.
In New Zealand, "Not Afraid" entered and peaked at number eight on the New Zealand Singles Chart on May 10, 2010. Lasting on the chart for a total of twenty-three weeks, the song would not make its last chart appearance in New Zealand until September 9, 2010, at number Thirty-four. In Australia, the song entered at number sixteen on the Australian Singles Chart in its first week and reached its peak at number four the following week; its lowest and final chart position occurred during the song's twenty-seventh week on the chart, at number forty-eight.
On the Ö3 Austria Top 40, Austria's official singles chart, May 21, 2010 marked the song's chart debut, at number 22. It reached its peak on August 13, at number five and would stay at that position for another week. Before re-entering on January 14, 2011 at number 72, the song made a last consecutive chart appearance on November 19, 2011 at number 52. The song dropped to the bottom of the chart (number 75) on January 21, 2011, before exiting it. In Italy, the song only charted for one week, at number three; the same occurred in France, on February 19, 2011, at number 97.
"Not Afraid" lasted 19 weeks on the Irish Singles Chart and made a final chart appearance on September 30, 2010, at number 36. Flanders' chart, Ultratop 50, gave the song a debut position at number 13 on May 15, 2010; the song would not reach a higher position and would drop to number 49 in its 16th and final week. On Wallonia's chart, Ultratop 50, the song debuted at number 14 and would not chart again until July 3, 2010, at number 40. Longer than on any other chart, "Not Afraid" charted in Sweden for 43 consecutive weeks, debuting at number five and charting at number 49 in its final week.
The second day of shooting focused on Eminem as he walked through Market Street in Newark. Eminem's final shoot before wrapping up was a mirror scene, which included many glass mirrors, and a fake one among them, through which he would have to break through. On May 30, 2010, Eminem confirmed the video's release date in a Twitter message: "For those 'patiently waiting,' the NOT AFRAID video will premier Saturday 6/5. Details later..." The day before the video's premiere, a teaser trailer was uploaded onto video sharing site YouTube, which combines many clips from the full video. The music video was uploaded on video website Vevo on June 5, 2010 at 11:30 am ET. Vevo stylized their logo with the E reversed, similar to Eminem's logo. On June 7, the television premiere took place on MTV and VH1, and the former featured a primetime encore the day after.
As of October 2024, the music video has received over 1.9 billion views and 12 million likes on YouTube.
Eminem then jumps off the edge and makes a steep dive, but flies straight up again; his speedy flight down Market Street causes on vehicles nearby. Eventually, Eminem flies up, back to the rooftop of the Manhattan Municipal Building, where the video began.
With over a billion views, the video is Eminem's second-most viewed on YouTube after "Love the Way You Lie" from the same album.
"Not Afraid" was included on Eminem's set list as the final song before Eminem's "Lose Yourself" encore in his performance at the T in the Park festival, which took place on July 10, 2010. This would be his first European concert in five years. Eminem wore black shorts and a hoodie. He commented on the weather, saying, "I know it's muddy and sloppy and shit but this is fun", and also thanked the crowd for supporting him. "Everybody who's an Eminem fan, I just wanna say thank you so much for the support you've shown over the years, for not giving up on me," he said, "I hope you enjoyed the show as much as we did tonight. Peace." At the end of the performance, Eminem said, "Edin-borg, did you enjoy yourself tonight?" That evening, members of the audience accused Eminem of , but others defended him of such accusations. The T in the Park performance of "Not Afraid" is included as the second track on the "Love the Way You Lie" CD single. Eminem performed "Not Afraid" for a small audience in a small room at the beginning of the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards; he performed the song once again at the Los Angeles Nokia Theatre, the main site of the ceremony, and performed "Love the Way You Lie" with Barbadian singer Rihanna. The audience voted his performance the best with 34 percent of all votes.
Eminem performed "Not Afraid" alongside Porter at the 2011 Bonnaroo Music Festival. He arrived in a Bad Meets Evil T-shirt, camouflage shorts, a black hoodie and a black hat. His set list included other hits from previous years, including "Cleanin' Out My Closet", "The Real Slim Shady", "Without Me" and "Like Toy Soldiers"; he also performed with Bad Meets Evil partner Royce da 5'9" for "Fast Lane" and "Lighters". Almost 80,000 members of the audience chanted "Shady!" for five minutes until Eminem returned to perform an encore with "Lose Yourself". Before performing "Not Afraid", Eminem told the audience, "All jokes aside... Thank you for sticking by me and not giving up on me." At one point during the show, he told them, "Everybody here tonight, I just wanna say thank you for sticking by me and not giving up on me." News sources praised the performance; James Montgomery of MTV News wrote, "what stood out the most about Em's performance was the sheer tenacity with which he attacked it." News agency Associated Press said that "Bonnaroo's crowd may be a hippie enclave, but you wouldn't have known it Saturday night". HitFix blog's Katie Hasty considered the "Not Afraid" performance "triumphant, perhaps due to crowd buzz". Patrick Doyle of Rolling Stone wrote, "Eminem's hour-and-a-half set was a triumph, with the rapper constantly bouncing across the stage, performing hit after hit with the energy of a prizefighter."
Eminem performed the song as part of a set list on the second day of Chicago's Lollapalooza festival with Porter, in front of an audience of 90,000 people. The Hollywood Reporters Steve Baltin wrote, "given the infrequency with which he tours, it's sometimes easy to forget just how dynamic a performer he is, but after a spectacular 90-minute show, there was no denying the rapper's power." Adam Graham of The Detroit News said that "Eminem delivered the goods to the huge throng of people". Gil Kaufman of MTV News felt that "Eminem came, saw and conquered his Lollapalooza debut." Eminem performed a 28-song set list at Virgin Group's V Festival (V2011) on August 20, 2011 and the following day, which included "Not Afraid" as the final song before the encore of "Lose Yourself". The first day took place in Chelmsford, Essex and the second day took place in Staffordshire. Chris Salmon of The Guardian called Eminem's performance of "Not Afraid" "majestic"; he went on to writing that "It's a set fit to close any festival, pop-centred or otherwise." BBC's Chi Chi Izundu noted that Eminem's performance was "fast-paced".
| 2010 | BET Hip Hop Awards (2010) | Verizon People's Champ Award | |
| MTV Video Music Awards (2010) | Video of the Year | ||
| Best Male Video | |||
| Best Hip-Hop Video | |||
| Best Art Direction | |||
| Best Cinematography | |||
| Best Direction | |||
| Best Editing | |||
| Best Special Effects | |||
| 2011 | BMI Urban Awards | Award-Winning Song | |
| Grammy Awards (53rd) | Best Rap Solo Performance | ||
| Best Rap Song | |||
| Billboard Music Awards (2011) | Top Streaming Song (Video) | ||
| MTV Video Music Awards Japan (2011) | Best Hip-Hop Video | ||
| Detroit Music Awards | Outstanding National Single | ||
| Outstanding Video / Major Budget (Over $10,000) |
Personnel
| April 27, 2010 | Urban contemporary radio | |
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