The song is a critique of manufactured pop songs that were popular at the time. The first single was intended to be 'Who Knew.' Dre, Tommy Coster and Mike Elizondo wrote 'The Real Slim Shady' just hours before the final copy of the album was due. Interscope Records's Jimmy Iovine wanted Eminem to have a song to introduce the album, similar to the way ' My Name Is' was the first single on The Slim Shady LP. 'The Real Slim Shady' was not originally intended to be part of The Marshall Mathers LP. ( June 2015) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. This section possibly contains original research.
