“Cleaning Out My Closet (London Bootleg Mix)” by Eminem

Eminem chased the cartoon mischief of "Without Me" with something far darker: "Cleanin' Out My Closet", which also circulates as the London Bootleg Mix, the second single from The Eminem Show, out on July 29, 2002. Slim Shady sits this one out. It's autobiography, drawn from his childhood and his relationships, with most of the fury aimed at his mother and the way she raised him, and the chorus turns around to apologize to her for the hurt and the tears.

Jeff Bass carries the composer credit, and Shady, Aftermath and Interscope put it out. It reached number four on the Hot 100, the album's second top-ten single, went platinum in Australia and scored the first theatrical trailer for 8 Mile, though it never made that film's soundtrack. Later it took its place on Curtain Call: The Hits.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.