Eminem Features Recordings of Daughter Hailie Jade as a Toddler on Tearjerking New Song ‘Temporary’
If you plan on listening to Eminem‘s new album The Death of Slim Shady, you may want to make sure you have tissues handy before you get to track 15. On “Temporary,” the 51-year-old rapper featured recordings of his daughter Hailie Jade back when she was just a toddler, promising that he’ll always be with her even after he dies.
The emotional song opens with Em soliloquizing, “A lot of people ask me, am I afraid of death?”
More from Billboard
“The truth is, I think what scares me the most is not being able to say all the things I wanna say to you when I’m no longer here,” he continues in spoken-word form. “So this song is for Hailie, for when that day comes.”
The track then cuts to an old audio clip of the 15-time Grammy winner speaking to baby Hailie, who’s now 28. “Where’s Hailie? Where’s she at?” his younger self asks, before his small daughter adorably roars, “This ain’t Hailie, it’s a monster!”
“Hailie Jade, I wrote you this song/ To help you cope with life now that I’m gone,” current-day Em raps. “How should I start? Just wanna say look after Alaina, Stevie, and Uncle Nate/ And sweetie, be strong.”
The Detroit artist is also Dad to adopted kids Alaina, 31, and Stevie, 22, whom he mentions in the previous line; Nate is the rapper’s half brother, Nathan Mathers. He continues to urge Hailie to move on after his death — “Don’t you dare shed a tear, what I tell you?/ ‘Straighten up, little soldier'” — in between more throwback recordings of his daughter’s voice and a stirring chorus performed by Skylar Grey.
Though it might be the most heartbreaking, “Temporary” isn’t the only time Eminem addresses his kids on the 19-track Death of Slim Shady. On “Somebody Save Me,” which features Jelly Roll, the rapper includes a clip of Alaina speaking to him when she was a little girl and apologizes to all three of his children for missing out on their lives due to his struggles with substance abuse. (The rapper celebrated 16 years of sobriety earlier this year.) And on lead single “Houdini,” the Detroit icon raps, “F–k my own kids, they’re brats,” while in the video, he gives Hailie, Alaina and Stevie the finger on FaceTime.
It’s also far from the first time Hailie – who married Evan McClintock in May with her famous dad at her side — has been on one of Eminem’s songs. The hip-hop star also featured her on 1999’s “97 Bonnie and Clyde” and 2002’s “My Dad’s Gone Crazy,” as well as dedicated “Hailie’s Song” on The Eminem Show to her.
Listen to “Temporary,” featuring a young Hailie Jade, below.
Best of Billboard
Solve the daily Crossword
