Guilty Conscience

"Guilty Conscience" is a song by the rapper Eminem, released in 1999. It was the second single from his major label debut album, The Slim Shady LP, which was also released that year. The song featured Em's mentor Dr. Dre, and it helped cement his musical style. The song was successful, featuring a constrasting rap between the two rappers, who are playing the role of the good and evil inside someone's brain. There are also spoken parts, and also sound effects describing several dilemma scenarios, making the contrast even more interesting by building tension and curiosity.

Related Topics:
Eminem - 1999 - The Slim Shady LP - Dr. Dre

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The first verse of the song features the story of Eddie, 23, who is about to rob a convenience store. In this one, Dre manages to convince him not to go through with it, though Eminem tries to justify the theft with the poverty of Eddie's family. In the unedited version, Eminem also tries to get him to murder the store clerk.

Related Topics:
Poverty - Murder

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The second verse features Stan, 21, who took a girl of 15 upstairs during a rave. Eminem convinces him to drug her to get her to have sex with him, despite Dre's protests. In the edited version, they tone down the intensity and Eminem suggests leaving her passed out on her parents' doorstep.

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The third verse is about Grady, 29, a construction worker who came home to find his wife having sex with another man. In the unedited version, Eminem demands that Grady kill his wife brutally. When Dre tries to cut in, Eminem brings up Dre's violent N.W.A past. In the end, Dre agrees that Grady should murder both his wife and her lover. This ending in particular caused a lot of controversy, especially since the ending was left in the edited version of the song.

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The video for "Guilty Conscience" has a nonstop backbeat with a chorus, unlike the album version, and a different narrator. The version that aired on MTV also eliminated the murder at the end and converted it into an escalating argument between Eminem and Dre with no resolution.

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The song contains a sample from the Ronald Stein song "Go Home Pigs", from the soundtrack to the film Getting Straight (1970).

Related Topics:
Ronald Stein - Getting Straight - 1970

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