Trivia
- “Role Model” was released as a promotional single following the album’s lead single “My Name Is.”
- Eminem opens the track with a reference to a dispute he had with , who accused Eminem of ghostwriting ’s Canibus diss “Ripper Strikes Back.” In the radio mix of “Role Model,” the reference continues with the alternate line, “6 mics in The Source — they borrowed one from LL’s arm,” referring to a similar line Canibus originally recorded when featured on LL Cool J’s “4,3,2,1,” but LL found the line disrespectful and demanded he change it. Canibus complied, but LL Cool J used his own verse on the song to take shots at Canibus. Canibus harkened back to the line in his reply, “Second Round K.O..”
- Months prior to the release of “Role Model,” Eminem used its lyrics in a live freestyle on the Wake Up Show.
- The song was later interpolated into “Doomsday Pt. 2,” the track featuring Eminem.
Words from Eminem
“I was just fuckin’ around when I made this song. To me, it’s just a rap record. The message behind it was just complete sarcasm. I wanted to be clear: Don’t look at me like I’m a fucking role model. Dre and I were in the studio at his house, and he had made the track first. I had started a rhyme the night before and I hadn’t finished it yet. When I heard the track, I said, “Yo Dre, I got a rhyme that goes with that.” I finished the rhyme and started writing the song in the studio. I finished the first verse, knocked out the second verse, and then wrote a hook. Then Mel-Man thought of the part that goes “Don’t you wanna grow up to be just like me?” I said, “Yo, that’s perfect,” ’cause I was talkin’ about the same shit. You know, smoke weed, take pills, drop out of school, and all that shit.