Eminem’s “Temporary” is a tear-jerking farewell to his daughter Hailie Jade Scott. “And, sweetie, be strong. I know I was your rock. And I still am. Saying goodbye is just not. Ever easy. But why you crying? Just stop Hailie, baby, dry your eye, this is not. Forever,” he raps.
Hailie was six when her dad name-checked her in “Cleanin’ Out My Closet” in 2002. “Hailie’s gettin’ so big now; you should see her; she’s beautiful,” he boasted. “But, you’ll never see her. She won’t even be at your funeral.” True to his word, Eminem and Kim kept Hailie out of the spotlight while she was growing up. However, now she’s an adult with a husband and over 3.4 million Instagram followers.
Eminem and Hailie’s musical collaborations go way back. She was featured in 1999’s “97 Bonnie & Clyde.” In the song, Eminem raps about killing her mom, Kim Mathers, and then enlisting Hailie to help dispose of the body. Not surprisingly, his ex was less than thrilled. “I lied to Kim and told her I was taking Hailie to Chuck E. Cheese that day,” Eminem told Rolling Stone in April 1999. “But I took her to the studio. When she found out I used our daughter to write a song about killing her, she f****** blew. We had just got back together for a couple of weeks. Then I played her the song, and she bugged the f*** out.” These days, Hailie’s place in her dad’s music thankfully seems slightly less nefarious.
