Otep Shares Brutal Cover of Eminem’s “The Way I Am”

OTEP unleashes her latest track, “The Way I Am,” following behind her previous single, “Ostracized,” from upcoming album The God Slayer, available worldwide September 15^th. OTEP’s reimagination of Eminem’s “The Way I Am” amplifies the Rap God’s tone with a new disdain all her own. OTEP’s rendition of this rap classic takes shatters the listener’s view with a power-packed, bass-heavy beat, bars, and rhythm, complete with high octane screams and a bludgeoning demise. OTEP’s take shines with her transformative take on this hip hop hit, as she spits rhymes all the while ripping the words from the page to rearrange into something truly unique.

“The Way I am” begins with maniacal laughter over an explosive instrumental, then the lyrics drop in. Hard bars dropping about being cursed yet blessed. “And since birth I’ve been cursed with this curse to just curse And just blurt this berserk and bizarre shit that works”. OTEP emphasizes each word in this cover with her explosive tone; every word that rhymes is given special attention in the song. She sings what she’s not: “I’m not Mr. *NSYNC, I’m not what your friends think I’m not Mr. Friendly, I can be a bitch If you tempt me, my tank is on empty (Is on empty) No patience is in me and if you offend me”. Notice that “prick” is replaced with bitch”; small changes in the lyrics demonstrate a different kind of flavor.

One minute and thirty seconds into the song, the instrumental gets louder and OTEP’s vocals roll with the acoustics. “On Facebook, the news, every day I am Ha, I don’t know, that’s just the way I am”. Instead of “the paper”, OTEP says “On Facebook”, a modern take on the original. She does this again: “With the bullshit they pull, ’cause they full of shit too When a punk or a bitch shoots up his school And they blame it on Karen’s and white terrorists and all the red hats and badges and bats”.

One can tell the kinds of emotion OTEP displays when singing Eminem’s original. She sounds hysterical in some parts while almost laughing in others. One verse that summarizes this is when she says “’Til I’m grabbin’ my throat and I’m tearin’ it out ‘Cause they drivin’ me crazy (Me crazy), I can’t take it I’m racin’, I’m pacin’, I stand and I sit And I’m thankful for every fan that I get”. It’s almost saying that she can relate to Eminem as a fellow musician, but also means this in a general sense. The song ends with animalistic roaring.