"Not Afraid" was written and produced by Eminem, Boi-1da, Jordan Evans and Matthew Burnett; keyboardist Luis Resto was also attributed with songwriting credit.

[5] Strange arranged the Pro Tools session in a more traditional manner by laying out the drums, bass instruments, guitars, keyboards, main vocals and overdubs from left to right.

[5] "Not Afraid" is a hip hop song written and produced by Rick Crowe, Eminem, Evans and Burnett; Resto did additional writing.

[5] Approaching the end of the second verse, Eminem raps about his personal experiences: "But I think I'm still trying to figure this crap out/ Thought I had it mapped out, but I guess I didn't/ It's time to exercise these demons/ These motherfuckers are doing jumping jacks now.

"[7] After the chorus, Eminem sings a bridge and focuses on a positive change, as he says "I just can't keep living this way, so starting today I'm breaking out of this cage.

[12] The song features a choir composed of Kip Blackshire, Christal Garrick II, Terry Dexter, Rich King, Kristen Ashley Cole and Sly Jordan.

[13] Fans and news organizations were able to interpret the message and announced that Eminem's first single from his seventh studio album, Recovery would be titled "Not Afraid".

"[16] The new single was initially slated to impact radio on April 30, 2010;[17] however, the date was changed to three days earlier and the song eventually aired at 10 am ET, on Shade 45's show The Morning After with Angela Yee.

[23] Titled "Despicable", the vocals in the video are played over the instrumental versions of "Over" by Canadian rapper Drake and "Beamer, Benz or Bentley" by former G-Unit member Lloyd Banks; the verse switches to the latter well into the two-minute song.

"[25] Melinda Newman of HitFix gave a positive review and wrote that the freestyle sounds like a "blast that sucks all the air out of room.

[33] Winston Robbins of music website Consequence of Sound called "Not Afraid" one of the songs on Recovery "with catchy hooks, choruses, and beats multiplied by the endless pool of wit and anger that Eminem possesses".

[34] In his album review, Thomas Nassiff wrote on behalf of AbsolutePunk; he noted the song for being radio-friendly and that it "doesn't sacrifice anything to be friendly to the masses.

[36] In his review for Recovery, Benjamin Meadows-Ingram of Spin magazine called "Not Afraid" a "stadium-ready lead single"; he went on to say, "Finally, Eminem addresses his personal and professional failings head-on, rather than hiding behind a joke or inside a nightmare.

[30] Jeff Weiss of the Los Angeles Times commented that "Not Afraid" was an improvement from the lead singles of Encore (2004) and Relapse, "Just Lose It" and "We Made You", respectively, giving for a more serious and inspirational theme.

[8] However, Weiss misses the comic nature of Eminem's classic singles, such as "My Name Is"; instead, he felt that the song was composed of "vague self-help bromides and a bombastic but nondescript beat from ... Boi-1da.

"[40] As part of his album review, Greg Kot of daily newspaper Chicago Tribune criticized Eminem's lyrics and rhymes in "Not Afraid", comparing them to his rhyming skills back when his 2002 hip hop drama film, 8 Mile, premiered: "Doesn't he realize that's the kind of cheese that the battle-rhyming Eminem of 8 Mile would've mercilessly mocked?

Before filming began, Eminem spoke to Paul Rosenberg on the telephone about his ideas for a music video of "Not Afraid"; the two shared thoughts and started collaborating in May 2010.

[72] American director Richard "Rich" Lee was hired to direct the video, which was shot on Market Street, in Newark, New Jersey, as well as New York City.

[72] The final scene filmed on the first day was where Eminem would try to escape from a dark basement on a set built by production designer Ethan Tobman; shooting in Newark also continued.

[78] The music video opens with a scene in which Eminem stands on the rooftop of the Manhattan Municipal Building in New York City, saying the introductory lyrics.

Eminem then jumps off the edge and makes a steep dive, but flies straight up again; his speedy flight down Market Street causes sonic booms on vehicles nearby.

Following the video's Vevo release, Monica Herrera of Billboard named Eminem's jumping sequence "a moment of triumph" and compared his flying scene to Superman.

[21] In his review for Entertainment Weekly, Vozick-Levinson wrote: "We are to understand that he is once again at wit's end with the world, full of barely contained energy that he's not yet sure how to direct.

[83] Joined by Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, Eminem performed songs from his album, including "Not Afraid", "Love the Way You Lie" and "Won't Back Down".

[83] Matt Elias of MTV News also praised the show, and said that "Eminem performed an electrifying set ..., crushing any doubts that he is truly back in the game".

[84] Antony Bruno of Billboard called the performance "a literal bang" while Seve Appleford of Rolling Stone wrote, "The rapper marched along the catwalk with his usual intensity, previewing new songs from next week's release Recovery.

"[100] Eminem performed the song as part of a set list on the second day of Chicago's Lollapalooza festival with Porter, in front of an audience of 90,000 people.

[102] The Hollywood Reporter's Steve Baltin wrote, "given the infrequency with which he tours, it's sometimes easy to forget just how dynamic a performer he is, but after a spectacular 90-minute show, there was no denying the rapper's power."

"[102] Eminem performed a 28-song set list at Virgin Group's V Festival (V2011) on August 20, 2011 and the following day, which included "Not Afraid" as the final song before the encore of "Lose Yourself".

[105] Chris Salmon of The Guardian called Eminem's performance of "Not Afraid" "majestic"; he went on to writing that "It's a set fit to close any festival, pop-centred or otherwise.