Eminem, Dr. Dre, Tommy Coster and Mike Elizondo wrote "The Real Slim Shady" just hours before the final copy of the album was due.

[7][8] PopMatters described the song as "slamming their 'enemies' with comic book intensity", while also noting its ironic themes surrounding the number of near-identical "wannabes" due to Eminem's overall appearance, citing his "signature style" which bore "bleached blond hair, pale skin, [and] humungous [sic] T-shirt".

[11] Entertainment Weekly's Will Hermes was also positive, writing, "In the aftermath of Slim Shady, he married the girlfriend he imagined killing, while his mother, immortalized in his hit single 'My Name Is' (I just found out my Mom does more dope than I do), sued him for $10 million for defamation of character.

As with the other Dre crafted tunes on the album, there's plenty of cool special effects bustling about—fart noises, heavy breathing, all of it coalescing with Em's cartoon character on crystal meth delivery.

[citation needed] Eminem's friends and former group-mates from D12 including rappers Denaun Porter, Proof, Swifty McVay, Bizarre, Kuniva, and Limp Bizkit vocalist Fred Durst are featured in the video along with him.

Griffin said during a July 21, 2005, interview on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno that Eminem selected her for the video because fellow rapper Snoop Dogg told him she was "really funny".