Cleaning Out My Closet

Album: Classick (2012)
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Songfacts®:

  • This candid account of childhood abuse at the hands of two male family friends is a reworking of a track with the same title by Eminem. Angel Haze grew up on 7 Mile Road, Detroit just along from where Marshall Mathers spent his teenage years.
  • The writing of the song was an impulsive decision, rather than something Haze had considered doing for a long time. She recalled to The Daily Telegraph: "I was on my way to the BET [Black Entertainment Television] awards and I ended up writing it on the plane. I cried so hard, then I was like, 'OK, well, if I'm going to do it, I'm going do it.'"
  • Haze was apprehensive when the song was released fearing people would use it against her. The rapper hoped it wouldn't get noticed, but the track quickly made waves both inside and outside the music world. "I guess it was good that it got noticed because I got so many people messaging me, more boys than girls actually, who have had the same experience," she told The Daily Telegraph. "It really helped me and I think it helped them too."

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