Nieve Ella, Jamie T, Rachel Chinouriri and Remi Wolf cover Dork's new issue - order now!•
Tate McRae has announced new single ‘Housewife’•
Slayyyter has announced companion album ‘Wor$t Man in America’ for December•
Welly are going to headline a very special Dork’s Night Out at The 100 Club•
Down With Boring returns tonight with The North, plus bags of new music•
Keo have announced their 2027 UK, European and North American headline tour•
Primavera Sound Barcelona has announced its 2027 anniversary line-up•
Madra Salach have released new single ‘Ribbon Factory’•
Bleech 9:3 have dropped new track 'Tourniquet' and announced their biggest headline tour yet•
Mollie Elizabeth has announced her new EP ‘People Pleaser’ and shared ‘Kiss The Ring’•
Baby Dave and The Works have kicked off a new collaboration with ‘Wings’•
RAYE, Olivia Dean, JADE and more are set to perform at the 2026 Mercury Prize ceremony•
Fontaines D.C. have released ‘Tongue’ and its New York-shot video•
LCD Soundsystem have announced 12 New York residency shows, including their 100th•
Saint Clair have shared new single ‘Dreams’ ahead of sold-out autumn headline tour•
Audrey Hobert has unveiled a new video for 'Sex and the City' as she begins her headline tour•
The Dork 2025 Readers' Poll nominations are in, featuring CMAT, Turnstile, Wolf Alice, Djo, Hayley Williams and loads more•
flowerovlove has released her first-ever first Christmas track, 'wishlist'•
Mighty Hoopla and Olly Alexander have announced Trans Mission, a concert for trans solidarity•
JADE has announced a deluxe edition of her debut album, 'THAT'S SHOWBIZ BABY! THE ENCORE'•
Nieve Ella, Jamie T, Rachel Chinouriri and Remi Wolf cover Dork's new issue - order now!•
Tate McRae has announced new single ‘Housewife’•
Slayyyter has announced companion album ‘Wor$t Man in America’ for December•
Welly are going to headline a very special Dork’s Night Out at The 100 Club•
Down With Boring returns tonight with The North, plus bags of new music•
Keo have announced their 2027 UK, European and North American headline tour•
Primavera Sound Barcelona has announced its 2027 anniversary line-up•
Madra Salach have released new single ‘Ribbon Factory’•
Bleech 9:3 have dropped new track 'Tourniquet' and announced their biggest headline tour yet•
Mollie Elizabeth has announced her new EP ‘People Pleaser’ and shared ‘Kiss The Ring’•
Baby Dave and The Works have kicked off a new collaboration with ‘Wings’•
RAYE, Olivia Dean, JADE and more are set to perform at the 2026 Mercury Prize ceremony•
Fontaines D.C. have released ‘Tongue’ and its New York-shot video•
LCD Soundsystem have announced 12 New York residency shows, including their 100th•
Saint Clair have shared new single ‘Dreams’ ahead of sold-out autumn headline tour•
Audrey Hobert has unveiled a new video for 'Sex and the City' as she begins her headline tour•
The Dork 2025 Readers' Poll nominations are in, featuring CMAT, Turnstile, Wolf Alice, Djo, Hayley Williams and loads more•
flowerovlove has released her first-ever first Christmas track, 'wishlist'•
Mighty Hoopla and Olly Alexander have announced Trans Mission, a concert for trans solidarity•
JADE has announced a deluxe edition of her debut album, 'THAT'S SHOWBIZ BABY! THE ENCORE'•
Dork
News
Features
Reviews
Magazine
  • Dork
  • Popzines
Shop
Listings
Directory
Festivals
Hype-THE BEST NEW NAMES, FIRST
Upset-DORK'S HOME FOR ALL THINGS LOUD
The 19755SOSAlessi RoseArctic MonkeysArlo ParksBastillebeabadoobeeBillie EilishBleachersblink-182BlossomsBlur
Bring Me The HorizonCarly Rae JepsenCavetownChappell RoanCharli xcxCHVRCHESCMATConan GrayDeclan McKennaDjoFall Out BoyFoals
Fontaines D.C.Ghostgirl in redGlass AnimalsGorillazGracie AbramsHAIMHarry StylesHolly HumberstoneInhalerJames MarriottThe Japanese House
The Last Dinner PartyLewis CapaldiLinkin ParkLouis TomlinsonMaggie RogersMaisie PetersMUNAMy Chemical RomanceNiall HoranOasis Live '27Olivia DeanOlivia Rodrigo
Pale WavesParamorePhoebe BridgersPinkPantheressRemi WolfReneé RappSabrina CarpenterSam FenderShameSlipknotTate McRaeTaylor Swift
Twenty One PilotsWallowsWet LegWolf AliceYard ActYUNGBLUDZara Larsson
etc.
Film & TV
Gaming
Literature
Culture
Festival Guides-YOUR ESSENTIAL FESTIVAL COMPANION
Hype-THE BEST NEW NAMES, FIRST
Mixtape-DORK'S BEST NEW TRACKS
Play-DORK'S NEW MUSIC FRIDAY EDIT
Upset-DORK'S HOME FOR ALL THINGS LOUD
Playlist Covers
Playlist Directory
Recommender
Before Doors-LIVE SESSIONS
After Gates-FESTIVAL SESSIONS
Music Video Directory
Down With Boring-THE DORK PODCAST
Chart Attack-UK NUMBER ONES, DISSECTED
Dork Live
Oasis Live ’27Tickets. Dates. What’s the story?Explore the tour
Dork Radio
Live
Live 24/7
Dork Radio
Dork
Down With Boring

Join thousands of music lovers getting the best new tracks, exclusive interviews, and breaking news delivered straight to your inbox every week.

In print now

October 2026

Latest issue variants

View archive
Dork, October 2026 (Cara Delevingne cover)

Cara Delevingne

Dork, October 2026 (Keo cover)

Keo

Dork, October 2026 (Lizzy McAlpine cover)

Lizzy McAlpine

Dork, October 2026 (Tove Lo cover)

Tove Lo

Advertise|Support|About Dork|Editorial standards & corrections|Privacy Policy|Genres|Years|Sitemap|RSS|Cookie settings
© 2026 The Bunker Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.
Powered by PlaywireAdvertise on this site.
  1. Tracks
  2. Eminem
  3. The Marshall Mathers LP2 (Deluxe)
  4. Legacy
Legacy by Eminem

TRACK

Eminem

Legacy

Release date: 5th November 2013

From The Marshall Mathers LP2 (Deluxe)
Track 6
4:56
Hip-Hop/RapMusicHardcore RapRap
Spotify Apple Music More on Eminem

About This Track

'Legacy' appears on the deluxe edition of 'The Marshall Mathers LP2', a track built around the voice of a child who feels fundamentally out of step with the world around him. Eminem adopts the perspective of a younger self, cataloguing the small humiliations and isolations of school life: the locker shove, the chalk drawings on the pavement, the hiding in corners to cry unnoticed. The tone is matter-of-fact rather than self-pitying, the details accumulating into a portrait of someone who has learned to expect nothing and ask for less.

The second verse shifts the frame slightly, the absent father dismissed with a shrug, the ten-speed bicycle assembled from scavenged parts a small act of self-sufficiency. The Walkman becomes a shield, the headphones a way to keep the world at a manageable distance. By the verse's end, the rhymes he has been jotting down begin to register as something more than a private habit, a faint suggestion that the act of writing might offer a way forward. The chorus, sung rather than rapped, frames the song as a message to someone else in similar straits, though the reassurance feels tentative, the legacy still uncertain.

"Legacy" is a track by Eminem, from the album The Marshall Mathers LP2 (Deluxe), released 5th November 2013. The track is 4:56 long. It's filed under Hip-Hop/Rap. Full lyrics are available below. Dork has published 1 article about Eminem.

About the Artist

Eminem

Eminem

Lyrics

Legacy

Tell me where to go, tell me what to do
I'll be right there for you
Tell me what to say, no matter if it's true
I'll say it all for you

I used to be the type of kid
That would always think the sky is fallin'
Why am I so differently wired? Am I a martian?
What kind of twisted experiment am I involved in?
'Cause I don't belong in this world
That's why I'm scoffin' at authority, defiant often
Flyin' off at the handle at my mom
No dad, so I am noncompliant at home

At school, I'm just shy and awkward
And I don't need no goddamn psychologist
Tryna diagnose why I have all these underlyin' problems
Thinkin' he can try and solve 'em
I'm outside chalkin' up drawings
On the sidewalk and in the front drive talkin'
To myself, either that or inside hidin' off in

The corner somewhere quiet, tryin' not to
Be noticed 'cause I'm cryin' and sobbin'
I had a bad day at school, so I ain't talkin'
Some cocksucker shoved me into a fuckin' locker
'Cause he said that I eye-balled him

And if you fall, I'll get you there
I'll be your savior from (yeah) all the wars
That are fought inside your world
Please have faith in my words

'Cause this is my legacy, legacy, yeah
This is my legacy, legacy, yeah
There's no guarantee
It's not up to me, we can only see
This is my legacy, legacy, legacy, legacy

I used to be the type of kid that would always think the sky's fallin'
Why am I so differently wired in my noggin?
'Cause sporadic as my thoughts come, it's mind-bogglin'
'Cause I obsess on everything in my mind, small shit
Bothers me, but not my father, he said sayonara
Then split, but I don't give a shit
I'm fine long as there's batteries in my Walkman
Nothing is the matter with me
Shit, look on the bright side, at least I ain't walkin'

I bike ride through the neighborhood of my apartment
Complex on a ten-speed which I've acquired parts that
I find in the garbage, a frame then put tires on it
Headphones on, look straight ahead if kids try and start shit
But if this is all there is for me life offers
Why bother even tryin' to put up a fight? It's nonsense
But I think a light bulb just lit up in my conscience
What about them rhymes I've been jottin'?

They are kind of giving me confidence
Instead of tryin' to escape through my comics
Why don't I just blast a little something like Onyx?
To put me in the mood to wanna fight and write songs that
Say what I wanna say to the kid that said that I eye-balled him
Grab hold of my balls, like, "That's right, fight's on, bitch!"
Who woulda knew, from the moment I turned the mic on, that
I could be iconic in my conquest?
That's word to Phife Dawg from A Tribe Called Quest

This is my legacy, legacy, yeah
This is my legacy, legacy, yeah
There's no guarantee
It's not up to me, we can only see
This is my legacy, legacy, legacy, legacy

I used to be the type of kid that would always think the sky's fallin'
Now I think the fact that I'm differently wired's awesome
'Cause if I wasn't, I wouldn't be able to work words like this
And connect lines like crosswords
And use my enemy's words as strength
To try and draw from, and get inspired off 'em
'Cause all my life I was told and taught I am not shit
By you wack fuckin' giant sacks of lyin' dog shit

Now you shut up, bitch, I am talkin'
Thought I was full of horseshit
And now you fuckin' worship the ground on which I am walkin'
Me against the world, so what? I'm Brian Dawkins
Versus the whole 0-16 Lions offense
So bring on the Giants, Falcons, and Miami Dolphins
It's the body bag game, bitch, I'm supplyin' coffins
'Cause you dicks butt kiss, bunch of Brian Baldingers
You're gon' die a ball-licker, I've been diabolical

With this dialogue since '99 Rawkus
You don't respect the legacy I leave behind, y'all can
Suck a dick; the day you beat me, pigs'll fly out my ass
In a flyin' saucer full of Italian sausage
The most high exaltin' and I ain't haltin'
'Til I die of exhaustion, inhale my exhaust fumes
The best part about me is I am not you
I'm me, and I'm the Fire Marshall, and this is my-

This is my legacy, legacy, yeah
This is my legacy, legacy, yeah
There's no guarantee
It's not up to me, we can only see
This is my legacy, legacy, legacy, legacy

Lyrics provided by LRCLIB

View full lyrics page →

Track details

From The Marshall Mathers LP2 (Deluxe)

4:562013
Listen
Album
The Marshall Mathers LP2 (Deluxe)
The Marshall Mathers LP2 (Deluxe)
Eminem
5th November 2013
Track number
6
Release year
2013
  1. 1Bad Guy
    7:14
  2. 2Parking Lot (skit)
    0:55
  3. 3Rhyme Or Reason
    5:02
  4. 4So Much Better
    4:21

More from Eminem

Albums & EPs

STANS (The Official Soundtrack)
STANS (The Official Soundtrack)
2025
The Marshall Mathers LP (25th Anniversary)
The Marshall Mathers LP (25th Anniversary)
2025
The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce)
The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce)
2024
Curtain Call 2
Curtain Call 2
2022
Music To Be Murdered By
Music To Be Murdered By
2020
Kamikaze
Kamikaze
2018

Explore

More tracks by Eminem

  1. Beautiful (2006)
  2. Cleanin' Out My Closet [V4]
  3. Discombobulated [V4]
  4. Get Your Money Straight (Unreleased, KM Track 13)
  5. Got My Gat Back
  6. In A Perfect World
  7. Keys To The City [Unreleased & Not Leaked, KM Track 12)
  8. Kim [V3]
  9. King Mathers (Unreleased, KM Track 14)
  10. Marshall Mathers [V1]

Showing 10 of 20

If you like Eminem

D12

D12

Bad Meets Evil

Bad Meets Evil

Obie Trice

Obie Trice

Ca$his

Ca$his

Stat Quo

Stat Quo

Paul Rosenberg

Paul Rosenberg

  • 5Survival
    4:32
  • 6Legacy
    4:56
  • 7A*****e (feat. Skylar Grey)
    4:51
  • 8Berzerk
    3:59
  • 9Rap God
    6:04
  • 10Brainless
    4:47
  • 12The Monster (feat. Rihanna)
    4:10
  • 13So Far...
    5:18
  • 14Love Game (feat. Kendrick Lamar)
    4:57
  • 15Headlights (feat. Nate Ruess)
    5:43
  • 16Evil Twin
    7:34
  • —Wicked Ways
    6:31
  • —Headlights
    5:43
  • —Asshole
    4:49
  • —Love Game
    4:57
  • —Beautiful Pain
    4:25
  • —The Monster
    4:10
  • Credits

    Production & Engineering

    Writer
    David Brook, Emile Haynie, Eminem, POLINA
    Producer
    Emile Haynie
    Additional Keyboards
    Luis Resto
    Additional Vocals
    POLINA
    Mastering Engineer
    Brian Gardner
    Mixing Engineer
    Eminem, Mike Strange
    Recording Engineer
    Joe Strange, Mike Strange, Tony Campana
    READ MORE ABOUT EMINEMREAD MORE ABOUT EMINEMREAD MORE ABOUT EMINEMREAD MORE ABOUT EMINEM
    READ MORE ABOUT EMINEMREAD MORE ABOUT EMINEMREAD MORE ABOUT EMINEMREAD MORE ABOUT EMINEM
    Why Slane became such a significant concert setting
    Features

    Why Slane became such a significant concert setting

    Slane’s landscape made it a distinctive place for a concert. Irish beginnings, international bookings and returning artists gave it a musical identity.

    26 Sept 2026 • 4:00 pm
    Watch a new clip from Eminem's superfan documentary STANS, releasing in August
    News

    Watch a new clip from Eminem's superfan documentary STANS, releasing in August

    The rapper's new documentary explores his influence through devoted fans' perspectives, hitting global theaters for a limited release this August.

    31 Jul 2025 • 7:46 pm