Not Afraid

"Not Afraid" is the first single from American rapper Eminem's seventh studio album Recovery. The single was produced by Canadian producer Boi-1da. It premiered on April 29, 2010, on Shade 45. The song entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number one for the week ending May 22, 2010, making it the sixteenth song in Billboard's history to debut at number one and only the second rap single ever to debut at the top spot. As of August 7, 2011, "Not Afraid" had sold over 4,000,000 downloads in the United States alone.




For the 53rd Grammy Awards, the song was nominated for Best Rap Song and won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance.

Background
On April 27, 2010, Eminem released a freestyle titled "Despicable" over the song "Over" by Drake and "Beamer, Benz, or Bentley" by Lloyd Banks featuring Juelz Santana as promo for the single. The freestyle gathered signifigant buzz on the internet, and it was distributed virally as well as on Shade 45 to garner attention for the then-upcoming single. Lyrically, the song is about Eminem's self-imposed exile and his return free from drugs.

Critical reception
This song received positive reviews with special attention to the emotional expression, Eminem's rhyming skills and his reaching out to other producers (his music is typically produced by mentor Dr. Dre or Eminem himself). Rolling Stone praised Eminem's commitment on his new music and lyrical ability noting "Over a dark, operatic beat, Eminem delivers rhymes that are typically acrobatic – and typically heavy-handed. But the anger has a gathering quality."

Commercial performance
The single sold 380,000 digital downloads in its first week, and became the sixteenth song in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 to debut at number one. "Not Afraid" is only the second hip hop single to debut at No. 1 following "I'll Be Missing You" by Puff Daddy and Faith Evans featuring 112. It was the fourth fastest selling song, digitally, after "Right Round" by Flo Rida, "Boom Boom Pow" by The Black Eyed Peas and his own collaboration with Dr. Dre and 50 Cent "Crack a Bottle". After ten weeks the song had sold 1,750,000 downloads. As of August 2011, the song has sold nearly 4,000,000 digital downloads in the US alone. Used as the Motion Picture trailer for The Town. The 53rd Grammys also used it for a commercial. In Canada the song finished 10th in the best selling songs of 2010 selling 223,000 copies. In 2010, South Korea sold 567,119 digital copies of "Not Afraid". The song sold 4 million so far in United States alone.

Music video
The music video was shot in Newark, New Jersey. It was directed by Rich Lee. The video premiered on June 5, 2010. The next day, it premiered on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom, where the song later peaked at number five. By April 29, 2011, one year after the song was released, the video had received 229,709,745 views on YouTube/Vevo.