In the late 2000s and early 2010s, the American rap icon Eminem and R&B sensation Rihanna were unstoppable. They had just released one of the most iconic mainstream songs of the decade, “Love the Way You Lie”, and dominated the charts. Riding on this success, they paired up one more time at the 2010 VMAs to perform a live version of this chartbuster, alongside Eminem’s other hit of the year, “Not Afraid”.
First, Eminem is performing “Not Afraid” in an intimate venue with a walkway in the middle of it. A small cluster of fans stand beside and below him as he introduces the song before a door opens behind him and he walks into the main crowd. After a blistering solo performance, the crowd erupts into cheers as Rihanna appears and sings the introduction to “Love the Way You Lie”. The tracks blend into each other seamlessly, making for an excellent performance.
“Love the Way You Lie” was one of the highest-charting songs of 2010, and it skyrocketed both Eminem and Rihanna’s careers even further. The track’s catchy chorus and powerful beats are paired with a deep and serious lyrical meaning, in which a couple refuses to separate and move on alone, despite having an abusive relationship. It explores this relationship and highlights the importance of looking after ourselves before we are put in dangerous or problematic situations.
This isn’t the first powerful song that Eminem has released that touches on some sensitive topics. His early work in particular focused on issues that he experienced throughout his life and his relationship with his children. In particular, “Mockingbird” off of his 2004 release Encore is especially poignant, as it is an in-depth apology to his children for how things turned out for them. Listen to Mockingbird, one of Eminem’s strongest tracks, below:
A notable part of Eminem and Rihanna’s live performance of “Love the Way You Lie” is the backing instrumentals. On the official release, the powerful chorus and both artists’ singing overshadow the other instruments involved in the song, but in the live version, the bass takes a center-stage role. On top of this, the crowd can be heard singing along to nearly every line of both songs, which shows just how popular these tracks were at the time. It creates a different atmosphere to the song and must have been a delight to watch live at the 2010 VMAs.
The 2010 MTV VMAs were the ultimate celebration of the most popular mainstream artists and songs of the year and featured some exceptional performances. Not only that, but it was an event that featured broken records; Lady Gaga made history by being the most-nominated artist in VMA history after receiving 13 nominations, and she also became the first female to receive nominations for Video of The Year with “Bad Romance” and “Telephone”. Gaga also won the most awards of the year, with a total of 8 by the end of the ceremony.