page_title: Not Afraid
section_title: Live performances
hierarchical_section_title: Not Afraid / Live performances
caption_attribution_description: English: Eminem performing with hypeman Mr. Porter at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010 party.
context_page_description: "Not Afraid" is a song by American rapper Eminem from his seventh studio album Recovery. It was released as the album's lead single on April 29, 2010, by Interscope Records. "Not Afraid" was first revealed as a single by Eminem via Twitter, after which the song debuted on radio. To promote the single's release, a freestyle rap, "Despicable", was released on the Internet and received attention for its tone and lyrical content. "Not Afraid" was written and produced by Eminem, Boi-1da, Jordan Evans and Matthew Burnett; keyboardist Luis Resto was also attributed with songwriting credit. According to Eminem's manager Paul Rosenberg and music critics, "Not Afraid" carries a positive message and depicts Eminem's change in direction from drugs and violence. The hip hop song features a choir that assists Eminem in a heavily layered chorus and vocals are sung over a guitar, synthesizer and piano; no Auto-Tune was used on the sung vocals, but many reverberation tools were.
  "Not Afraid" received mixed to positive reviews from music critics, who praised the song for being anthemic in nature and carrying a positive message.
context_section_description: On June 5, 2010, Eminem performed "Not Afraid" on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. In celebration of the then-upcoming release of Treyarch-developed shooter game Call of Duty: Black Ops, video game publisher Activision organized many artists to perform at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010 (E3 2010)—which took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles—including Eminem. Joined by Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, Eminem performed songs from his album, including "Not Afraid", "Love the Way You Lie" and "Won't Back Down". At E3 2011, a choir, as well as hypeman Mr. Porter sung with Eminem during the chorus of "Not Afraid", while his band played with an orchestra. The audience presumed the performance was over; however, Eminem shortly returned to the stage to end with "Lose Yourself". News distributor PR Newswire wrote, "Eminem ignited the crowd as he closed the all-star event". Matt Elias of MTV News also praised the show, and said that "Eminem performed an electrifying set ..., crushing any doubts that he is truly back in the game". Antony Bruno of Billboard called the performance "a literal bang" while Seve Appleford of Rolling Stone wrote, "The rapper marched along the catwalk with his usual intensity, previewing new songs from next week's release Recovery." Activision reportedly spent six million dollars on party costs.
  "Not Afraid" was included on Eminem's set list as the final song before Eminem's "Lose Yourself" encore in his performance at the T in the Park festival, which took place on July 10, 2010. This would be his first European concert in five years. Eminem wore black shorts and a hoodie. He commented on the weather, saying, "I know it's muddy and sloppy and shit but this is fun", and also thanked the crowd for supporting him. "Everybody who's an Eminem fan, I just wanna say thank you so much for the support you've shown over the years, for not giving up on me," he said, "I hope you enjoyed the show as much as we did tonight. Peace." At the end of the performance, Eminem said, "Edin-borg, did you enjoy yourself tonight?" That evening, members of the audience accused Eminem of lip syncing, but others defended him of such accusations. The T in the Park performance of "Not Afraid" is included as the second track on the "Love the Way You Lie" CD single. Eminem performed "Not Afraid" for a small audience in a small room at the beginning of the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards; he performed the song once again at the Los Angeles Nokia Theatre, the main site of the ceremony, and performed "Love the Way You Lie" with Barbadian singer Rihanna. The audience voted his performance the best with 34 percent of all votes.
  Eminem performed "Not Afraid" alongside Porter at the 2011 Bonnaroo Music Festival. He arrived in a Bad Meets Evil T-shirt, camouflage shorts, a black hoodie and a black hat. His set list included other hits from previous years, including "Cleanin' Out My Closet", "The Real Slim Shady", "Without Me" and "Like Toy Soldiers"; he also performed with Bad Meets Evil partner Royce da 5'9" for "Fast Lane" and "Lighters". Almost 80,000 members of the audience chanted "Shady!" for five minutes until Eminem returned to perform an encore with "Lose Yourself". Before performing "Not Afraid", Eminem told the audience, "All jokes aside... Thank you for sticking by me and not giving up on me." At one point during the show, he told them, "Everybody here tonight, I just wanna say thank you for sticking by me and not giving up on me." News sources praised the performance; James Montgomery of MTV News wrote, "what stood out the most about Em's performance was the sheer tenacity with which he attacked it." News agency Associated Press said that "Bonnaroo's crowd may be a hippie enclave, but you wouldn't have known it Saturday night". HitFix blog's Katie Hasty considered the "Not Afraid" performance "triumphant, perhaps due to crowd buzz". Patrick Doyle of Rolling Stone wrote, "Eminem's hour-and-a-half set was a triumph, with the rapper constantly bouncing across the stage, performing hit after hit with the energy of a prizefigh
caption: Eminem performing at E3 2010 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles
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