Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” spent 12th week at #1

Lose Yourself Eminem

Writer(s):Eminem, Jeff Bass, Luis Resto (see lyrics here) Released: September 17, 2002 First Charted: September 27, 2002 Peak: 112 US, 4 RB, 14 AR, 11 UK, 1 CN, 112 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 13.0 US, 2.4 UK, 16.37 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 0.4 radio, 1105.86 video, 1794.23 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “Eminem’s autobiographical acting debut in 8 Mile marked the high point of the trickster’s relevance.” SP’10 No one expected much from the movie. Sure, Eminem was at his peak, but on the surface this looked like a high-profile vanity project. However, the movie made “hip-hop as inspirational as Rocky with Em rapping about the kind of poverty he grew up in – and showing the superhuman rhyme powers that got him out of it.” RS’09 If Em’s “‘Rabbit’ character was 8 Mile’s Rocky Balboa, then ‘Lose Yourself’ was the movie’s ‘Eye of the Tiger.’” PD It is Eminem’s “definitive anthem, a vivid, white-knuckle account of the anxiety and self-doubt he grappled with during his earliest forays into performing.” MX As Jonathan Bogart writes, this is “the moment when he sounded as urgent and necessary as anyone’s ever been.” DS He also calls this “the finest postmillennial portrait of the pressures of lower-middle-class life in America.” DS “The cinema-ready piano intro” CS suggests “how epic this song is going to be,” CS but the listener is still unprepared for “the force unleashed when Mr. Mathers begins rhyming over a head-nodding guitar riff.” CS “This anthem captured the raw intensity and emotion that comes with performing” BX and may be “the most lyrically complex hip-hop song to ever hit #1 on the pop charts” PD with Eminem “tongue-twisting his way through a variety of internal rhyme schemes.” PD While Eminem had landed three #1’s in the UK, “Lose Yourself” marked his first trip to the top of the U.S. charts. With a dozen weeks in the pole position, “the tense, grunge-y” SP’10 track became the longest-running #1 rap song on the Billboard Hot 100 AB’00 and has been called the most popular rap song in history. SV Resources: AB’00 About.com (2009) “Top 100 Pop Songs of the 2000s” MX Atlanta Metromix (11/24/09). “Best Songs of the Decade” BX The Boom Box (11/24/09) Best Songs of the 2000’s CS Consequence of Sound (2010) COS Top 50 Songs of the Decade PD PopDose.com (11/24/09) The Best Songs of the Decade RS’09 Rolling Stone (12/9/09). “Songs of the Decade” SP’10 Spinner.com (6/25/10). “The 77 Most Unforgettable Movie Songs.” By Spinner staff. SV TheStreetSavvy.com (12/29/09). “Top Ten Singles of the Noughties” WX Walrus Comix (12/28/09). “WC’s Top 100 Songs of the Last Decade” Related Links: Last updated 6/18/2023.

The movie 8 Mile opened.

November 8, 2002: 8 Mile opened.

Directing: Curtis Hanson Writing: Scott Silver Starring: Eminem, Brittany Murphy, Kim Basinger, Mekhi Phifer This 2002 dramatic feature film starred Eminem in his film debut portraying white rapper Jimmy “B-Rabbit” Smith Jr. in his efforts to launch a hip-hop career. Movie critic Roger Ebert said “this movie stands aside from routine debut films by pop stars” WK and reflected on the somewhat autobiographical story of Eminem’s real life that it is “a faithful reflection of his myth.” WK Critic Peter Travers said, it “is a real movie, not a fast-buck package to exploit the fan base.” WK The movie title comes from a Detroit Highway called 8 Mile Road which separates the largely white suburban communities from the predominantly black urban core of the city. Rotten Tomatoes describes the road “as the city limit, a border, a boundary. It is also a psychological dividing line that separates Jimmy…from where and who he wants to be.” RT Jimmy is a blue-collar worker at a car factory who lives in a trailer park near 8 Mile Road with his alcoholic mother. At the encouragement of his best friend, Future (Phifer), he competes in a freestyle rap battle, defeating members of the Free World crew, a rival rap gang. The movie made $51 million in its opening weekend, going on to make $242 million worldwide across its run. The soundtrack (featuring five songs from Eminem) went four times platinum, fueled by the huge success of the song “Lose Yourself,” which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 12 weeks. It won an Oscar for Best Original Song as well as a Grammy for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television, or Other Visual Media. MTV crowned it the Best Video from a Film. For more important days in music history, check out the Dave’s Music Database history page. Resources and Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: “History Index” DMDB encyclopedia entry for Eminem RT Rotten Tomatoes WK Wikipedia First posted 11/5/2023.