Lose Yourself
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Lose Yourself" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Single by Eminem | ||
| from the album 8 Mile Soundtrack | ||
| Released | November 2002 | |
| Format | CD | |
| Genre | Hip hop | |
| Length | 5:31 | |
| Label | Shady/Aftermath/Interscope | |
| Producer(s) | Eminem | |
| Chart positions | ||
|
||
| Eminem singles chronology | ||
| "Cleanin' Out My Closet" (2002) |
"Lose Yourself" (2002) |
"Sing for the Moment" (2003) |
"Lose Yourself" is an Academy Award and Grammy Award-winning rap song written and produced by Eminem, released in 2002. At this time, he had recently made his debut as an actor in the film 8 Mile, a film based on his tough life growing up and entering the rap game. The song was taken from the film's soundtrack (8 Mile Soundtrack), an album which had achieved significant success together with the release of this single. It has since become Eminem's best known song, and was a number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart for 12 weeks. The song is also known as a world number one single topping the chart in all countries.
Contents |
[edit] Lyrics and Production Style
The lyrics to "Lose Yourself" were written by Eminem during a break from filming in a portable studio on the set, doing all three verses in one take. The sheet on which he wrote the song appears in "8 Mile" in a scene where his character is writing while riding the bus. This sheet was sold on eBay for $10,000.
The song's lyrics are explicitly about Eminem's character from 8 Mile, B. Rabbit, with the first verse summing up much of the plot of the movie.
The song's general production style is similar in scope to the track "'Till I Collapse" from The Eminem Show. Both tracks begin with an interlude punctuated by a piano, followed by a gradual introduction of the beat, accompanied by a spoken introduction by Eminem. Both tracks also prominently feature a bass loop. Also, there are some elements of rock music.
[edit] Success
"Lose Yourself" was the most successful single of Eminem's mainstream career. It had a 12-week run at #1 in the United States, and topped the charts in many other countries as well, including the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand among others. It debuted at number nine in Canada and moved up to #1 the following week.
In the United States, "Lose Yourself" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart the week of October 5, 2002, at an aggressive #43. A week later, the single jumped to #18, and hit #1 by November 9. The single spent 16 total weeks in the Top 10, and a total of 23 weeks in the Top 50. While in the #1 spot (from 11/09/02 thru 1/25/03), "Lose Yourself"'s impressive run kept several top contenders for the #1 spot from ever reaching #1, including Missy Elliott's "Work It" (#2 for 10 weeks); Nelly's "Air Force Ones" (#3 for 4 weeks); and even Jennifer Lopez with "Jenny From The Block" (#3 for 4 weeks).
The song went on to receive the Academy Award for Best Original Song (the first time a rap song ever won this award), although Eminem was not present at the award ceremony, believing he would not win a big award for a rap song. Luis Resto, one of the song's co-writers, had attended the ceremony and accepted the award instead. The American Film Institute later ranked it #93 on their list of the 100 Greatest Songs from American Films.
At the Grammy Awards of 2004, "Lose Yourself" became Eminem's second career nomination for Record of the Year (following "Without Me"), and the first rap song ever to be nominated for Song of the Year. It won Best Male Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Song, which was a brand new category at the time.
At #166, "Lose Yourself" is the highest ranked of the three songs from the 21st century featured in the 2004 List of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (joining "Stan" at #290). Outkast's "Hey Ya!" was the other, at #180.
"Lose Yourself" was later released on Eminem's greatest hits album, Curtain Call, in 2005.
[edit] Music Video
The music video for "Lose Yourself" was filmed in Detroit, Michigan, and thus contains numerous shots of the city, including of the Ambassador Bridge. The video is a mixture of multiple scenarios, including scenes from and reminiscent of "8 Mile", and Eminem doing movements next to the "8 Mile Rd. Mobile Court" sign that appears on the cover of the movie's soundtrack.
It contains focusing on Rabbit's and the real life Eminem's character, eg. the difficulties he has to facewhile rapping, the insult and booing of crowds as he is a white rapper and the trouble he has to face due to his alcoholic mother and people he hangs out with.
At the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards it received the award for Best Video from a Film in the final year this award was given out. It also received nominations for Video of the Year, Best Male Video, Best Rap Video, and Viewer's Choice
[edit] In culture
 |
This list may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please help improve this list. It may be poorly defined, unverified or indiscriminate. (talk, help, how to edit) |
- "Weird Al" Yankovic made a parody of the song, titled "Couch Potato", on his 2003 album Poodle Hat. Eminem had given him permission to parody the song, but not to produce a music video for the parody.
- In 2003 the Australian comedy duo Scared Weird Little Guys produced a rap version of the folk song "Waltzing Matilda" called "Cleanin' Out My Tuckerbag", which parodies both "Lose Yourself" and "Cleanin' Out My Closet", but does not credit Eminem.
- Queen + Paul Rodgers used the song as the house music for all of the concerts on their 2005-06 tours.
- On May 15, 2006, Jodie Foster quoted the chorus of the song in her commencement speech at the University of Pennsylvania.[1]
- During an October 2006 interview with the K102 Morning Crew in (Minneapolis, MN), country artist Taylor Swift did an acoustic rendition of the intro and first verse of "Lose Yourself" live on the air, citing it as her favorite workout song.
| Preceded by "A Moment Like This" by Kelly Clarkson |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single November 9, 2002- January 25, 2003 |
Succeeded by "Bump, Bump, Bump" by B2K featuring P. Diddy |
| Preceded by "Born To Try" by Delta Goodrem |
ARIA (Australia) number one single December 8, 2002 - February 23, 2003 |
Succeeded by "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera |
| Preceded by "If I Didn't Have You" from Monsters, Inc. by Randy Newman |
Academy Award for Best Original Song 2002 |
Succeeded by "Into the West" from Return of the King by Fran Walsh, Howard Shore and Annie Lennox |
| Preceded by "If You're Not The One" by Daniel Bedingfield |
UK number one single December 8, 2002 |
Succeeded by "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" by Blue and Elton John |
| Preceded by "Die Another Day" by Madonna |
United World Chart number one single January 11, 2003 - January 25, 2003 |
Succeeded by "Feel" by Robbie Williams |
Categories: Wikipedia list cleanup | Eminem songs | 2002 singles | Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles | Number-one singles in the United Kingdom | Number-one singles in Ireland | Number-one singles in the Netherlands | Number-one singles in Australia | Number-one singles in New Zealand | Best Song Academy Award winning songs
