We Made You

"We Made You"
Single by Eminem
from the album Relapse
Released	April 7, 2009
Format	CD single, maxi single, digital download
Recorded	October 2008
Genre	Comedy hip hop
Length	4:30 (Album version) 4:47 (Single/Video edit)
Label	Shady, Aftermath, Interscope
Writer(s)	M. Mathers, A. Young, M. Batson, D. Parker, T. Lawrence, W. Egan
Producer	Dr. Dre, Doc Ish, Eminem
Certification	Platinum (ARIA)
Eminem singles chronology
"Crack a Bottle" (2009) "We Made You" (2009) "3 a.m." (2009)

"We Made You" is a song by American hip hop musician Eminem. It was released as the first single from his sixth studio album Relapse on April 7, 2009. Produced by Dr. Dre and co-produced by Doc Ish and Eminem himself, the song samples "Hot Summer Nights" by Walter Egan. Eminem performed this song along with "Crack a Bottle" at the 2009 MTV Movie Awards. The official cover for the single is a picture of the music video, with Eminem, Lisa Ann and Bobby Lee.

Reception

"We Made You" has generally mixed reviews. Daniel Kreps of Rolling Stone magazine gave it a positive review stating, "It's nice to see Eminem goofing around again after a few years out of the spotlight during which he grappled with serious issues like the death of his friend Proof, and 'We Made You' with its damnation of current celebrities will likely prove to be a solid pop cultural time capsule of this weird 2009 moment we're experiencing now." Billboard said, "Atop Dr. Dre's marching beat is primarily piano instrumentation, which amid drums and tubas give the track a carnival feel... And in case his word play was too fast and strange accent too difficult to decipher, Charmagne Tripp sings the chorus." Tim Jonze of The Guardian however, reported, "'We Made You' is not Eminem doing what he does best."

Music video

Development and release

The single's music video was directed by Joseph Kahn, who also shot "Without Me" from The Eminem Show. The video was filmed in Las Vegas and features star appearances by Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, Denaun Porter, Bobby Lee, The Palms hotel owner George Maloof, Rihanna, Melissa Peterman, actress Trisha Paytas (playing Jessica Simpson), Derrick Barry (of America's Got Talent fame) (playing Britney Spears), Vanilla Ice and pornographic actress Lisa Ann (as Sarah Palin).

The music video for "We Made You" premiered on April 7, 2009 at 6:00 AM on several MTV networks, as well as MTV.com. The video also premiered on Channel 4 in the UK on the next day.

Concept

The music video is a parody of the television series Rock of Love and Star Trek (with the Starfleet insignia replaced with an inverted 2nd Infantry Division (United States)), as well as Eminem singing in a background of an imitation version of the notes of Guitar Hero while the casino-based sequence in the video is an homage to the film Rain Man, a film Eminem has previously referenced in his lyrics. The casino scene was shot in The Palms hotel and casino. References to Nanook of the North are also made, especially seen in the scenes with Sarah Palin, those scenes parodying Larry Flynt's Who's Nailin' Paylin?. There is also an homage to Alfred Hitchcock's film Psycho. On April 3, 2009, Eminem talked about the music video in an MTV News interview, stating that there is some "Celebrity bashing in it," which is often a feature of his album's lead singles. In addition to Sarah Palin, notable celebrities mocked using look-alike actresses/actors include Jessica Simpson, Bret Michaels, Britney Spears, Kevin Federline, Lindsay Lohan, Samantha Ronson, Amy Winehouse and her then-husband Blake Fielder-Civil, Ellen DeGeneres, Portia de Rossi, Jessica Alba, Elvis Presley, Tony Romo, John Mayer, Jennifer Aniston, and Kim Kardashian. Eminem even spoofed himself, wearing an ALF t-shirt and holding a cake, referencing a commonly circulated pre-fame photo of him of when he was a youth. This Music Video also marks the return of Eminem's alter ego "Slim Shady".

Reception

Bill O'Reilly of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor deemed the video "crude" for its depiction of Sarah Palin, calling Eminem a "vile rapper" and "the lowest form of entertainment."

The music video won the award at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Hip-Hop Video and was nominated for Best Male Video, as well as Video of the Year. The video also ranked at #81 on BET's Notarized: Top 100 Videos of 2009 countdown. The music video also features Beats by Dr. Dre Monster headphones.

Sales and charts

"We Made You" sold 167,000 downloads in its first week to enter the Hot Digital Songs chart in Billboard Magazine at number three. The song also debuted at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100, to become Eminem's second top ten in a row on the chart, ranked "Crack a Bottle", a collaboration with Dr. Dre and 50 Cent. This marks the first time that Eminem has had back-to-back top-ten hits on the Hot 100 (as a lead artist) since 2002, when he scored with "Without Me", "Cleanin' Out My Closet" and "Lose Yourself".

"We Made You" has reached the top ten in twelve countries, including number one in Ireland, New Zealand and Australia.

Track listing

UK CD single

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Sample(s)	Length
1.	"We Made You"	M. Mathers, A. Young, M. Batson, D. Parker, T. Lawrence, W. Egan	Contains a sample of "Hot Summer Nights" by Walter Egan	4:47
2.	"We Made You" (Instrumental)	M. Mathers, A. Young, M. Batson, D. Parker, T. Lawrence, W. Egan	Contains a sample of "Hot Summer Nights" by Walter Egan	4:47

European Maxi single

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Sample(s)	Length
1.	"We Made You"	M. Mathers, A. Young, M. Batson, D. Parker, T. Lawrence, W. Egan	Contains a sample of "Hot Summer Nights" by Walter Egan	4:47
2.	"We Made You" (Super Clean)	M. Mathers, A. Young, M. Batson, D. Parker, T. Lawrence, W. Egan	Contains a sample of "Hot Summer Nights" by Walter Egan	4:47
3.	"We Made You" (Instrumental)	M. Mathers, A. Young, M. Batson, D. Parker, T. Lawrence, W. Egan	Contains a sample of "Hot Summer Nights" by Walter Egan	4:47
4.	"We Made You" (Video)			4:43

Musical personnel

• Mark Batson – keyboards
• Charmagne Tripp – chorus vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2009)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	1
Austrian Singles Chart	6
Belgian Singles Chart (Flanders)	13
Belgian Singles Chart (Wallonia)	12
Canadian Hot 100	6
Danish Singles Chart	8
Dutch Singles Chart	14
European Hot 100 Singles	4
French Singles Chart	11
German Singles Chart	8
Irish Singles Chart	1
Japan Hot 100 Singles	13
New Zealand Singles Chart	1
Norwegian Singles Chart	5
Romanian Singles Chart	5
Swedish Singles Chart	11
Swiss Singles Chart	4
UK Singles Chart	4
US Billboard Hot 100	9
US Hot Rap Tracks	19
US Pop Songs	23

Year-end charts

Chart (2009)	Position
Hungarian Singles Chart	127
New Zealand Singles Chart	27
Swiss Singles Chart	44
UK Singles Chart	50

Certifications

Region	Certification
Australia (ARIA)	Platinum

See also

• List of number-one singles in Australia in 2009
• List of number-one singles of 2009 (Ireland)
• List of number-one singles from the 2000s (New Zealand)
• List of Romanian Singles Chart top 10 Singles in 2009

External links

• "We Made You" Official music video on YouTube