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Lose Yourself

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"Lose Yourself"
Song

"Lose Yourself" is a hip hop song by American rapper Eminem. It was released in 2002 as part of the soundtrack to the film 8 Mile, also starring Eminem. The song had additional production by Luis Resto and Jeff Bass.

The song topped many charts around the world, including the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart, among others. It won an Academy Award for Best Original Song, two Grammy Awards, and two other Grammy nominations. The song is ranked 4th in the 100 greatest songs of the past 25 years by VH1.[1]

"Lose Yourself" ranked #166 in Rolling Stone magazine's the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

In March 2009, "Lose Yourself" topped the 2 million mark in digital downloads in the United States, becoming the second oldest song to hit that sales level. It also became Eminem's first song to reach 2 million digital downloads as a lead artist.[2]

Writing process

The song was written by Eminem during a break of the filming of 8 Mile. He recorded it in a portable studio on the set, recording 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 explicitly sum up the background info about Eminem's character in 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 (released before 8 Mile). 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 and some guitar elements. "Lose Yourself" was also Eminem's first #1 single in the U.S.

Success

"Lose Yourself" is the most successful single of Eminem's mainstream career. As such, it is considered to be his signature song. It had a 12-week run at #1 in the United States & Australia, and topped the charts in many other countries as well, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand and Denmark among others. It debuted at number nine in Canada and moved up to #1 the following week. According to the Guinness Book Of World Records "Lose Yourself" became the "Longest Running Single at Number One for a Rap Song".

In the United States, "Lose Yourself" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart the week of October 5, 2002, at #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 through 1/25/03), "Lose Yourself"'s impressive run kept several top contenders for the #1 spot from ever reaching #1, including Jay-Z, Nelly, Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguilera, and especially Missy Elliott, whose single "Work It" was at #2 for 10 weeks.

The song went on to receive the Academy Award for Best Original Song (the first time a rap song ever won this award), upsetting the favored song "The Hands That Built America" by U2. It is rumored that Eminem, who was not present at the award ceremony believing he would not win for a rap song, was sleeping at the time the award was announced. This was the first time in 14 years the winner of the Best Original Song category was not performed at the ceremony. Luis Resto, one of the song's co-writers, had attended the ceremony and accepted the award instead. "He's creative, he has symphonies in his head," Resto said at the lectern about Eminem. [1] 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 Song 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 compilation album, Curtain Call: The Hits, in 2005.

"Lose Yourself"
The song's chorus consists of two repeated short verses.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

The song was also covered by The Script for their debut self-titled album, released in 2008.[3]

Music video

The music video for "Lose Yourself" was filmed in Detroit, Michigan, and thus contains numerous shots of the city, including the Ambassador Bridge. The video is a mixture of multiple scenarios, including scenes from and reminiscent of the movie 8 Mile, and Eminem rapping next to the "8 Mile Rd. Mobile Court" sign that appears on the cover of the movie's soundtrack.

It contains scenes focusing on Rabbit's and the real life Eminem's character, for example, the difficulties he has to face while 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.

He won a Much Music Video Awards in 2003 for Favourite International Artist with the video for "Lose Yourself".

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.

Parodies

  • "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. Al has also released a t-shirt in his online store that parodies the 8 Mile movie poster.
  • 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.
  • Apologetix has made a parody called Look Yourself.
  • The show Robot Chicken parodied part of the film in the rapping sequence involving Bugs Bunny and a collection of other Looney Tunes characters.[5]
  • Lupe Fiasco sampled this song on his track "Lu Myself" on his mixtape, Lupe the Jedi and the Touch The Sky mixtape.

Track listings

CD single
  1. "Lose Yourself" – 5:27
  2. "Renegade" (featuring Jay-Z) – 5:37
  3. "Lose Yourself" (instrumental) – 5:29
CD maxi
  1. "Lose Yourself"
  2. "Lose Yourself" (instrumental)
  3. "Renegade" (featuring Jay-Z)
  4. "Lose Yourself" (video)

Certifications

Country Certification Date Sales certified
Australia[6] 4 x Platinum 2003 280,000
Austria[7] Platinum February 14, 2003 30,000
Belgium[8] Platinum March 8, 2003 40,000
France[9] Gold August 21, 2003 250,000
Germany[10] Gold 2003 150,000
New Zealand[11] Platinum 2003 15,000
Norway[12] Platinum 2003 10,000
Switzerland[13] Platinum 2003 30,000
UK[14] Silver December 13, 2002 200,000
U.S.[15] Gold October 25, 2004 500,000

Charts

Peak positions

Year-end charts

End of year chart (2003) Position
Australian Singles Chart[21] 2
Austrian Singles Chart[22] 6
Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart[23] 16
Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart[24] 7
French SNEP Singles Chart[25] 12
Irish Singles Chart[26] 6
New Zealand Singles Chart[27] 30
Swiss Singles Chart[28] 12
Preceded by
"Dilemma" by Nelly featuring Kelly Rowland
 Billboard Hot 100 number one single
November 9, 2002 - January 25, 2003 (12 weeks) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Irish IRMA number-one single
December 7, 2003 - January 4, 2003 (5 weeks) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by ARIA (Australia) number-one single
December 8, 2002 - February 23, 2003 (12 weeks) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by UK number-one single
December 8, 2002 (1 week) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
"Per me è importante" by Tiromancino
 Italian FIMI number-one single
December 12, 2002 (1 week) 		Succeeded by
"Per me è importante" by Tiromancino
Preceded by
"Dilemma" by Nelly featuring Kelly Rowland
 Belgian (Flanders) number-one single
January 4, 2003 - January 18, 2003 (3 weeks) 		Succeeded by
"Live on Mars" by Jasper Steverlinck + Steven & Stijn Kolacny
Preceded by Dutch Top 40 number-one single
January 4, 2003 - February 1, 2003 (5 weeks) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Norwegian VG-Lista number-one single
2/2003 - 5/2003 (4 weeks) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Finnish number-one single
2/2003 (1 week)
6/2003 - 7/2003 (2 weeks) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
"Der Steuersong (Las Kanzlern)" by Die Gerd Show
 Austrian number-one single
January 12, 2003 - January 26, 2003 (3 weeks) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Eurochart Hot 100 number-one single
January 18, 2003 - February 8, 2003 (4 weeks)
March 22, 2003 - April 12, 2003 (4 weeks) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Swedish number-one single
January 23, 2003 - March 13, 2003 (8 weeks) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Belgian (Wallonia) number-one single
January 25, 2003 - February 15, 2003 (4 weeks) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by New Zealand RIANZ number-one single
January 26, 2003 - February 9, 2003 (3 weeks)
February 23, 2003 (1 week) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
"Every Little Part of Me" by Julie
 Danish number-one single
January 30, 2003 (1 week) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Swiss number-one single
March 9, 2003 (1 week)
March 23, 2003 (1 week) 		Succeeded by
"Le Frunkp" by Alphonse Brown
"Take Me Tonight" by Alexander
Awards
Preceded by Academy Award for Best Original Song
2002 		Succeeded by

References

  1. ^ VH1's '100 Greatest Songs of the Past 25 Years' - smh.com.au
  2. ^ http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart_watch/29509/week-ending-march-15-2009-the-idol-with-the-most/
  3. ^ The Script - Lose Yourself [Lyrics]
  4. ^ News.yahoo.com
  5. ^ Youtube.com
  6. ^ Australian certifications aria.com (Retrieved August 24, 2008)
  7. ^ Austrian certifications ifpi.at (Retrieved August 23, 2008)
  8. ^ Belgian certifications Ultratop.be (Retrieved August 24, 2008)
  9. ^ French certifications Disqueenfrance.com (Retrieved August 24, 2008)
  10. ^ German certifications musikindustrie.de (Retrieved August 24, 2008)
  11. ^ New Zealand certifications Rianz.org.nz (Retrieved August 24, 2008)
  12. ^ Norwegian certifications Ifpi.no (Retrieved August 24, 2008)
  13. ^ Swiss certifications Swisscharts.com (Retrieved August 24, 2008)
  14. ^ UK certifications Bpi.co.uk (Retrieved August 24, 2008)
  15. ^ U.S. certifications riaa.com (Retrieved August 24, 2008)
  16. ^ a b c d Billboard allmusic.com (Retrieved April 17, 2008)
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Lose Yourself", in various singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved April 17, 2008)
  18. ^ German Singles Chart Charts-surfer.de (Retrieved April 17, 2008)
  19. ^ Irish Single Chart Irishcharts.ie (Retrieved April 17, 2008)
  20. ^ UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved August 24, 2008)
  21. ^ 2003 Australian Singles Chart aria.com (Retrieved August 24, 2008)
  22. ^ 2003 Austrian Singles Chart Austriancharts.at (Retrieved August 24, 2008)
  23. ^ 2003 Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart Ultratop.be (Retrieved August 24, 2008)
  24. ^ 2003 Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart Ultratop.be (Retrieved August 24, 2008)
  25. ^ 2003 French Singles Chart Ifop.com (Retrieved August 24, 2008)
  26. ^ 2003 Irish Singles Chart Irma.ie (Retrieved December 11, 2008)
  27. ^ 2003 New Zealand Singles Chart Rianz.org.nz (Retrieved August 24, 2008)
  28. ^ 2003 Swiss Singles Chart Hitparade.ch (Retrieved August 24, 2008)
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