Lose Yourself

Infobox Single
Name = Lose Yourself


Artist = Eminem
from Album = 8 Mile Soundtrack
Released = October 22, 2002
Format = CD
Recorded =
Genre = Hip hop, Rap rock
Length = 5:31
Label = Shady
Interscope
UMG Soundtracks
Writer = Eminem; Luis Resto; Jeff Bass
Producer = Eminem
Last single = "My Dad's Gone Crazy"
(2002)
This single = "Lose Yourself"
(2002)
Next single = "Cleanin' Out My Closet"
(2002)
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Album = 8 Mile Soundtrack
Type = soundtrack
prev_track =
prev_no =
this_track = "Lose Yourself"
track_no = 1
next_track = "Love Me"
next_no = 2Extra tracklisting
Album =
Type = compilation
prev_track = "Stan"
prev_no = 5
this_track = "Lose Yourself"
track_no = 6
next_track = "Shake That"
next_no = 7

"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.

This is perhaps Eminem's most well-known, successful song, reaching the top of 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. [ [http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/06/11/1055220650984.html VH1's '100 Greatest Songs of the Past 25 Years' - smh.com.au ] ]

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 and only #1 single in the U.S.

uccess

"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. [http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,625790,00.html] 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 compilation album, "", in 2005.

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 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.

amples

The song's intro samples by The Cure. Fact|date=March 2008

Uses in popular culture

* The Teen drama series "Instant Star" named its season premiere episode after this song.
* The music video is parodied in the movie "Scary Movie 3".
* Queen + Paul Rodgers used the song as the house music for all of the concerts on their 2005–2006 tours.
* On May 15, 2006, Jodie Foster quoted the chorus of the song in her commencement speech at the University of Pennsylvania. [ [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060515/ap_en_ce/people_foster News.yahoo.com] ]
* Many athletic teams use this song over their PA system before games.
* Part of the tune of the song is used as the theme music on the German detective series Lenßen & Partner.
* 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.

Parodies

* The Croatian band Vatrogasci did a parody of this song titled 'Izgubi Se,' which loosely translates to 'Lose Yourself' in English.
* "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 Tune characters. [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8m1cSVlND2w Youtube.com] ]
* The Belgian comedian Chris Van den Durpel made a parody titled: "rijbewijs", which translates to 'driving licence', shown in his TV-show "Chris & Co".
* 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
# "Lose Yourself" – 5:27
# "Renegade" (featuring Jay-Z) – 5:37

; CD maxi
# "Lose Yourself"
# "Lose Yourself" (instrumental)
# "Renegade" (featuring Jay-Z)
# "Lose Yourself" (video)

Certifications

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Year-end charts

References