Eminem is one of greatest-selling musical acts of all time — that can’t be disputed. With over 32 million albums sold, the Detroit-bred “rap god” is also one of the few MCs who can call himself a diamond-selling artist.
Now, Slim Shady has hit yet another milestone. As of Monday (October 12), the Academy Award-winning song “Lose Yourself” has officially surpassed one billion Spotify streams, a rarity on the massive streaming platform. In fact, it’s one of the only songs in the 2000s to accomplish this feat, second only to Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours” single.
“Lose Yourself” came out in 2002 and was originally included on the 8 Mile movie soundtrack, the aptly titled 8 Mile: Music From & Inspired By The Motion Picture. Written and co-produced by Eminem, the track shines a spotlight on Em’s character in the film, B-Rabbit.
It also became Shady’s first No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 single and remained on the chart for 12 consecutive weeks.
Em performed “Lose Yourself” at the 92nd annual Academy Awards in February — a song that earned him an Oscar in the Best Original Song category 17 years prior. During an interview with Variety, he explained his decision to do the song, which he didn’t initially perform at the ceremony in 2003.
“I kinda figured maybe since I didn’t get a chance to do it at the time, maybe it would be cool,” he said. “Back then, I never even thought that I had a chance to win, and we had just performed ‘Lose Yourself’ on the Grammys with the Roots a couple of weeks before the Oscars, so we didn’t think it was a good idea.
“And also, back at that time, the younger me didn’t really feel like a show like that would understand me. But then when I found out I won, ‘That’s crazy!’ That to me shows how authentic and real that award is — when you don’t show up and you still win. That makes it very real to me.”
Look, if you had another shot, another opportunity… Thanks for having me @TheAcademy. Sorry it took me 18 years to get here. pic.twitter.com/CmSw2hmcZo
— Marshall Mathers (@Eminem) February 10, 2020
Eminem recently added another accomplishment to his stacked résumé. Earlier this month, his 2005 album Curtain Call: The Hits re-entered the Billboard 200 at No. 59. The album has been certified 7x-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and remained on the Billboard chart for a staggering 496 weeks (almost 10 years).
Curtain Call had already earned the title of longest-running rap album in Billboard’s history, hitting 350 weeks in August 2017. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in December 2005, selling over 441,000 copies in its first week.
But that pales in comparison to the 8 Mile soundtrack. The project, which also debuted at No. 1, sold roughly 700,000 copies in its first week and 510,000 copies in its second week, ultimately becoming the fifth-best-selling album in the United States that year with sales of 3.4 million copies. It has since been certified 4x-platinum by the RIAA.
Revisit it below.
