The beat Eminem is most proud of: “A highlight of my producing”
Considering how skilled a rapper he is, it’s perhaps understandable that Eminem’s production skills go somewhat overlooked. But he’s a remarkably skilled beatmaker, producing some of the greatest tracks of his own career. Of all of them, though, there’s one in particular that he’s especially proud of.
‘Lose Yourself’ was one of Eminem’s biggest hits, beloved by ordinary listeners and critics alike. Featured as part of the soundtrack for Em’s 2002 movie 8 Mile, the song marked the rapper’s first number one single on the Billboard Hot 100. It held the top spot for 12 weeks in a row, while, in several other countries around the world, it shot to number one, too. The song was a genuine pop culture sensation, marking yet another leap forward for hip-hop.
Eminem obviously wrote the lyrics himself, but he also handled production alongside his frequent collaborators Jeff Bass and Luis Resto. The track they created is so tightly bound to 8 Mile, but, surprisingly, it turns out that the original demo had been created way before the movie entered production. It initially had nothing to do with the film.
Eminem once spoke about this to Genius, explaining that the original demo had been burnt onto a CD and forgotten about for two years or so. It was only when Em happened upon this CD during 8 Mile’s production that he realised how much potential it had. “I found the ‘Lose Yourself’ demo on this session where me and Jeff Bass were just making beats,” he said. “Jeff was just sitting on those guitar chords, and then it went into something different. I was just like ‘Yo, that section, right there, I gotta make a beat out of that.’ I recorded the demo version of it the same day I made the beat.”
Em liked the music well enough, but the words that he put together on that original demo didn’t sit right with him. He consequently shelved the song, and he wouldn’t return to it again for a couple of years. “But it’s one of those beats I never gave up on,” he said. “That beat was definitely a highlight of my producing.”
Em rightly recognised that this beat he and Bass had created was a good one, but it needed the right words to make it really come to life. As it happened, the experience of making 8 Mile provided the necessary pressure to get him working on the track once again.
“I ended up doing the new version on the set of the movie, just writing between takes,” he recalled. “8 Mile wasn’t coming out for another year and a half, and Curtis [Hanson, the film’s director] really wanted music for the movie. He wanted it to be created from the environment, so he was pushing me to make stuff. I think ‘Lose Yourself’ was the only thing I worked on specifically for the movie.”
A makeshift music studio was set up inside a trailer on the movie set, and, there, Eminem finished ‘Lose Yourself.’ He nailed his verses pretty quickly, finally providing this beat he and Bass had created with the words it deserved. The song duly became a classic.