“Lose Yourself” is Eminem’s 2002 semi-biographical film 8 Mile’s theme. Jimmy’s life is narrated by Eminem until the third stanza, when their paths cross.

In 2003, engineer Steven King told Rolling Stone that Eminem “laid down all three verses in one take”, something Eminem now disputes.

In his 2008 autobiography, The Way I Am, Eminem wrote “in-between shooting scenes [for 8 Mile] and taking care of [his] kids” (pp 108-109). The autobiography included A4 writing pad page scans of handwritten lyrics (pp 217-218.)

Shady Records’ 2014 compilation album SHADY XV contained the demo version with the same beat and tone but almost entirely new lyrics.

“Lose Yourself” topped 20 nations, including the US, commercially. Eminem’s first US #1, it topped the charts for 12 weeks, making it the third-longest movie soundtrack lead (behind “I Will Always Love You” and “End Of The Road”). The US is 13x Multi-Platinum as of 2022.

The song received great acclaim. It became the first rap song to win the Oscar for Best Original Song and two Grammys (Best Male Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Song). Eminem didn’t perform at the ceremony because he didn’t anticipate he’d win, which is unusual for category winners. He fixed this by performing the song at the 2020 Oscars.

The song has also influenced culture. Apple utilised the song in two mid-2000s commercials for iTunes and the iPod, including Eminem in the latter. Chrysler used the instrumental and Eminem in their 2011 “Born of Fire” Super Bowl commercial. Eminem opened ‘Mom’s Spaghetti’ restaurant in Detroit in 2021, a lyric that has been mememed and even put into a song.