Lose Yourself by rapper Eminem is the first song on the soundtrack to the movie 8 Mile. The soundtrack is scheduled to release in the United States on October 29, 2002, but the song is already available on the common peer-to-peer music swapping services. Lose Yourself was the first single released from the album and in just four weeks since its release it has burst onto Billboard's list of the top 10 singles. The song is definitely one of Eminem's best efforts and as a result radio stations will be playing this song to death.
Update Nov 2, 2002: As predicted Lose Yourself is now listed as the Billboard #1 song of the week. It also garnered this weeks award for greatist gainer in airplay.
Update Mar 1, 2003: This song is finally fading off the charts. Last week it dropped from #34 to #43.
Update Mar 23, 2003: Became the first rap song to win an Academy Award. Eminem skipped the awards show, but one of the song's co-writers, Luis Resto, accepted the Oscar on his behalf. When asked why he didn't attend he said, "I'm thankful for it, I'm not ungrateful. I'm very grateful. I just don't choose to rub elbows with the whole Hollywood scene. It's not me. If there is just one award show you don't go to you gonna look ungrateful. Period. But me, I just don't like to go to places where I feel outta my element. And me sitting there with a bunch of movie stars and actors, I don't belong. I rap and do hip-hop, the music that I love. I'm about the music. The grammy's are about as far as I'm goin' go outside my element. It's still cool that I got it."
The chorus that sticks in your head:
You better lose yourself in the music, the moment
You own it, you better never let it go
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime yo