Saturday, January 25, 2003

Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” spent 12th week at #1

Lose Yourself

Eminem

Writer(s):Eminem, Jeff Bass, Luis Resto (see lyrics here)


Released: September 17, 2002


First Charted: September 27, 2002


Peak: 112 US, 4 RB, 14 AR, 11 UK, 1 CN, 112 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.)


Sales (in millions): 13.0 US, 2.4 UK, 16.37 world (includes US + UK)


Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 0.4 radio, 1105.86 video, 1794.23 streaming

Awards:

Click on award for more details.

About the Song:

“Eminem’s autobiographical acting debut in 8 Mile marked the high point of the trickster’s relevance.” SP’10 No one expected much from the movie. Sure, Eminem was at his peak, but on the surface this looked like a high-profile vanity project. However, the movie made “hip-hop as inspirational as Rocky with Em rapping about the kind of poverty he grew up in – and showing the superhuman rhyme powers that got him out of it.” RS’09

If Em’s “‘Rabbit’ character was 8 Mile’s Rocky Balboa, then ‘Lose Yourself’ was the movie’s ‘Eye of the Tiger.’” PD It is Eminem’s “definitive anthem, a vivid, white-knuckle account of the anxiety and self-doubt he grappled with during his earliest forays into performing.” MX As Jonathan Bogart writes, this is “the moment when he sounded as urgent and necessary as anyone’s ever been.” DS He also calls this “the finest postmillennial portrait of the pressures of lower-middle-class life in America.” DS

“The cinema-ready piano intro” CS suggests “how epic this song is going to be,” CS but the listener is still unprepared for “the force unleashed when Mr. Mathers begins rhyming over a head-nodding guitar riff.” CS “This anthem captured the raw intensity and emotion that comes with performing” BX and may be “the most lyrically complex hip-hop song to ever hit #1 on the pop charts” PD with Eminem “tongue-twisting his way through a variety of internal rhyme schemes.” PD

While Eminem had landed three #1’s in the UK, “Lose Yourself” marked his first trip to the top of the U.S. charts. With a dozen weeks in the pole position, “the tense, grunge-y” SP’10 track became the longest-running #1 rap song on the Billboard Hot 100 AB’00 and has been called the most popular rap song in history. SV


Resources:


Related Links:


Last updated 6/18/2023.

Norah Jones’ Come Away with Me hit #1

Come Away with Me

Norah Jones


Released: February 26, 2002


Peak: 14 US, 14 UK, 15 CN, 13 AU


Sales (in millions): 2.0 US, 2.56 UK, 27.0 world (includes US and UK)


Genre: adult contemporary/jazz


Tracks:

Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts.

  1. Don’t Know Why (5/28/02, 29a US, 4 AC, 5 AA, 8 A40, 59 UK, 5 AU)
  2. Seven Years
  3. Cold, Cold Heart
  4. Feelin’ the Same Way (8/2/02, –)
  5. Come Away with Me (10/8/02, 12 AA, 21 A40, 80 UK)
  6. Shoot the Moon
  7. Turn Me On
  8. Lonestar
  9. I’ve Got to See You Again
  10. Painter Song
  11. One Flight Down
  12. Nightingale
  13. The Long Day Is Over
  14. The Nearness of You


Total Running Time: 45:03

Rating:

4.004 out of 5.00 (average of 16 ratings)


Awards:

(Click on award to learn more).

About the Album:

Nearly a year after its release, Norah Jones’ Come Away with Me nabbed the #1 spot on the Billboard album chart. A month later, Norah Jones won eight Grammys, including Album of the Year and Record and Song of the Year for the lead single, Don’t Know Why. That pushed the album to 10 million in sales domestically and a total of 27 million worldwide.

“Though its surprising success…overwhelmed it, this seductively modest little record is a marvel of mood and invention. The songwriting and arrangements are sophisticated, often jazzy, yet full of catchy hooks. And Jones’ vocals are silken and perfectly turned, setting a seamless mood that could soundtrack high-end restaurants and low-rent make-out sessions alike. And the sexy double entendre of the hit ‘Don’t Know Why’ (‘…I didn’t come’) still sounds sly as hell.” RS’11

Her voice, which “is mature beyond her 22 years,” AZ has “a touch of Rickie Lee Jones” AMG while the arrangements suggest a touch of Bonnie Raitt. AMG “Her youth and her piano skills could lead one to call her an Alicia Keys for grown-ups.” AMG “Her assured phrasing and precise time are more often found in older singers as well. She is instantly recognizable, blending shades of Billie Holiday and Nina Simone without sounding like anyone but herself. Any way you slice it, she is a singer to be reckoned with.” AZ

Her “debut on Blue Note is a mellow, acoustic pop affair with soul and country overtones, immaculately produced by the great Arif Mardin.” AMG “Jones is not quite a jazz singer, but she is joined by some highly regarded jazz talent: guitarists Adam Levy, Adam Rogers, Tony Scherr, Bill Frisell, and Kevin Breit; drummers Brian Blade, Dan Rieser, and Kenny Wolleson; organist Sam Yahel; accordionist Rob Burger; and violinist Jenny Scheinman.” AMG

Jones does “convincing readings of Hank Williams’ Cold Cold Heart, J.D. Loudermilk’s Turn Me On, and Hoagy Carmichael’s The Nearness of You.” AMG “Heart” and “Nearness” alone “are worth the price of the CD.” AZ

“Her regular guitarist and bassist, Jesse Harris and Lee Alexander, respectively, play on every track and also serve as the chief songwriters. Both have a gift for melody, simple yet elegant progressions, and evocative lyrics.” AMG

“Jones, for her part, wrote the title track and the pretty but slightly restless Nightingale.” AMG Her material, “while not bad, pales a bit next to such masterpieces. They might have fared better had she…opted for some livelier arrangements” AZ “or if the tunes had simply been given less laconic performances.” AZ Still, “while the mood of this record stagnates after a few songs, it does give a strong indication of Jones’ alluring talents.” AMG She “has all the tools; what will come with experience and some careful listening to artists like J.J. Cale and Shirley Horn is the knack of remaining low-key without sounding sleepy – sometimes less is not, in fact, more.” AZ

Resources and Related Links:


First posted 3/28/2008; last updated 3/15/2024.