ICYMI Eminem decided to perform at the Oscars this weekend. Out of nowhere, he delivered a rendition of "Lose Yourself" — 17 years after the 8 Mile song won him an Academy Award. And while it was indeed surprising, it was also confusing as all hell. Now to help clear things up is none other than Eminem himself.
Speaking to Variety, Eminem has opened up as to why he performed at the awards show nearly two years after the fact.
"I kinda figured maybe since I didn't get a chance to do it at the time, maybe it would be cool," Eminem explained. "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."
So while that clears things up somewhat, the timing of the performance is suspiciously close to the release of his new album Music to Be Murdered By. So if you thought the Oscars performance had something to do with album promo, it did.
The Variety interviewer asked, "As for how it came together, I heard that 8 Mile was already in the montage, and the Oscars just happened to ask and you said yes?"
Eminem responded with this: "I think that's pretty much how it went. And it was cool because we just put out an album, so we said maybe that'll make sense with the timing of the new album."
He also admitted he was in on the surprise and purposely kept everything on the DL.
"I think it was either [the Oscars'] idea or [manger] Paul [Rosenberg] and [longtime publicist Dennis Dennehy's] idea before they brought it to me. It was presented to me that way and I said, 'Oh that's kinda dope, to not even announce it.'"
As previously reported, though, not even Eminem could save the Oscars from being the least watched in history.
Speaking to Variety, Eminem has opened up as to why he performed at the awards show nearly two years after the fact.
"I kinda figured maybe since I didn't get a chance to do it at the time, maybe it would be cool," Eminem explained. "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."
So while that clears things up somewhat, the timing of the performance is suspiciously close to the release of his new album Music to Be Murdered By. So if you thought the Oscars performance had something to do with album promo, it did.
The Variety interviewer asked, "As for how it came together, I heard that 8 Mile was already in the montage, and the Oscars just happened to ask and you said yes?"
Eminem responded with this: "I think that's pretty much how it went. And it was cool because we just put out an album, so we said maybe that'll make sense with the timing of the new album."
He also admitted he was in on the surprise and purposely kept everything on the DL.
"I think it was either [the Oscars'] idea or [manger] Paul [Rosenberg] and [longtime publicist Dennis Dennehy's] idea before they brought it to me. It was presented to me that way and I said, 'Oh that's kinda dope, to not even announce it.'"
As previously reported, though, not even Eminem could save the Oscars from being the least watched in history.
