We Made You

"We Made You"
2005 octher pink 2005
Single by Eminem
from the album Relapse
B-side"We Made You (Instrumental)"
ReleasedApril 7, 2009
Recorded2008
Genre
Comedy hip hop
Length4:29
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Eminem singles chronology
"Crack a Bottle"
(2009) 		"We Made You"
(2009) 		"3 a.m."
(2009)
Music video
"We Made You" on YouTube

"We Made You" is a song by American rapper Eminem from his sixth studio album Relapse (2009). It was released as the second single from the album on April 7, 2009. "We Made You" was written by Eminem, Dr. Dre, Dawaun Parker, Mark Batson, Trevor Lawrence Jr. and Walter Egan. Production was handled by Dr. Dre, with Eminem and Doc Ish serving as additional co-producers.

"We Made You" received generally positive reviews from music critics, and became a success, peaking inside the Top 10 in fourteen countries and at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100. Just like "Shake That", this single is known for being a departure from the serious tone of his second released singles from his previous albums such as "Cleanin' Out My Closet", "The Way I Am" and "Like Toy Soldiers", instead having a more comedic tone.

Background

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It features chorus vocals by Charmagne Tripp.[1][2][3] Produced by Dr. Dre and co-produced by Doc Ish and Eminem himself, the song samples "Hot Summer Nights" by Walter Egan.[4] The official cover for the single is a picture of the music video, with Eminem, Oxen, Lisa Ann and Bobby Lee.

Critical reception

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"We Made You" has generally positive reviews from music critics. Daniel Kreps of Rolling Stone magazine gave it a positive review stating, "It's nice to see Eminem goofing around again after a few years out of the spotlight during which he grappled with serious issues like the death of his friend Proof, and 'We Made You' with its damnation of current celebrities will likely prove to be a solid pop cultural time capsule of this weird 2009 moment we're experiencing now."[5] Billboard said, "Atop Dr. Dre's marching beat is primarily piano instrumentation, which amid drums and tubas give the track a carnival feel... And in case his word play was too fast and strange accent too difficult to decipher, Charmagne Tripp sings the chorus."[6] Tim Jonze of The Guardian however, reported, "'We Made You' is not Eminem doing what he does best."[7]

Chart performance

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"We Made You" sold 167,000 downloads in its first week to enter the Hot Digital Songs chart in Billboard Magazine at number three. The song also debuted at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Eminem's second top-ten in a row on the chart, following "Crack a Bottle", a collaboration with Dr. Dre and 50 Cent. This marks the first time that Eminem has had back-to-back top-ten hits on the Hot 100 as a lead artist since 2002, when he scored with "Without Me", "Cleanin' Out My Closet" and "Lose Yourself".[8] "We Made You" has reached the top ten in twelve countries, including number one in Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia.

Music video

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Development and release

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The single's music video was directed by Joseph Kahn, who also shot "Without Me" from The Eminem Show is in the same vein as previous videos under the Slim Shady persona, and the first of its kind since Encore's "Ass Like That". The video was filmed in Las Vegas and features guest star appearances by Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, Denaun Porter, Bobby Lee, The Palms hotel owner George Maloof, Francesca Le (playing Kim Kardashian), Melissa Peterman, Vanilla Ice, Trisha Paytas (playing Jessica Simpson's role in The Dukes of Hazzard), Derrick Barry (of America's Got Talent fame, playing Britney Spears), actress Gabrielle Salinger (playing Amy Winehouse) and pornographic actress Lisa Ann (playing Sarah Palin). The music video for "We Made You" premiered on April 7, 2009 at 6:00 AM on several MTV networks, as well as MTV.com. The video also premiered on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom on the next day.

There is an R-Rated Director's Cut version of the video that premiered in a live show of Eminem's Concert in 2009.[9] It features Lisa Ann fully nude as well as various shots of Eminem touching her breasts. In 2022, a high resolution version was leaked onto Reddit and made publicly available for the first time.[10]

Concept

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The music video parodies TV shows Rock of Love and Star Trek (with the Starfleet insignia replaced with an inverted 2nd Infantry Division), as well as video game Guitar Hero with Eminem against an imitation version background of the notes while the homage to film Rain Man was shot at The Palms, a film Eminem has previously referenced in his lyrics.[11] Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho is also homaged. On April 3, 2009, Eminem talked about the music video in an MTV News interview, stating that there is some "Celebrity bashing in it", which is often a feature of his album's lead singles.[12] Celebrities mocked include Bret Michaels, Kevin Federline, Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Samantha Ronson, Amy Winehouse and her then-husband Blake Fielder-Civil, Ellen DeGeneres, Portia de Rossi, Jessica Alba, Elvis Presley, Tony Romo, John Mayer, Jennifer Aniston, and Kim Kardashian.[13] Eminem spoofed himself, wearing an ALF T-shirt and holding a cake, referencing a commonly circulated pre-fame photo of him of when he was an adolescent. The video features appearances from Lisa Ann as Sarah Palin, Trisha Paytas as Jessica Simpson, and Derrick Barry, a famous Britney Spears female impersonator, as Spears. The video also features appearances from Dr. Dre and 50 Cent as themselves.

Reception

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The music video won the award at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Hip-Hop Video and was nominated for Best Male Video as well as Video of the Year. The video also ranked at #81 on BET's Notarized: Top 100 Videos of 2009 countdown.[14] The music video also features Beats by Dr. Dre Monster headphones.

Awards and nominations

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See also: List of awards and nominations received by Eminem
Year Ceremony Award Result
2009 BET Hip Hop Awards Best Hip Hop Video Nominated
MTV Europe Music Awards Best Video Nominated
MTV Video Music Awards Video of the Year Nominated
Best Hip-Hop Video Won
Best Male Video Nominated
Best Special Effects Nominated

Track listing

[edit]
Digital EP[15]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."We Made You"
4:47
2."We Made You" (super clean)
  • Mathers
  • Young
  • Batson
  • Parker
  • Lawrence, Jr.
  • Egan
  • Dr. Dre
  • Eminem
  • Doc Ish[a]
4:47
3."We Made You" (instrumental)
  • Mathers
  • Young
  • Batson
  • Parker
  • Lawrence, Jr.
  • Egan
  • Dr. Dre
  • Eminem
  • Doc Ish[a]
4:47
Total length:15:21
UK CD single[16]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."We Made You"
4:47
2."We Made You" (instrumental)
  • Mathers
  • Young
  • Batson
  • Parker
  • Lawrence, Jr.
  • Egan
  • Dr. Dre
  • Eminem
  • Doc Ish[a]
4:47
Total length:9:34
German CD single[17]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."We Made You"
4:47
2."We Made You" (super clean)
  • Mathers
  • Young
  • Batson
  • Parker
  • Lawrence, Jr.
  • Egan
  • Dr. Dre
  • Eminem
  • Doc Ish[a]
4:47
3."We Made You" (instrumental)
  • Mathers
  • Young
  • Batson
  • Parker
  • Lawrence, Jr.
  • Egan
  • Dr. Dre
  • Eminem
  • Doc Ish[a]
4:47
4."We Made You" (video)
  • Mathers
  • Young
  • Batson
  • Parker
  • Lawrence, Jr.
  • Egan
  • Dr. Dre
  • Eminem
  • Doc Ish[a]
4:47
Total length:20:08
Notes
  • ^[a] signifies an additional producer.

Personnel

[edit]

Charts

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[55] 4× Platinum 280,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ)[56] Gold 7,500*
United Kingdom (BPI)[57] Gold 400,000‡
United States (RIAA)[58] 2× Platinum 2,000,000‡

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Reid, Shaheem (March 23, 2009). "Photo From Eminem's 'We Made You' Video Set Hits Web". MTV. Archived from the original on March 27, 2009. Retrieved March 25, 2009.
  2. ^ Paine, Jake (May 8, 2009). "Eminem's "We Made You" Co-Producer Explains His Big Break". HipHopDX.com. Retrieved May 9, 2009.
  3. ^ Trust, Gary (April 15, 2009). "Chart Beat: Rascal Flatts, Seal, Eminem". Billboard. Archived from the original on August 30, 2014. Retrieved April 16, 2009.
  4. ^ "Eminem – Relapse (CD, Album) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
  5. ^ Kreps, Daniel (2009-04-07). "Eminem Skewers Britney Spears, Amy Winehouse, Sarah Palin in "We Made You" Video". MTV. Archived from the original on April 8, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
  6. ^ [1] Archived April 22, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "Eminem's back, but not to his best". The Guardian. 8 April 2009. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  8. ^ Paul Grein, Chart Watch, Week Ending April 19, 2009: She's The Youngest To Ever Do It, Yahoo.com
  9. ^ "MTV Scores Exclusive Premiere Of The New Eminem Video, 'We Made You'". Starpulse.com. 2009-04-03. Archived from the original on 2009-04-08. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
  10. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/Eminem/comments/11g9u7r/got_my_hands_on_an_rrated_version_of_the_we_made/ March 2nd, 2023. Retrieved January 21st, 2024.
  11. ^ "Is Eminem's New Name 'Rain Man'?". MTV News. March 24, 2009. Archived from the original on March 26, 2009. Retrieved March 27, 2009.
  12. ^ "Eminem Says 'We Made You' Video Has 'Some Celebrity Bashing'". April 3, 2009. Archived from the original on April 5, 2009.
  13. ^ "Eminem's 'We Made You' Video: Which Celebs Get Slammed? – Music, Celebrity, Artist News". MTV. 2009-04-07. Archived from the original on April 11, 2009. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
  14. ^ Black Entertainment Television's. "Notarized: Top 100 Videos 2009". BET. Archived from the original on 2010-01-07. Retrieved 2010-01-09.
  15. ^ "We Made You - Single by Eminem on Apple Music". Itunes.apple.com. January 2009. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  16. ^ "We Made You". Amazon.co.uk. 11 May 2009. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  17. ^ "We Made You". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  18. ^ "Charmagne Tripp: Music". Archived from the original on 2012-04-26. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
  19. ^ "Eminem – We Made You". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  20. ^ "Eminem – We Made You" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  21. ^ "Eminem – We Made You" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  22. ^ "Eminem – We Made You" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  23. ^ "Eminem Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  24. ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 31. týden 2009 in the date selector. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  25. ^ "Eminem – We Made You". Tracklisten. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  26. ^ "Eminem – Chart Search" Billboard European Hot 100 Singles for Eminem. Retrieved December 29, 2018. [dead link]
  27. ^ "Eminem – We Made You" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  28. ^ "Eminem – We Made You" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  29. ^ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Rádiós Top 40 játszási lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  30. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – We Made You". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  31. ^ "FIMI - Classifiche - FIMI". Fimi.it. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  32. ^ "Media Forest: Airplay chart". Mediaforest.biz. Archived from the original on 2013-11-11. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  33. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 21, 2009" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  34. ^ "Eminem – We Made You" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  35. ^ "Eminem – We Made You". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  36. ^ "Eminem – We Made You". VG-lista. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  37. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  38. ^ "Eminem – We Made You". Singles Top 100. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  39. ^ "Eminem – We Made You". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  40. ^ "Eminem: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  41. ^ "Official Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  42. ^ "Eminem Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  43. ^ "Eminem Chart History (Hot Rap Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  44. ^ "Eminem Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  45. ^ "Eminem Chart History (Rhythmic)". Billboard. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  46. ^ "2009 ARIA Singles Chart". ARIA Charts. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  47. ^ "Jahreshitparade Singles 2009". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2020-01-17.
  48. ^ "Rapports Annuels 2009". Ultratop. Retrieved 2020-01-17.
  49. ^ "Top de l'année Top Singles 2009" (in French). SNEP. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  50. ^ "Éves összesített listák – MAHASZ Rádiós TOP 100 (súlyozott)". Mahasz. Mahasz.
  51. ^ "The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Rianz.org.nz. Archived from the original on 2010-07-22. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
  52. ^ "Årslista Singlar – År 2009" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 2020-01-17.
  53. ^ "2009 Year End Swiss Singles Chart". Swiss Music Charts. 2009. Retrieved 2010-07-16.
  54. ^ "Charts Plus Year end 2009" (PDF). Charts Plus. Retrieved 2010-07-19.
  55. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2024 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  56. ^ "New Zealand single certifications – Eminem – We Made You". Recorded Music NZ.
  57. ^ "British single certifications – Eminem – We Made You". British Phonographic Industry.
  58. ^ "American single certifications – Eminem – We Made You". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
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