Berzerk (song)

Berzerk
publication	August 27, 2013
length	3:58
Genre (s)	Hip-hop , rap-rock
text	M. Mathers , W. Squier , A. Horovitz , A. Yauch , M. Diamond, R. Rubin , J. Modeliste, A. Neville, C. Neville, V. Brown , A. Criss , K. Gist
music	Rick Rubin
album	The Marshall Mathers LP 2

Berzerk (English for: " Berserker ") is a song by the American rapper Eminem . The song is the first single from his eighth studio album The Marshall Mathers LP 2 and was released for download on August 27, 2013 . The single was also released on CD in Germany on October 18, 2013.

content

Berzerk is a party song whose chorus calls for you to rock the house, turn up the music and let yourself go because life is too short. In the first verse, Eminem criticizes today's hip-hop scene and calls for a return to the beginnings of simple rap. He compares his musical abilities with the art of Leonardo da Vinci and does not let critics say anything. Eminem also states that he is a fan of the rap group Public Enemy and mentions rapper Kendrick Lamar in a positive sense. The second stanza is about how Eminem, despite his wealth, still dresses as if he were a rapper from the street and thanks to his fame, he could pick up women like that. He also says he supports Kid Rock in believing the rap scene is in bad shape right now, although he doesn't personally mention any rapper. In the third verse, Eminem raps ironically about his former drug addiction and how he would have picked up ugly women because he was out of his mind. He shoots against Khloé Kardashian and her husband Lamar Odom as well as against the rapper Future . He also said he would break the heart of any woman who dated him.

The entire text is peppered with comparisons and ambiguities.

Production and samples

The beat of the song was produced by Rick Rubin and is based on the old school productions from the 1980s.

It contains samples of three songs by other artists. Elements of Billy Squier's The Stroke were used. The tracks Fight for Your Right and Feel Me Flow by the rap groups Beastie Boys and Naughty by Nature were also sampled.

Music video

The video filmed for Berzerk , which premiered on September 9, 2013, was directed by Syndrome .

At the beginning, a cassette is inserted into an oversized radio and a plug is plugged in. Now Eminem, who is in front of the radio, starts rapping with Rick Rubin standing next to him. In between, short scenes from backyard wrestling matches as well as from Billy Squier's music video for The Stroke are played. Eminem's label mates Slaughterhouse , Mr. Porter and Yelawolf as well as musicians Kid Rock and Kendrick Lamar also have guest appearances in the video. At the end you see Eminem and Rick Rubin playing a game of cards. This scene pays homage to LL Cool J ’s video for Going Back to Cali from 1989.

single

Cover design

The single cover shows an old, gray radio with an inserted music cassette on which is the word Beats . In the foreground is the title Berzerk . Behind in red is Eminem's logo - a large inverse E . The cover pays homage to the single cover for the song Radio by LL Cool J from 1985.

Chart successes

Berzerk rose to number 15 in the German charts in the 37th calendar week of 2013 and reached the highest position four weeks later with number 10. In total, the song stayed in the top 100 for 24 weeks.

Chart placements Charts Top ranking Weeks Chart placements  Germany (GfK) 10 (24 weeks) 24  Austria (Ö3) 22nd (15 weeks) 15th  Switzerland (IFPI) 9 (14 weeks) 14th  United Kingdom (OCC) 2 (12 weeks) 12  United States (Billboard) 3 (20 weeks) 20th

Annual charts Charts (2013) placement Annual charts (2013)  Germany (GfK) 78  United States (Billboard) 67

Sales figures and awards

The single was downloaded 362,000 times in the United States in its first week of sales. In 2018, Berzerk was awarded a triple platinum record for more than three million sales in the United States . In the same year it received a gold record in Germany for over 150,000 units sold .

Country / Region	Award	Sales
Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales)
Australia (ARIA)	2 × platinum	140,000
Germany (BVMI)	gold	150,000
Canada (MC)	2 × platinum	160,000
Sweden (IFPI)	gold	20,000
United States (RIAA)	3 × platinum	3,000,000
United Kingdom (BPI)	gold	400,000
All in all	3 × gold 7 × platinum	3,870,000

Main article: Eminem / Music Sales Awards

At the Grammy Awards 2014 , Berzerk was nominated for Best Rap Performance , but lost to the song Thrift Shop by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis feat. Wanz .

Web links

• Lyrics with interpretations (English)
• Music video on YouTube.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Lyrics in the booklet
2. ↑ Eminem's Berzerk video explained
3. ↑ Single cover at amazon.de
4. ↑ Single cover based on radio by LL Cool J
5. ↑ Chart tracking Berzerk at musicline.de ( Memento of the original from October 20, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
6. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
7. ↑ ^{a b} annual charts: DE US
8. ↑ US: 3x platinum
9. ↑ DE: Gold