The monster

This article covers the song of the rapper Eminem. For the roller coasters see The Monster (Adventureland) and The Monster (Walygator Parc) .

The monster
feat. Rihanna
publication	October 29, 2013
length	4:10
Genre (s)	Hip-hop , pop-rap
Author (s)	Marshall Mathers , Bryan Fryzel, Aaron Kleinstub, Robin Fenty , Jon Bellion , Bebe Rexha , Maki Athanasiou
Award (s)	Grammy Award for Best Rap / Sung Collaboration ( 2015 )
album	The Marshall Mathers LP 2

The Monster (English for: " The Monster ") is a song by the American rapper Eminem , in which the chorus is sung by the singer Rihanna . The song is the fourth single from his eighth studio album The Marshall Mathers LP 2 and was played on US radio for the first time on October 28, 2013 and released for download the following day . The single was also released on CD in Germany on November 18, 2013.

content

Eminem and Rihanna perform the song from the perspective of a lyrical self . The song is about the downsides that a life as a celebrity brings with it, as you cause a stir everywhere and have little time for yourself. In addition, it can be assumed that the person being sung about suffers from a paranoid - schizophrenic psychosis because they have delusions of monsters under their bed and hear voices in their head.

In the chorus Rihanna sings that she made friends with the monsters under her bed and the voices in her head, which could mean the hustle and bustle around her person. Many think she is crazy, but no one should try to protect her. Eminem raps in the first verse that although he enjoys the fame, he only wants to draw attention to his music and not to his private life. As a public figure, however, you have no influence on which personal topics the media report on. He doesn't always want to be the center of attention in public and has trouble sleeping . The second verse is about the pressure that comes from the fact that the fame can be over quickly and one must seize the moment to achieve maximum success. Eminem speaks to his inner demons and says that someone has to protect him from them because he has an obsessive-compulsive disorder and has to think about rap all the time. In the third verse, Eminem tells of the desire to someday move like a normal person, undetected in public. But until then he has to continue rapping. His music is not intended to protect all children, but rather to help individuals going through difficult times. He grew up under difficult circumstances, but has achieved incredible success.

production

The beat of the song was produced by the American producer Frequency in collaboration with Aalias, who acted as co-producer. They did not use samples from songs by other artists.

Music video

The music video, directed by Rich Lee in Detroit in late November 2013, premiered on December 16, 2013.

Eminem plays a patient who puts himself in the care of a psychologist, who is played by Rihanna . Rihanna plays sequences from his earlier music videos for My Name Is , The Way I Am , Lose Yourself , Stan and 3 am to Eminem and analyzes his reactions. Allusions to these videos are also included in the further course. You can also see Eminem performing with Elton John and the song Stan at the 2001 Grammy Awards . Further scenes show him rapping in a steel cage from which there is no way out. At the end of the video, the steel cage drives onto the roof of the building and Eminem opens the lattice doors. He is now facing his own self, which is in another cage and throws him a sheet of text. Eminem picks up the note, turns and leaves while the other self screams.

single

Cover design

The single cover is kept very simple. It shows the white lettering The Monster and Eminem ft. Rihanna on a black background. There is a red blood stain behind the word The .

Chart successes

The Monster entered the German charts at number 7 in the 46th calendar week of 2013, climbed to the highest position 3 the following week and then fell to number 5. The song stayed in the top 100 for 28 weeks, of which eleven weeks in the top 10. In Great Britain the song reached the top of the chart straight away and also in Switzerland and the USA it rose to number 1.

Chart placements Charts Top ranking Weeks Chart placements  Germany (GfK) 3 (28 weeks) 28  Austria (Ö3) 6th (21 weeks) 21st  Switzerland (IFPI) 1 (23 weeks) 23  United Kingdom (OCC) 1 (25 weeks) 25th  United States (Billboard) 1 (29 weeks) 29

Annual charts Charts (2013) placement Annual charts (2013)  Germany (GfK) 55  United Kingdom (OCC) 26th Charts (2014) placement Annual charts (2014)  Switzerland (IFPI) 51  United States (Billboard) 16

Sales figures and awards

In 2018, The Monster was awarded a six-time platinum record for over six million sales in the United States . For more than 450,000 units sold, the single received three gold medals in Germany in the same year .

At the Grammy Awards in 2015 won The Monster the award in the category Best Rap / Sung Collaboration .

Country / Region	Award	Sales
Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales)
Australia (ARIA)	5 × platinum	350,000
Belgium (BEA)	gold	15,000
Denmark (IFPI)	gold	15,000
Germany (BVMI)	3 × gold	450,000
Italy (FIMI)	3 × platinum	150,000
Canada (MC)	2 × platinum	160,000
Mexico (AMPROFON)	platinum	60,000
New Zealand (RMNZ)	2 × platinum	30,000
Sweden (IFPI)	5 × platinum	200,000
Switzerland (IFPI)	platinum	30,000
United States (RIAA)	6 × platinum	3,844,000
United Kingdom (BPI)	2 × platinum	1,310,000
All in all	3 × gold 28 × platinum	6,614,000

Main article: Eminem / Music Sales Awards

Web links

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

swell

1. ↑ Lyrics in the booklet
2. ↑ Single cover
3. ↑ Chart tracking The Monster on musicline.de ( Memento of the original from December 2, 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. 
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
5. ↑ ^{a b} annual charts 2013: DE AT CH UK US
6. ↑ ^{a b} Annual charts 2014: DE AT CH UK US
7. ↑ US: 6 × platinum
8. ↑ DE: 3 × gold
9. ^ Gary Trust: Ask Billboard: Rihanna's Best-Selling Songs & Albums. Billboard , June 23, 2015, accessed April 27, 2017 . 
10. ^ Rob Copsey: Eminem's biggest songs on the Official Chart. officialcharts.com, January 17, 2020, accessed on February 19, 2020 .