The album also spawned a follow-up soundtrack, More Music from 8 Mile, consisting of songs that appear in the film and were released as singles during the film's time setting of 1995. One of the songs was performed by 2Pac, who would be the subject of a documentary with a soundtrack produced by Eminem, who also produced a posthumous album by 2Pac. The album also features four songs by Wu-Tang Clan and its members, and two songs by Mobb Deep, who eventually signed to G-Unit Records. Both albums were also made available in censored versions, removing most of the strong language and sexual and violent content.
8 Mile: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling over 700,000 copies in its first week. It sold 510,000 copies in its second week and eventually became the fifth best-selling album in the US of 2002, with sales of 3.4 million copies. It is certified sextuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album featured the universal number-one hit "Lose Yourself", which won the Oscar for Best Original Song.
Singles
"Lose Yourself" was released as the soundtrack's lead single on October 28, 2002.[2]
"Wanksta" was released as the soundtrack's second single on "12 on November 5.[3]
"8 Mile" was released as a promo single on December 15.
"Rap Name" by Obie Trice was released as a single on "12 on October 22, 2002 and was included on the album's special edition bonus CD.
Content and censorship
The clean version of the 8 Mile soundtrack removes most of the strong language and sexual and violent content. The only word left uncensored on the soundtrack, is the word "ass" (except on "Places to Go" by 50 Cent, where the word "ass" is used twice, but the word was only censored once). No other words are uncensored on the clean version of "8 Mile".
"That's My Nigga For Real", by rapper Young Zee, is listed as "That's My ***** For Real" on the clean version. In "Rap Game" by D12 featuring 50 Cent in Proof's verse, the word "shit" is uncensored (even on the clean version), and in Eminem's verse, the words "White House" and "Cheney" are censored on both edited and explicit versions. A very rare version of "Rap Game" can be heard on the internet, in which the words "White House" and "Cheney" are left uncensored. In "Rabbit Run" by Eminem, the word "fuck" was left uncensored once in the clean version of the soundtrack. In "Love Me" by Obie Trice, Eminem and 50 Cent, the word "goddamn" is left uncensored in 50 Cent's verse.
8 Mile: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture received generally positive reviews from critics.[4] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 74, based on 20 reviews.[4]
Eminem received praise from hip-hop producers[11] and pundits[12][13][14] for including authentic, era-appropriate beats in the film, despite the expense associated with clearance relative to original music bearing a similar sound.[15]
Commercial performance
The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with over 702,000 copies sold in the 1st week and 510,000 copies sold in the 2nd week also finishing the year as the 5th best-selling album of 2002 with US sales of over 3.4 million. As of July 2013, it has sold 4,922,000 copies in the U.S.[16] As of January 2016, the soundtrack has sold 11 million copies worldwide.[17]
It debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart with sales of 45,000 copies.[18] It also reached number one on the UK Compilations Chart AustralianARIAnet Albums Chart.
A^ In the UK, compilation albums were excluded from the main album chart from January 1989.[76]8 Mile: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture was classified as a compilation album for chart purposes and peaked at #1 on the compilations chart,[77] not the main albums chart.
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
^Uncut (01/03, p.124) – 4 stars out of 5 – "...A frighteningly powerful record....It's breathless, furious, and all the things pop too often isn't. The point of Eminem becomes blindingly clear..."
^Q (1/03, p.126) – 4 stars out of 5 – "...It's in a different class to the usual OST fare..."
^Rolling Stone (11/28/02, pp.85–6) – 3 stars out of 5 – "...Eminem is one of the most earnest pop stars around....On 8 MILE, he puts on an astonishing display of lyrical skill..."
^"2003.04월 – POP 음반 판매량" (in Korean). Recording Industry Association of Korea. April 2003. Archived from the original on October 16, 2004. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
