"Fack"
Song by Eminem
from the album Curtain Call: The Hits
ReleasedDecember 6, 2005
Recorded2005
GenreComedy hip hop, dirty rap
Length3:25
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)

"Fack" (stylized in all caps) is a song by American rapper Eminem, released in 2005 on his greatest hits album Curtain Call: The Hits. It was among the four new songs on the album.[1] The song, along with “Intro”, is omitted from the clean version of Curtain Call: The Hits. In 2021, the song went viral on TikTok, due to many feeling shocked upon hearing the lyrics of "Fack".[2][3][4]

Background

In a 2020 interview with Detroit Free Press, Eminem jokingly claimed that "Fack" is his favorite song he has ever done.[5] In 2016 at Lollapalooza in Brazil, Eminem performed the song in concert for the first time, much to the audience's surprise.[6] It has been performed another two times since.[7] Eminem jokingly stated that he was working on a followup song in a tweet posted in 2020.[8]

Reception

AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine called the song "wildly weird", and wrote that it "finds Eminem spending the entire track fighting off an orgasm; it seems tired, a little too close to vulgar Weird Al territory, and it doesn't help that his Jenna Jameson reference seems a little old".[9]

Spence D. of IGN thought that "Fack" was "rather annoying", but considered it to have some of the best production Eminem has ever done. He also said, "Too bad his potty humored cartoon rant seems a bit played out and just a little over-the-top in that forced, trying-too-hard-to-be-campy way. This is a case where the beat would have been better served under different circumstances."[10]

HotNewHipHop however considered the song to have become a cult classic, and wrote, "The way it's somehow too good to fall into the so-bad-it's-good category. The playful, circus-like instrumental that only Slim Shady could conjure. The idea that at one time or another, Dr. Dre was subjected to a 'Fack' listening session."[11]

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[12] Silver 200,000‡
United States (RIAA)[13] Gold 500,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ Krol, Charlotte (8 October 2020). "Eminem's 'Curtain Call: The Hits' rejoins Billboard chart 15 years after its release". NME. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  2. ^ Farry, Wayne (23 March 2021). "Eminem's 'Fack' has gone viral and people are just realising how messed up the lyrics are". Joe.Co.UK. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  3. ^ Hardiman, Jess (20 March 2021). "Teenagers Are Only Just Discovering How Messed Up Eminem's 'Fack' Lyrics Are". Lad Bible. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  4. ^ "Eminem's "FACK" becomes new trend on TikTok". South Pawer. 13 March 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  5. ^ McCollum, Brian (27 May 2020). "Eminem talks football, quarantine, hip-hop favorites and 'The Marshall Mathers LP'". FreeP. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  6. ^ Reiff, Corbin (13 March 2016). "Eminem Performed "Fack" Live for the First Time and the Crowd Completely Lost It". Complex. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  7. ^ "Fack performed by Eminem". Setlist.FM. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  8. ^ Aleia, Woods (28 May 2020). "Eminem Says He Is Working on New Song "Fack 2″". XXL Mag. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  9. ^ Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "Curtain Call: The Hits Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine [-]". All Music. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  10. ^ D., Spence (22 December 2005). "Eminem - Curtain Call". IGN. Archived from the original on 2012-04-25. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  11. ^ Findlay, Mitch (9 November 2020). "Eminem's "FACK" Has Somehow Become A Cult Classic". Hot New Hip Hop. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  12. ^ "British single certifications – Eminem – Fack". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
  13. ^ "American single certifications – Eminem – Fack". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
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