We Made You

Background

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

Critical reception

"We Made You" has generally mixed reviews from contemporary 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." 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." Tim Jonze of The Guardian however, reported, "'We Made You' is not Eminem doing what he does best." As of april 7, 2017, the video had over 168 404 881 views on YouTube.

Chart performance

"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, to become Eminem's second top ten in a row on the chart, ranked "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". "We Made You" has reached the top ten in twelve countries, including number one in Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and Germany.Max Headroom Ft MXHM – February Re-Release – 2015 – Stonecutters Homer Chosen One – 2015 & 2001

Development and release

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 past 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 star appearances by Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, Denaun Porter, Bobby Lee, The Palms hotel owner George Maloof, Francesca Le, Melissa Peterman, Vanilla Ice, Trisha Paytas (playing Jessica Simpson's role in the 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 as 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.

Concept

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. The video was also a dual promotion of Larry Flynt's porn parody of Who's Nailin' Paylin? satirizing Sarah Palin's governorship of Alaska, released recently. 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. 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. Eminem even spoofed himself, wearing an ALF T-shirt and holding a cake, referencing a commonly circulated pre-fame photo of him of when he was a youth. 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

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. The music video also features Beats by Dr. Dre Monster headphones.

Track listing

1. "We Made You" – 4:47
2. "We Made You" (Super Clean) – 4:47
3. "We Made You" (Instrumental) – 4:47

1. "We Made You" – 4:47
2. "We Made You" (Instrumental) – 4:47

1. "We Made You" – 4:47
2. "We Made You" (Super Clean) – 4:47
3. "We Made You" (Instrumental) – 4:47
4. "We Made You" (Video) – 4:47

1. We Made You
2. Shake That
3. Bug A Boo
4. Beautiful
5. Entourage
6. We Made You – Karaoke Version

Personnel