Предыстория:

Альбом дебютировал на первой строчке U.S. Billboard 200 c 702,000 проданных копий, к концу 2002 это был пятый по счету самый продаваемый альбом в том году с 3.2 миллионами проданных, и это только через 2 месяца после релиза альбома. По всему миру было продано 9 миллионов копий^{[источник не указан 261 день]}. Саундтрек включает знаменитый хит «Lose Yourself», за который Эминем получил Оскара. Чуть позже был выпущен сборник More Music from 8 Mile, включающий синглы, которые были выпущены в момент действия фильма, в 1995 году. Была выпущена чистая версия «8 Mile OST»'а, в которой вырезаны все нецензурные фразы и упоминания о насилии и наркотиках. Альбом был подвержен цензуре сильнее, чем другие альбомы Эминема. Песня «That’s My Nigga fo' Real» значится как «That’s My ***** fo' Real» на чистой версии. Некоторые песни вроде «Adrenaline Rush», где слово «****» говорится 34 раза, очень сложно понять из-за сильной цензуры. Однако, песня 50 Cent'а «Wanksta» меньше подверглась цензуре чем её версия в дебютном альбоме 50 Cent’а «Get Rich or Die Tryin'». В «Rap Game», слова «White House» и «Cheney» вырезаны из куплета Эминема, когда он говорит «I pipe down, when the White House just wiped out / When I see that little Cheney dyke get sniped out».

Текст песни:

[Eminem]

Sometimes I just feel like, quittin I still might
Why do I put up this fight, why do I still write
Sometimes it's hard enough just dealin with real life
Sometimes I wanna jump on stage and just kill mics
And show these people what my level of skill's like
But I'm still white, sometimes I just hate life
Somethin ain't right, hit the brake lights
Case of the stage fright, drawin a blank like
Da-duh-duh-da-da, it ain't my fault
Great then I falls, my insides crawl
and I clam up (wham) I just slam shut
I just can't do it, my whole manhood's
just been stripped, I have just been vicked
So I must then get, off the bus then slip
Man **** this **** yo, I'm goin the **** home
World on my shoulders as I run back to this 8 Mile Road

[Chorus]

I'm a man, I'ma make a new plan
Time for me to just stand up, and travel new land
Time to really just take matters into my own hands
Once I'm over these tracks man I'ma never look back
(8 Mile Road) And I'm gone, I know right where I'm goin
Sorry momma I'm grown, I must travel alone
And go follow the footsteps I'm makin my own
Only way that I know how to escape from this 8 Mile Road


[Eminem]

I'm walkin these train tracks, tryin to regain back
the spirit I had 'fore I go back to the same crap
To the same plant, and the same pants
Tryin to chase rap, gotta move ASAP
And get a new plan, momma's got a new man
Poor little baby sister, she don't understand
Sits in front of the TV, buries her nose in the pad
And just colors until the crayon gets dull in her hand
While she colors her big brother and mother and dad
Ain't no tellin what really goes on in her little head
Wish I could be the daddy that neither one of us had
But I keep runnin from somethin I never wanted so bad!
Sometimes I get upset, cause I ain't blew up yet
It's like I grew up, but I ain't grow me two nuts yet
Don't gotta rep my step, don't got enough pep
The pressure's too much man, I'm just tryin to do what's
best
And I try, sit alone and I cry
Yo I won't tell no lie, not a moment goes by
That I don't pray to the sky, please I'm beggin you God
Please don't let me be bitchin holdin no regular job
Yo I hope you can hear me homey wherever you are
Yo I'm tellin you dawg I'm bailin this trailer tomorrow
Tell my mother I love her, kiss baby sister goodbye
Say whenever you need me baby, I'm never too far
But yo I gotta get out there, the only way I know
And I'ma be back for you, the second that I blow
On everything I own, I'll make it on my own
Off to work I go, back to this 8 Mile Road


[Chorus]


[Eminem]

You gotta live it to feel it, you didn't you wouldn't get
it
Or see what the big deal is, why it wasn't the skillest
To be walkin this borderline of Detroit city limits
It's different, it's a certain significance,
A certificate of authenticity, you'd never even see
But it's everything to me, it's my credibility
You never seen heard smelled or met a real MC
who's incredible upon the same pedestal as me
But yet I'm still unsigned, havin a rough time
Sit on the porch with all my friends and kick dumb rhymes
Go to work and serve MC's in the lunchline
But when it comes crunch time, where do my punchlines go
Who must I show, to bust my flow
Where must I go, who must I know
Or am I just another crab in the bucket
Cause I ain't havin no luck with this little Rabbit so ****
it
Maybe I need a new outlet, I'm startin to doubt ****
I'm feelin a little skeptical who I hang out with
I look like a bum, yo my clothes ain't about ****
if the Salvation Army tryin to salvage an outfit
And it's cold, tryin to travel this road
Plus I feel like I'm on stuck in this battlin mode
My defenses are so up, but one thing I don't want
is pity from no one, the city is no fun
There is no sun, and it's so dark
Sometimes I feel like I'm just bein pulled apart
I'm torn in my limbs, by each one of my friends
It's enough to make me just wanna jump out of my skin
Sometimes I feel like a robot, sometimes I just know not
what I'm doin I just blow, my head is a stove top
I just explode, the kettle gets so hot
Sometimes my mouth just overloads the ass that I don't got
But I've learned, it's time for me to U-turn
Yo it only takes one time for me to get burned
Ain't no fallin no next time I meet a new girl
I can no longer play stupid or be immature
I got every ingredient, all I need is the courage
Like I already got the beat, all I need is the words
Got the urge, suddenly it's a surge
Suddenly a new burst of energy is occured
Time to show these free world leaders the three and a third
I am no longer scared now, I'm free as a bird
Then I turn and cross over the median curb
Hit the verbs and all you see is a blur from 8 Mile Road


[Chorus]