Eminem explains his ‘Lose Yourself’ Oscars 2020 performance

It’s been nearly a week since the 92nd annual Oscars took place and some are still scratching their heads, wondering why Eminem was ever booked for the show.

Despite not even being nominated for an award this year, the 47-year-old rapper turned up at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles for a surprise performance of his 2002 hit, Lose Yourself.

The musician took to Twitter hinting his appearance was to make up for his absence at the 2003 Oscars when Lose Yourself — which was featured in 8 Mile — took home the award for Best Original Song.

Eminem clarified confusion among viewers on Monday by settling the score on his whereabouts 17 years ago in a brand-new interview with Variety, adding that he thought it would be “cool” to actually perform and properly celebrate his win in 2020.

“I kinda figured maybe since I didn’t get a chance to do it at the time, maybe it would be cool,” revealed Eminem to the outlet.

Upon being asked if he was disappointed about missing the Oscars in 2003, Eminem admitted, “I don’t know that I was disappointed,” adding, “I was blown back by the fact that I won.”

2:37 Oscars TV ratings at all-time low

He continued: “I don’t even think I understood back then that you could get an Oscar for a song, and I remember being kinda confused about why I was even up for one.”

The Slim Shady rapper also shut down speculation that he didn’t perform Lose Yourself because the Academy wantred him to censor it.

“That’s not true at all,” he said. “There’s not that many cuss words in it.”

At the time of the Oscars, Eminem said he was at home with his daughter, Hailie — who would have been only eight years old at the time.

“I didn’t watch it, either,” he admitted.

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The much-beloved musician revealed that he found out he won an Oscar from his keyboard player and producer, Luis Resto — who also took the stage in 2003 to accept the award from Barbra Streisand.

Eminem said: “I know people were probably like, ‘Who the f–k is this guy?’ So he called me, and I remember the phone kept ringing, and I’m like ‘Motherf—, I’m tryin’ to sleep!’

Furthermore, Emimen said the Academy asked him to perform this year following a montage to sound editing and mixing in film, which included a nod to 8 Mile. 

The montage was introduced by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who said this about the importance of music in film:

“You couldn’t take the song out of the movie and you couldn’t take the movie out of the song.”

Eminem added that the performance was timed well because his latest album, Music to Be Murdered By, dropped unexpectedly only three weeks earlier.

Eminem later revealed his favourite moment of the 2020 Oscars was getting to hug Salma Hayek, the critically acclaimed actor, who is a self-proclaimed fan of his work.

Music to Be Murdered By is now available through all major streaming platforms.