"Berzerk" is a song by American rapper

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...

. The song, released on August 27, 2013, is the first

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from Eminem's eighth studio album ''

The Marshall Mathers LP 2 ''The Marshall Mathers LP 2'' is the eighth studio album by American rapper Eminem. It was released on November 5, 2013, by Shady Records, Aftermath Entertainment, and Interscope Records. It is his last album to feature the involvement of the i ...

''. The song was produced by

Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (, ; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is a co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popularize hip hop by produci ...

and samples

Billy Squier William Haislip Squier (, born May 12, 1950) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter who had a string of arena rock and crossover hits in the early 1980s. His best-known songs include " The Stroke", " Lonely Is the Night", " My Kinda Love ...

's "

The Stroke "The Stroke" is a song written and recorded by American rock artist Billy Squier. It was released in 1981 as the debut single from his 3× platinum album '' Don't Say No''. This was Squier's first single to chart (although "In the Dark" charte ...

", as well as the

Beastie Boys The Beastie Boys were an American Hip-hop, hip hop and Rap rock, rap rock group formed in New York City in 1979. They were composed of Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Mike D, ...

' " Fight for Your Right", taken from their 1986 debut album ''

Licensed to Ill ''Licensed to Ill'' is the debut studio album by the American hip hop group Beastie Boys, released on November 15, 1986, by Def Jam and Columbia Records. The album became the first rap LP to top the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, and was the second ra ...

'', which Rubin had also produced, and Naughty by Nature's "

Feel Me Flow "Feel Me Flow" is a song by American hip hop group Naughty by Nature, released in May 1995 by Tommy Boy Records as a single from their fourth album, ''Poverty's Paradise'' (1995). The song was the most successful single from the album, peaking at ...

". The song was heavily downloaded in its first week of release, resulting in the song debuting at number three on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Composition

The song, produced by Rick Rubin, samples

's "

", the

' " Fight for Your Right", taken from their 1986 debut album ''

'' and also produced by Rubin, and Naughty by Nature's "

". Writing credits are given to Eminem, Rubin, Squier,

Adam Yauch Adam Nathaniel Yauch ( ; August 5, 1964 – May 4, 2012), also known by the stage name MCA, was an American rapper, bassist, filmmaker and a founding member of the Hip-hop, hip hop group Beastie Boys. Besides his musical work, he also directed m ...

and Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys, and Anthony Criss, Vincent Brown, and Kier Gist of Naughty by Nature,

Ziggy Modeliste Joseph "Ziggy" Modeliste (born December 28, 1948), also known as Zigaboo Modeliste, is an American drummer best known as a founding member of the funk band the Meters. He is widely considered an innovator in the funk genre and New Orleans style ...

Art Neville Arthur Lanon Neville Jr. (December 17, 1937 – July 22, 2019) was an American singer, songwriter and keyboardist from New Orleans. Neville was a staple of the New Orleans music scene for over five decades. He was the founder of the funk band T ...

Cyril Neville Cyril Garrett Neville (born October 10, 1948) is an American percussionist and vocalist who first came to prominence as a member of his brother Art Neville's funky New Orleans–based band, The Meters. He joined Art in the Neville Brothers band u ...

Leo Nocentelli Leo Nocentelli (born June 15, 1946) is an American musician and songwriter best known as a founding member and lead guitarist of the funk band the Meters. He wrote the original versions of several funk classics such as " Cissy Strut" and "Hey ...

and George Porter Jr. for the "Feel Me Flow" segment. The song starts with a "blast of static, hard guitar and Em roaring out of the gate sounding like the long-lost, fourth Beastie Boy", according to

Yahoo! Music Yahoo Music was a brand under which Yahoo provided music services including Internet radio, a digital music store, music streaming service, media player software, and original programming. Yahoo Music was sold to Rhapsody in early 2008. Pro ...

critic Craig Rosen. The song samples the "Kick it!" part of "

(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!) "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)" (shortened to "Fight for Your Right" on album releases) is a song by American hip hop/rap rock group Beastie Boys, released as the fourth single from their debut album '' Licensed to Ill'' (1986). O ...

", performed by

Ad-Rock Adam Keefe Horovitz (born October 31, 1966), popularly known as Ad-Rock, is an American rapper, guitarist, and actor. He was a member of the Hip hop music, hip-hop group Beastie Boys. While Beastie Boys were active, Horovitz performed with a si ...

. According to ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Lars Brandle, the song is "a punchy, guitar-and-beats driven song which channels

Joan Jett & the Blackhearts Joan Jett and the Blackhearts is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1979 as a conjunction of lead musician, singer and songwriter Joan Jett and the backup band. It has undergone many lineup changes since its inception, w ...

' ''

I Love Rock 'n' Roll "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" is a rock song written by Alan Merrill and Jake Hooker (musician), Jake Hooker and first recorded by the Arrows (British band), Arrows, a British rock band, in 1975. A 1981 cover version by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, ...

'' and ''Licensed to Ill''-era Beastie Boys."

Music video

During the halftime at the September 7, 2013 Michigan–Notre Dame football game, Eminem premiered a preview of the

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for "Berzerk". Then the video was premiered two days later on September 9, via

VEVO Vevo LLC ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized in all caps until 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available ...

. The video was filmed in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

and directed by Syndrome. It features

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

s from fellow American rappers

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first music ...

(Em's Aftermath labelmate) and

Kid Rock Robert James Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), known professionally as Kid Rock, is an American musician, singer, rapper, and songwriter. After establishing himself in the Music of Detroit#Hip-hop, Detroit hip-hop scene, he broke through into m ...

(both of whom Eminem mentions in the song's lyrics) in addition to

Shady Records Shady Records is an American record label founded by rapper Eminem and his manager Paul Rosenberg in 1999, following the commercially successful release of '' The Slim Shady LP'' that same year. The label's name comes from the last name of Eminem ...

labelmates

Slaughterhouse In livestock agriculture and the meat industry, a slaughterhouse, also called an abattoir (), is a facility where livestock animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a mea ...

Mr. Porter Denaun Montez Porter (born December 7, 1978), also known by the stage names Mr. Porter, Kon Artis, or Denaun, is an American rapper and record producer. He was a member of Detroit hip hop group D12. He has a close association with rapper Emin ...

Yelawolf Michael Wayne Atha (born December 30, 1979), better known by his stage name Yelawolf, is an American rapper. Born in Gadsden, Alabama, and raised in Antioch, Tennessee, he embarked on his recording career in 2005, releasing four mixtapes to pos ...

and

The Alchemist An alchemist is a person who practices alchemy. Alchemist or Alchemyst may also refer to: Books and stories * ''The Alchemist'' (novel), the translated title of a 1988 allegorical novel by Paulo Coelho * ''The Alchemist'' (play), a play by Ben ...

, the song's producer Rick Rubin and Eminem's manager Paul Rosenberg. The video also features short clips of

backyard wrestling Backyard wrestling (BYW), also referred to as yarding or backyarding, is an underground hobby and sport involving untrained practices of Professional wrestling, professional-style wrestling, typically in a low-budget environment, such as a back ...

, and public fights as well as short clips of the official music video of Billy Squier's "The Stroke", which is heavily sampled in the song. The video received a nomination at MTV Video Music Awards 2014 in the category " Best Hip-Hop Video".

Release and promotion

"Berzerk" originally premiered on August 26, on

SiriusXM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting corporation headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. The company was formed by the 2008 merge ...

channel,

Shade 45 Shade 45 is American rapper Eminem's hip-hop station on Sirius XM Radio channel 45 and Dish Network channel 6045. History Eminem established his channel, Shade 45, that plays uncut hip-hop. Eminem also established a new morning show, ''Sway in t ...

. ''

'', a sequel to Eminem's acclaimed studio effort ''

The Marshall Mathers LP ''The Marshall Mathers LP'' is the third studio album by American rapper Eminem, released on May 23, 2000, by Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. Production on the album was handled by Dr. Dre, Mel-Man, F.B.T., Eminem, and The 45 ...

'', was revealed during

MTV Video Music Awards The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category ...

on August 25, 2013, with two previews of "Berzerk" via

Beats By Dr. Dre Beats Electronics, LLC (also known as Beats by Dr. Dre, Beats by Dre or simply Beats) is an American consumer audio products manufacturer headquartered in Culver City, California. The company was founded in 2006 by the music producer Dr. Dre and ...

commercials. Some critics describe Eminem's return in these commercials as the highlight of the show. The video that accompanied the song featured a

boombox A boombox is a transistorized portable music player featuring one or two cassette tape players/recorders and AM/FM radio, generally with a carrying handle. Beginning in the mid-1990s, a CD player was often included. Sound is delivered thro ...

prominently. The song was the featured song for the 2013 season of ''

Saturday Night Football ''Saturday Night Football'' (currently branded as ''ESPN'' ''Saturday Night Football presented by Capital One'' for sponsorship reasons) is an American weekly presentation of prime time broadcasts of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCA ...

'', debuting with the September 7

Michigan–Notre Dame football rivalry The Michigan–Notre Dame football rivalry is an American college football college rivalry, rivalry between the Michigan Wolverines football, Michigan Wolverines and Notre Dame Fighting Irish football, Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The Michigan a ...

game. On 10 November 2013 in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

for the MTV Europe Music Awards 2013, he performed "Berzerk" and also "

Rap God "Rap God" is a song by American rapper Eminem. The song premiered via YouTube on October 14, 2013, and was released in the United States on October 15, 2013, as the third single from Eminem's eighth studio album, ''The Marshall Mathers LP 2'' ...

Commercial performance

"Berzerk" sold 362,000 downloads in its first week in the US, debuting at number three on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 (behind

Katy Perry Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. She is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists in hist ...

Roar A roar is a type of animal vocalization that is loud, deep and resonating. Many mammals have evolved to produce roars and other roar-like vocals for purposes such as long-distance communication and intimidation. These include various species of ...

and

Robin Thicke Robin Alan Thicke (born March 10, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his 2013 single " Blurred Lines" (featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams), which peaked atop the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, received ...

Blurred Lines "Blurred Lines" is a song by American singer Robin Thicke featuring American rapper T.I. and American musician Pharrell Williams from Thicke's sixth studio album of the same name (2013). Solely produced by Williams, it was released as the a ...

) becoming Eminem's 15th Top 10 hit on the Hot 100. The song has peaked at number two on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart. When the R&B component of the chart is removed, the song debuted at number one on the

Rap Songs Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by ''Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio statio ...

chart. "Berzerk"'s debut is just below the debut of the lead single for '' Recovery'', "

Not Afraid "Not Afraid" is a song by American rapper Eminem from his seventh studio album ''Recovery (Eminem album), Recovery'' (2010). It was released as the album's lead single on April 27, 2010, by Interscope Records. "Not Afraid" was first r ...

", which sold 379,000 copies in its first week. It has sold over a million copies in the US as of October 2013. In Canada, the song debuted at number two with 50,000 downloads sold, which more than doubled the 24,000 downloads sold in the debut week of "Not Afraid". It was Eminem's best one week download total ever in the country, until it was surpassed by the 54,000 downloads sold for Eminem's later single, " The Monster". The song was certified Double Platinum in Digital downloads in Canada on November 1, 2013. The song debuted at number one on the

UK R&B Chart Official Hip Hop and R&B Albums Chart The UK Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart and the UK Hip Hop and R&B Albums Chart (also known as The Official UK Hip Hop and R&B Charts, and previously the Top 40 Hip Hop and RnB Singles and the Top 40 Hip Hop and ...

and was replaced on the chart by his single "

Critical reception

Will Hermes of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' gave the song 4 out of 5 stars, highlighting its goal to "celebrate old-school hip-hop". Robert Copsey of ''Digital Spy'' gave the song 4 out of 5 stars, stating the song "harks back" to Eminem's "Slim Shady days". Copsey compared the song to

circa 1986, although the song as "inimitable" and "unmistakably Eminem".

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

India gave the song 8/10 concluding, "Whether you shudder under 'Berzerk's' cacophonous assault or wear its raps like an emblem — it's 2013, and Eminem still got your attention."Berzerk , Vh1 India
/ref>

Awards and nominations

Track listing

;Digital download ;CD release

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Radio and release history

References

{{authority control 2013 songs 2013 singles Eminem songs Shady Records singles Aftermath Entertainment singles Interscope Records singles Songs written by Eminem Songs written by Rick Rubin Song recordings produced by Rick Rubin Rap rock songs Songs written by Ad-Rock Songs written by Adam Yauch Songs written by Billy Squier Songs written by Treach Songs written by Vin Rock Songs written by KayGee