"Crack a Bottle" is a song by American rappers

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 ...

, Dr. Dre and 50 Cent. The song was released as the lead single from the former's sixth studio album '' Relapse'' (2009). On February 12, 2009, the song broke the first week digital sales record with 418,000 downloads, topping the previous record held by " Live Your Life" by T.I. featuring

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. This record was broken again the following week by " Right Round" by

Flo Rida Tramar Lacel Dillard (born September 16, 1979), known professionally as Flo Rida ( ), is an American rapper and singer. His 2007 debut and breakout single "Low (Flo Rida song), Low" was number one for 10 weeks in the United States and broke the ...

. The song won the

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for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group in 2010.

Background

"Crack a Bottle" initially gained attention in December 2008, when an unfinished version of the song was initially leaked under the name "Number One" on the

mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

''4th Quarter Pressure Part 2'', while a final working version was leaked on January 6, 2009. Various media outlets had reported that the recording was to be the first single from Eminem's 2009 album '' Relapse'', however the Italian branch of

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

, owner of

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

, later denied this, stating that "Crack a Bottle" was only a promotional recording. Despite all this, the song was released on February 2, 2009, and made available for paid digital download, with 50 Cent stating that the song will be included on his upcoming album '' Before I Self Destruct''. According to Danielle Harling of ''HipHopDX''—a website dedicated to hip hop music coverage—the song will ultimately be present on both ''Relapse'' and ''Before I Self Destruct'', while in contrast, Daniel Kreps of ''

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Magazine'' stated that it is still unsure which rapper will feature this song on his upcoming album. Despite the confusion, Universal eventually announced that "Crack a Bottle" would be included in ''Relapse'' exclusively; however, the record label did not consider it the album's first single. The song samples "Mais dans la lumière" by Israeli singer Mike Brant, written by Jean Renard, who also received songwriting credits for the song. The same sample is used in the song Preservation by Aesop Rock and Del tha Funkee Homosapien, found on

Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop collective formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its members include RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and, until his death in 2004, O ...

's 2005 album Wu-Tang Meets the Indie Culture. The song is in the key of C-sharp minor. American rapper Jay Rock released a remix to the song. Rappers Cashis and Bobby Creekwater were featured in the official remix of "Crack a Bottle".

Rick Ross William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. An influential figure in modern Hip-hop, hip hop music, Rick Ross has become known for his "Wiktionary:booming, booming" vocal perfor ...

also released a remix as a diss to G-Unit.

Critical reception

'' Billboard'' gave a positive review of the song: "Although not quite as strong as the title track to Eminem's 2004 album '' Encore'', the return of Eminem, Dr. Dre and 50 Cent has been anticipated for a long time, and it is sure to put Eminem back atop the marquee. His skills remain some of the best in hip-hop, and the accompanying contributions make the music that little bit more stronger." ''

Magazine'' commented negatively on the song, saying that it is one of the weakest tracks on the album, along the other single " We Made You". The song won at the 52nd Grammy Awards in the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group category.

Music video

During an interview for MTV, 50 Cent originally told that there were plans to make an animated music video for "Crack a Bottle", which was to be shot along with a music video for 50 Cent's song " I Get It In". On February 25, Eminem's manager Paul Rosenberg posted on his blog a still frame from the music video illustrating a homeless person holding a bottle wrapped in a brown bag. According to Rosenberg, it is directed by Syndrome and was planned to be released within a couple of weeks. The music video was playing on TV in Eminem's music video " 3 a.m.", which has been directed by Syndrome as well. On May 7, 2009, an unfinished version of the video was released via TheRelapse.com, featuring

's verse and chorus. Later during the same day, 50 Cent's rapped verse of the video was released via ThisIs50.com as well. This was added to the unfinished video on therelapse.com. A month later, on June 7, 2009, Cashis posted a link on

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to the full video in which he makes a cameo appearance. The music video portrays each rappers' style; Eminem's chaotic style, Dr. Dre's West Coast style, and 50 Cent's more club oriented style. None of the performers are featured in the video. On August 1, 2022, the official music video was released on YouTube after 13 years.

Awards and nominations

Track listing

;Digital download ;Promotional CD single

Chart performance

Since its release, "Crack a Bottle" has charted mainly in the United States, entering various charts including the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and

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 ...

. The song peaked in the top ten on the

Hot Rap Tracks 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 stat ...

, reaching number four. After spending three consecutive weeks at number seventy-eight on the Hot 100, on '' Billboards edition of February 21, 2009, "Crack a Bottle" reached the number one position on the Hot 100 due to sales of 418,000 downloads, becoming the fourth-biggest jump to the top of the Hot 100 in the chart's history. "Crack a Bottle" is Eminem's second song to peak the top the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), ...

since " Lose Yourself", which it peaked number one in 2002 and 2003 for twelve weeks. With this song, Dr. Dre reached the top of the Hot 100 for a third time while this is 50 Cent's fourth. The song has also entered in various European national charts, including the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are ...

and UK Singles Chart, and also debuted at number one on the Canadian Hot 100, which was the first number one debut on the chart.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crack A Bottle 2009 songs 2009 singles Eminem songs Dr. Dre songs 50 Cent songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Canadian Hot 100 number-one singles Songs written by Eminem Songs written by Dr. Dre Songs written by 50 Cent Songs written by Mark Batson Song recordings produced by Dr. Dre Songs about alcohol Shady Records singles Aftermath Entertainment singles Interscope Records singles Songs written by Jean Renard (songwriter) Songs written by Dawaun Parker