In 2002, hip-hop star Eminem’s fictionalized biopic 8 Mile debuted, becoming a commercial and critical success. Besides box office receipts, 8 Mile’s soundtrack would become quadruple platinum-certified, and the lead single, “Lose Yourself,” would also go on to win an Oscar for Best Original Song while also winning the Grammy for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Male Solo Performance.
Besides hardware, Lose Yourself would also launch memes all over the web—representative of Eminem’s lyrical ability to intermix serious stories about life’s struggles punctuated with humorous lines. As the song begins to describe B-Rabbit’s (stand-in character for Eminem in the film) anxiety before a performance, one line, “Vomit on his sweater already, mom’s spaghetti,” also inspired Marshall Mathers’—Eminem’s real name—culinary venture, “Mom’s Spaghetti,” a Detroit-area serve-up window dishing out pasta and gravy.
