For some reason, the Oscars allowed Eminem to touch the stage to perform his hit single, "Lose Yourself" seventeen years after it won the award for Best Original song. It stirred up social media with both confusion and excitement but unfortunately, not even that was able to help the Oscars' record-low ratings.
"I kinda figured maybe since I didn’t get a chance to do it at the time, maybe it would be cool," he explained to Variety. "Back then, I never even thought that I had a chance to win, and we had just performed “Lose Yourself” on the Grammys with the Roots a couple of weeks before the Oscars, so we didn’t think it was a good idea. And also, back at that time, the younger me didn’t really feel like a show like that would understand me."
The rapper later dispelled rumors that the reason he turned it down was that they asked him to perform a censored version of the song. He did say that the timing of the performance perfect since he is fresh off of the release of his latest album.
Em also gave some rare insight into his listening habits. After being asked about the new generation of rappers, he revealed that Young M.A., who appeared on Music To Be Murdered By, was one artist he's into right now. Along with Griselda, he revealed one more artist that he's feeling. "YBN Cordae, he’s dope," he said.