8 Mile (Music From and Inspired by the Motion Picture)

Soundtracks to star vehicles are usually disposable. This one debuted at No. 1 with 702,000 copies, sold another 510,000 the following week, finished 2002 as the fifth best-selling album in America despite arriving in November, and eventually went six times platinum. It also produced what is arguably the most famous rap song ever recorded.

"Lose Yourself" was built by Eminem with Jeff Bass and Luis Resto, reportedly written in pieces between takes on set, and it became his first No. 1 on the Hot 100 with a twelve-week run and chart-topping placements in nineteen other countries. It then won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, the first rap track ever to do so, at a ceremony Eminem did not attend because he assumed he had no chance. Two decades later it is still the song stadiums play when something important is about to happen.

The rest is a genuine album rather than a contractual obligation. 50 Cent's "Wanksta" arrived here months before Get Rich or Die Tryin' and functions as the opening argument of his entire career. Jay-Z brings Freeway along for "8 Miles and Runnin'," Nas contributes "U Wanna Be Me," Rakim shows up on "R.A.K.I.M.," and Gang Starr, Xzibit, Obie Trice, D12, and Macy Gray fill out sixty-eight minutes that document the Shady and Aftermath camp at the exact peak of its power.

For a lot of listeners this record, not any Eminem solo album, was the front door to hip-hop entirely. It has held up as both a period document and a straight listen.

This double LP spreads the soundtrack across four sides via Shady and Interscope.