Eminem's "Crack A Bottle" Rockets Shady and 50 Cent to Top of Hot 100

Eminem's comeback single "Crack A Bottle" set a new digital record last week as it rocketed its way to Number One on the Hot 100 chart. By selling 418,000 downloads in its first week, "Crack A Bottle" set a new record for first week digital sales, beating out T.I. and Rihanna's previous record of 335,000 for "Live Your Life," Billboard reports.

"Crack A Bottle" also had the third best digital sales week in as long as they've been keeping track of the chart, with only Flo Rida's "Low" in January 2008 and Lady GaGa's "Just Dance" in January 2009 selling more downloads in a seven-day span. For Eminem and Dr. Dre, it's each their second Hot 100 chart topper: Slim Shady was tops in 2002 with "Lose Yourself," while Dre's appearance on Blackstreet's "No Diggity" gave the good Doctor a cameo atop the Hot 100. For 50 Cent, who also appears on Eminem's song, this is his fourth time atop the chart.

However, "Crack A Bottle" might not be an Eminem comeback single at all. 50 Cent, who contributes a verse to the song, recently told MTV that "Crack" will show up on his perpetually delayed Before I Self Destruct before it winds up on Em's Relapse or even Dr. Dre's Detox. Fiddy also plans to shoot an animated video for "Crack," along with a video for his own single "I Get It In."

We'll hopefully find out which Shady/Aftermath rapper claims ownership of "Crack A Bottle" within the coming months as all three albums are expected out in 2009.

Related Stories:

• Eminem Joined By 50 Cent and Dr. Dre On New "Crack A Bottle"
• Eminem "Heated" About Song Leaks, Says He And Dr. Dre Are Back To "Mischievous Ways"
• UMG’s Iovine Talks U2, Dre and Eminem Album Delays
• In the Studio: 50 Cent Gets "Dark" on New Disc

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Song Stories

“1999”

Prince | 1982

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.

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