Eminem’s new single “Berzerk” is thrilling, throwback fun. And now it has a video to match. Released yesterday, the Syndrome-directed clip is just as full of references to ’80s-era rap as the Rick Rubin-produced song. Silly and colorful and stylish and wild, it features appearances from Rick Rubin, Kendrick Lamar, Kid Rock, Slaughterhouse, and The Alchemist.
We knew the song itself sampled Billy Squier’s “The Stroke”, as well as the Beastie Boys’ “It’s the New Style” and “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party).” The video follows suit, doing its own version of sampling—syncing up scenes from Squier’s video and recreates images from the Beastie Boys’ “So What’cha Want.”
We love the video, though, and we’ve been watching it a lot. And repeated viewings yield more nuggets of nostalgia. From the costume choices to the set design, the video gives clever nods to everything from opening scene from Back to The Future (get it?!) to the reverse videography technique made famous in the Pharcyde’s “Drop” video. (“Drop” itself is built around the famous sample of Ad-Rock’s voice from “It’s the New Style.”) Maybe you’ll even find some that we missed. See for yourself, with The Visual References In Eminem’s “Berzerk” Video.”
LL Cool J “Radio” (1985)
Long before we even watched the video for “Berzerk,” you knew the visual direction Em was going in. The cover art for the single is similar to LL Cool J’s album cover for Radio, which dropped in 1985—and was also produced by Rick Rubin. Em’s always been a big fan of LL. Five years ago, he pranked him on Shade 45 by calling in during a radio interview pretending to be just an everyday fan.
“Back to the Future” (1985)
In the first few seconds of the “Berzerk” video, Eminem references the opening sequence to Robert Zemeckis’s 1995 hit, Back to the Future —wherein Michael J. Fox, as Marty McFly, blow himself backwards with a giant amplifier.
Billy Squire “The Stroke” (1981)
“The Stroke” is heavily sampled on the Rick Rubin-produced “Berzerk.” Clips from Billy Squire’s video for the 1981 rock hit are interpolated in Eminem’s video.
Beastie Boys “So What’cha Want” (1992)
“Berzerk” also samples the Beastie Boys’ “The New Style” and “Fight for Your Right,” and scenes in the video directly mimic the photo-negative effect from the New York trio’s “So What’cha Want” video. (And Mike D’s outfit—though Em replaces the Knicks t-shirt with one repping his hometown Detroit Pistons.) The 1992-video was directed by the late Adam Yauch (under his directorial pseudonum Nathanial Hörnblowér) and was itself inspired by scenes shot from the point-of-view of the werewolf in the 1981 horror film Wolfen.
Pharcyde “Drop” (1995)
Em’s video uses the same the backwards film technique, which was previously used in Pharcyde’s video for “Drop.” In the scene, Mr. Porter kicks his shoes on backwards, like the guys in the psychedlic L.A. quartet did in the Spike Jonze-directed clip for their 1995 hit.
LL Cool J “Going Back to Cali” (1989)
In Ric Menello’s 1988 video for L.L. Cool J’s 1988 “Going Back to Cali,” producer Rick Rubin sits playing poker with LL Cool J, and makes the same “pass” hand gesture that he does in a similar scene in “Berzerk.” (Em, in a Kangol hat, plays L.L.)
