"Godzilla" is a song by American rapper Eminem featuring fellow American rapper and singer Juice Wrld, released as a single on January 28, 2020, from the former's eleventh studio album Music to Be Murdered By (2020). The song was Juice Wrld's first posthumous release following his death the previous month in December 2019.
Background
American rapper Juice Wrld's feature on the track marked his first posthumous release following his fatal seizure resulting from a drug overdose on December 8, 2019. Eminem's third verse on the track holds the record for his fastest rap verse, rapping 11 syllables per second, or 222 words in 30 seconds. Eminem surpassed his own records held by his feature on Nicki Minaj and Labrinth's 2018 song "Majesty", where he rapped 10.4 syllables per second, and his 2013 song "Rap God", where he rapped 9.5 syllables per second.
Music video
On March 4, 2020, a lyric video for the single was released. On March 6, Eminem released a snippet of the music video, partnered with Lyrical Lemonade. The music video, directed by Cole Bennett, released on March 9, featuring appearances by Mike Tyson, Dr. Dre, and a dedication to Juice WRLD at the end. As of October 2023, the song has over 569 million views on YouTube.
Composition
The song is written in the key of E-flat minor, with a tempo of 166 (or 83) beats per minute, with a chord progression of E♭m-G♭
Chart performance
"Godzilla" was a success in the United States and Europe. It debuted at number one in Finland and on both the UK Singles Chart and the Irish Singles Chart, becoming Eminem's tenth and ninth number-one single in the UK and Ireland, respectively, as well as the first for Juice Wrld posthumously and in total in both countries. It also went to number two in Flanders, the Czech Republic, Hungary, New Zealand, and Slovakia. It went to number three in both artists' homeland, the United States, and went top ten in 20 regions. Outside Europe, it saw moderate success in Lebanon and Singapore, peaking inside the top 20 in those regions.
Lyric change
During the beginning production of Godzilla in 2019, The first line Eminem wrote and rapped was "I can swallow a bottle of Adderall and I'll feel like Godzilla". This was originally set as the actual line that was going to be used in the song until Juice WRLD's fatal seizure on December 8th later that year.
Following the events at Midway International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, it was later disclosed that the seizure responsible for Juice's death was due to an overdose of pain-killer medications Percocet (Opioid), and Codeine (Narcotic). Juice fell to the ground and then started having severe convulsions, at which point he was administered Narcan, a drug that reverses the effects of Narcotic overdoses in emergencies.
After administering Narcan, Juice regained control of himself and his convulsions stopped for a few minutes before again falling to the ground and having even more convulsions. Juice was later pronounced dead at 3:15 AM Central Time that morning.
Following these events and considering how addictive and toxic Adderall can be, Eminem decided to change part of the first line to "I can swallow a bottle of Alcohol" rather than Adderall which is often considered a "Hard" drug.
On Eminem's 2022 compilation Curtain Call 2, released August 5th of that year, the version of the song with the original line saying "Adderall", rather than "Alcohol" was released to most major music platforms. One week after the album's release, the song was changed back to saying "Alcohol". It is still not known if the release of this version was intentional, or a mistake.
Awards and nominations
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Release history
References
2020 singles
2020 songs
Eminem songs
Juice Wrld songs
UK Singles Chart number-one singles
Irish Singles Chart number-one singles
Number-one singles in Finland
Songs released posthumously
Music videos directed by Cole Bennett
Songs written by Eminem
Songs written by Juice Wrld
Songs written by D.A. Got That Dope
Aftermath Entertainment singles
Shady Records singles
Interscope Records singles
Godzilla (franchise) Song recordings produced by Eminem