--- title: DNC: Barack Obama Listened to Eminem Before Convention Speech description: President Obama pumped himself up for his Democratic National Convention speech by listening to Eminem's "Lose Yourself" canonical: https://time.com/4441979/dnc-democratic-convention-president-obama-eminem/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-06T15:14:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:35:11.349Z og:title: President Obama Got Hype for His Convention Speech With 'Lose Yourself' og:description: He's nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready og:url: https://time.com/4441979/dnc-democratic-convention-president-obama-eminem/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0f523d7fbd65f7ff/6988a174428a9e0cdfcd3cf6/barack-obama-lose-yourself.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Democratic National Convention: Day Three og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Obama Got Hype for His Convention Speech With 'Lose Yourself' twitter:description: He's nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0f523d7fbd65f7ff/6988a174428a9e0cdfcd3cf6/barack-obama-lose-yourself.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Obama Got Hype for His Convention Speech With Eminem's 'Lose Yourself'  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Aug 6, 2016 3:14 PM UTC  President Barack Obama acknowledges the crowd as he arrives on stage to deliver remarks on the third day of the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center on July 27, 2016 in Philadelphia, Penn. President Barack Obama acknowledges the crowd as he arrives on stage to deliver remarks on the third day of the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center on July 27, 2016 in Philadelphia, Penn.Joe Raedle/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Aug 6, 2016 3:14 PM UTC Before taking the stage to [address the Democratic National Convention](http://time.com/4427762/dnc-barack-obama-hillary-clinton-convention/) last week, President Obama pumped himself up, as so many others do, by listening to Eminem’s “Lose Yourself.” A [behind-the-scenes video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgNP3g1Lwss) released Thursday by the DNC features Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and other politicians and celebrities rubbing elbows backstage between speeches. It also includes some much-needed insight into Obama’s presidential warm-up routine, as he bobs his head along to Eminem’s _8 Mile_ classic. 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