Before it became an Oscar-winning anthem, “Lose Yourself” was just a raw, late-night recording inside a movie set trailer.

Mekhi Phifer, who starred alongside Em in “8 Mile”, recently shared with Daily Express US how he was one of the first people to hear the now-iconic track:

We were in between shots, around 2 or 3 in the morning. Eminem invited me to his studio trailer and said, “Yo, come check out this new song I wrote, and I put your name in it”.

Phifer described how Em played the song before it was mixed or mastered, and even in its early form, it was clear they were witnessing something special:

It was incredible. We all went crazy. Who knew this song would go on to win an Oscar?

At the time, Eminem had three trailers on set — one for himself, one for a gym, and one transformed into a makeshift studio. That night, Phifer heard “Lose Yourself” before even Paul Rosenberg.

Released in 2002, “Lose Yourself” became a defining track of Eminem’s career, winning the Academy Award for Best Original Song and entering history books. But for Phifer, it will always be that 3 AM moment in a Detroit trailer, hearing the first version of a song that would take over the world.