A Weekend With Marshall Mathers: Awkward Interview & Video For “Berzerk” Posted by Lucas Garrison on 09/09/13 | Filed under Videos, Eminem

Normally, when halftime comes around, it's time to grab some food, go to the bathroom, or do whatever you had been putting off so you don't miss a second of football. On Saturday however, Eminem was the halftime guest of Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit for the Michigan vs. Notre Dame game and he provided us with some can’t miss, halftime awkwardness. (I don’t think I have ever heard someone call Eminem “Mathers”.) Between blank stares, awkward silences and some odd answers, it kind of seemed like Em might have fallen off the wagon, but really I think he was just fucking with Kirk, Brent, and everyone else at ESPN; either way it was bizarre. So live TV may not be his forte, but music videos definitely are. Continuing the weekend EM takeover, Marshall, dropped the visuals for “Berzerk”.

 

What stood out to me (besides cameos from Kendrick and Kid Rock) was the obvious Pharcyde inspiration. The song itself clearly has some Beastie Boys influence, so maybe it's no coincidence that the video takes from another 90s group. To this day, “Drop” is still one of the best hip-hop videos ever thanks to the unique, reverse visual style from director Spike Jonez.

Throughout the "Berzerk" video there are plenty of visually intriguing shots filmed in a similarly reversed style, but what really tipped me off to the “Drop" inspiration was the "Berzerk" spray-paint scene. Em reverse spray painting Berzerk in big red letters looks awfully similar to the end of the “Drop” video, where Pharcyde reverse paints the screen (yes they even use red). I can accept the rewound visuals as a coincidence, but the red spray painting is too similar to think there is no Pharcyde influence.

Between that and the Beastie Boys sound, perhaps "MMLP2" will be a total 90s throwback. We can only hope...

See Also:  Eminem Drops New “MMLP2” Song, Interwebs Go “Berzerk” (Listen)
See Also:  The Realest Sh*t He Ever Said: Eminem Talks About the Depths of Addiction