Songfacts®:

• This self-referential song features Eminem; it finds both rappers detailing their struggles with the pressures of fame over the years. Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine croons the hook. The tune was debuted on November 26, 2012 during The Voice on which Levine serves as a judge.
• Symbolyc One's beat was taken from Dr. Dre's album Detox. The Texan producer's other credits include Kanye West's "Power" and Beyoncé's "Best Thing I Never Had."
• The song samples the widely borrowed drum break from Melvin Bliss' "Synthetic Substitution." Bernard "Pretty" Purdie's percussion for Bliss' 1973 cut has been used by a wide variety of artists including Moby for his 2002 single "Extreme Ways" to Kanye West for the G.O.O.D. Music track, "New God Flow."
• The music video was directed by Richard "Rich" Lee, who previously helmed Eminem's clips for his solo single "Not Afraid" and his Bad Meets Evil project "Lighters." It was shot in Corktown Historic District, Detroit, (Eminem's hometown) and features 50, Levine and Slim Shady racing against a helicopter. The clip also features Super Middleweight boxer Andre Dirrell as '50s car passenger. "The video is kind of abstract; it's kind of metaphoric in a sense, like the paranoia of feeling like we're being chased," Eminem noted to MTV News. "Whether it's true or not, it's kind of how we feel. It's kind of a metaphor for us running for our lives. Personal lives and from fame, everything that goes with the game."
• Speaking with Billboard magazine, 50 said the Adam Levine collaboration was years in the making. "Early in my career, I said something positive about Maroon 5 and Adam happened to hear it and never forgot it," he said.
• This was the fourth time 50 Cent and Eminem had appeared together on a chart single but the first time 50 Cent had been the lead artist. Their previous Hot 100 collaborations were Eminem's hit tunes "Crack a Bottle," "Encore" and "You Don't Know."