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Ass Like That

2005 single by Eminem

Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

"Ass Like That" is a song by American rapper Eminem from his fifth studio album Encore (2004). It was released as the sixth and final single from the album on June 7, 2005. The music video features Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, along with other puppets and main characters from Crank Yankers.

01Critical reception

The song received generally positive reviews from critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote: "Eminem is plain-spoken and literal, intent on refuting every critic from Benzino at The Source to Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, who gets an entire song ("Ass Like That") devoted to him." HipHopDX editor J-23 was divided: "'Ass Like That' is gonna be a song you either love or hate. Whatever the case, it sure is surreal to hear him rap an entire song as that Triumph puppet from MTV."

Scott Plagenhoef of Pitchfork was positive: "Em also shines when he spins well off his axis, as he does on ... the R. Kelly/Triumph the Insult Comic Dog-baiting 'Ass Like That'," but he noted that the song sounds like mixtape material. NME magazine was unimpressed, calling the song a "silly, groin-levelled [doodle] that [demonstrates] both producer and rhymer aren't just on autopilot, they're having a nice snooze in the cockpit while the plane plummets towards Earth. Or to put it another way, [this track is] undercooked juvenile shite."

USA Today wrote that "On the lighter side, [Em] name-drops the likes of Britney Spears, Janet Jackson, and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen on 'Ass Like That'." RapReviews noted that "In 'Ass Like That' Slim impersonates Triumph the Insult Comic Dog for three perverse verses of ogling over the Olsen twins and booty bashing Hilary Duff." Josh Love of Stylus Magazine was negative: "'Ass Like That', Em's 'response' to Triumph, fares better, and actually makes a pretty salient point about Hollywood's fetishization of barely legal starlets, but then you realize that it's an answer record to an awards show beef with a hand puppet and suddenly you're not even able to make eye contact with the album cover anymore" and he added that it does flash some of Eminem's once-patented lyrical venom.

The Austin Chronicle called the song a "demented Bollywood fever dream [that] manages to out-deprave R. Kelly." SPIN said that the song was "so sophomoric that [it borders] on surreal, all syncopated dis-gibberish and loony celebrity-baiting." The New York Times said that the song was "brilliantly insane: Dr. Dre lays some curlicued sitars atop a lazy bass line, while Eminem pays tribute to Hilary Duff and the Olsen Twins, delivering his rhymes in a thick accent that's supposed to be either Triumph the Insult Comic Dog or Arnold Schwarzenegger (apparently, they talk the same)." Slant Magazine called "Ass Like That" "a whole song devoted to Robert Smigel’s Triumph The Insult Comic Dog".

The A.V. Club called it "a track so muddled that it's hard to tell whether it's a song-length putdown of Triumph The Insult Comic Dog or an elaborate backhanded homage. The song backfires spectacularly, because Eminem and Triumph essentially share the same shtick, deflating celebrity egos with barbed wisecracks, and because at this point, Triumph is a lot funnier and more pointed in his putdowns than his human counterpart."

02Track listing

Digital Download
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Ass Like That" (album version) (edited) 4:25
2."Business" (live in L.A.) Dr. Dre2:34
3."Ass like That" (instrumental)
  • Mathers
  • Young
  • Elizondo
  • Batson
  • Pope
  • Dr. Dre
  • Elizondo
4:47
Total length:11:46
UK CD Single
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Ass Like That" (album version) (edited) 4:25
2."Business" (live in L.A.) Dr. Dre2:34
3."Ass like That" (instrumental)
  • Mathers
  • Young
  • Elizondo
  • Batson
  • Pope
  • Dr. Dre
  • Elizondo
4:47
4."Ass Like That" (video) (director's cut)
  • Mathers
  • Young
  • Elizondo
  • Batson
  • Pope
  • Dr. Dre
  • Elizondo
4:45
Total length:16:31
7" vinyl
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Ass Like That" (album version) (edited) 4:25
2."Ass Like That" (instrumental)
  • Mathers
  • Young
  • Elizondo
  • Batson
  • Pope
  • Dr. Dre
  • Elizondo
4:47
Total length:9:12

03Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2005) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA) 10
Australian Urban (ARIA) 5
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) 27
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) 20
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia) 23
Denmark (Tracklisten) 6
Europe (European Hot 100 Singles) 11
Germany (GfK) 31
Greece (IFPI) 13
Ireland (IRMA) 4
Netherlands (Single Top 100) 25
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) 9
Romanian Singles Chart 17
Scottish Singles Sales (Official Charts) 5
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) 25
UK Singles (Official Charts) 4
UK Hip Hop/R&B (Official Charts) 3
US Billboard Hot 100 60
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard) 93

Year-end charts

Chart (2005) Position
Australia (ARIA) 69
UK Singles (Official Charts Company) 99

04Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) 3× Platinum 210,000
New Zealand (RMNZ) Platinum 30,000
United Kingdom (BPI) Gold 400,000
United States (RIAA) Platinum 1,000,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Watch videos about Ass Like ThatExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Ass Like That, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

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