Beck recorded the 1993 alternative single “Loser.”
Beck Hansen wrote and recorded “Loser” in Los Angeles in 1991 with producer Karl Stephenson. The song blends a sampled slide-guitar riff, hip-hop-influenced rhythm, acoustic guitar, and surreal lyrics. Beck initially performed it as an improvised piece, and the early recording was issued by the independent label Bong Load Custom Records in 1993.
After radio stations began playing the track, Geffen Records signed Beck and released a new version as a major-label single in 1994. “Loser” reached No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and made Beck an unexpected figure in the alternative-rock breakthrough of the 1990s.
The song is sometimes described simply as grunge, but its collage of folk, hip-hop, blues, and lo-fi experimentation makes that label incomplete. Its success helped define Beck’s genre-blending public identity.