A lot of people try to complicate how big the “Marshall Mathers LP” is by putting it in numbers by Grammies won such as the first ever album of the year for a rap album. But I describe it as this: 3rd graders shouting all the lyrics in the schoolyard to “The Real Slim Shady” [even the F-word or Head] and the teachers not doing anything to discipline them because they love the album as well and they know how popular it is. People say now that “Green Day”, is the biggest band around and everyone knows them. If you ask five random people if they knew Green Day on the street, I bet you one would turn around and say “Who The Hell Is That?”. But in 2000 when this album was mainstream if you asked them if they knew Eminem, Marshall, or Slim Shady, they would definitely know who it was.
Partially because with no question about it, “The Real Slim Shady”, is the biggest single of the 2000’s. It is just as clever as “My Name Is”, with more heart and emotion and even more pop culture references. This single was so big were Eminem says “I don’t want a Grammy”, well they gave him one for best video ever for it anyway. This is one of the biggest songs on the album. You can tell that it this point Eminem is having a lot of dilemmas as a artist, the “Stan” song is about an obvious obsessive fan and Eminem that cuts his wrist and kills his girlfriend. Has Eminem gone emo? Uh no, it is just the opposite this song is the best produced on the album and the beat is just plain great, and Em’s rhymes flow perfectly and it really sounds like two different people are talking. Dido comes in and sings the chorus like a harmony and her vocals are kind of distorted but it still sounds perfect for the song. At the end of the song “Stan”, the obsessive fan drives his car off the bridge with his pregnant girlfriend because Eminem didn’t write him. Okay that song was both breathtaking and it drove me speechless the first time I heard it because when Eminem combines rap with storytelling giving it a extra element of greatness and preserve this song place in rap history. Okay so Eminem is trying to be nice to fans right, well in “The Way I Am”, one of my favorite rap song because of the level of emotion and how angry Eminem sounds, he says “I Will Not Sign Your Autograph”. But the song is more of him telling the media to “Leave Him Alone”, and features some of Em’s most meaningful rhymes while keeping the anger and a little beat of a beat change from the surrounding lines to the chorus. Some of Eminem recent songs don’t have the proper level emotion that this song has and the production since Em has started producing on his own. But this song has the most emotion that I have seen of any Eminem song.
A lot of songs are controversial on here pointing fingers at homos and queers. The first song is “Marshall Mathers”, were he clearly makes fun of “Faggots and Homosexuals”, but in the chorus Eminem really says he is kidding and he is just a normal guy. But these rhymes are great and hilarious and are some of the funniest put-downs of A-list celebrities. But Eminem warned the public in the opening track that this was going to be controversial. So Eminem has homosexuals on his back with “Marshall Mathers”. “Criminal”, is saying that you can’t believe that this crap is serious or Eminem will kill you. He kind of warn you hear like he does in the opening song. The song is basically a joke song but it’s really not as funny as the other songs but it does have a great chorus as the beat slows down a bit.
“brats can't sing and Britney’s garbage/What's this bitch retarded? Gimme back my sixteen dollars".- Marshall Mathers
"My words are like a dagger with a jagged edge/That'll stab you in the head, whether you're a fag or lez/Or the homosex, hermaph or a trans-a-vest/Pants or dress- Criminal
You heard that Eminem had problems with the female community? Yes he did and it’s basically because of him claiming that he is going to kill his wife Kim in “Kill You” and her self title track “ Well “Kim” is epic and it tells the story of Kim not letting him take care of there baby “Halley” and if your alone listen to this without getting the feeling that it is the most intense rap song you have heard in a while. It is the sequel to the other song about Halley and Em taking Kim to drown. “Kill You”, is basically the same thing but it is just a message to society with a few homosexual offensive lines thrown in. The song is a slowed down song.
“They said I can't rap about bein broke no more/They ain't say I can't rap about coke no more”- Kill You
"Hey remember the time we went to Brian's party?/And you were like so drunk that you threw up all over Archie/That was funny wasn't it?". -Kim
Dr. Dre is a rap production genius. And it’s really incredible what he did with Em’s second full length on this album, as he held his speakers in his studio to the telephone so Eminem could hear the beats. This also shows Eminem’s faith in Dre throughout this whole process. After this everyone was saying: “Brilliant Record But Can You Do It Without The Dr.?” So Eminem only really used Dre on a few tracks on the Show. Was it a mistake? Yes, because Dr. Dre is such an incredible producer and could have boosted the Eminem show to classic status, like this album’s status.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Marshall_Mathers_LP
Eminem rapping voice is the quickest and most political as he led a nation of millions to hang on every rhyme he said. He would win a rap battle over any rapper at this time or even in future or past times in this album. I’m not sure if you could say that about albums such as “Encore”. But on this album it could be this album. The beats on this album are crazy good there is even some guitar on the title track “Marshall Mathers” but “The Way I Am” has my favorite beat as it sounds dark with some piano playing to add to the darkness and it fits Eminem’s angry vocals perfectly. This is not “Encore” were half the songs sound a like or are not meaningful, this album really has a variety of beats and that makes it an even more of a great experience.
This album really doesn’t have a lot to do with Em’s personal life as a child, it just reflects on his fame and stuff he thinks is wrong with society. This covers homosexuals, boy bands, and any thing else he could think of over 18 tracks. He really spreads this out well throughout the album with almost every song poking fun at culture just a little bit. Drugs had a lot to do with the making of the album. Possibly three or four tracks are about this subject such as “Kill You, Drug Ballad, And Under The Influence”. Most of these songs are collaborated with other artist. This makes it an even more exciting experience since Em really does do a nice job of feeding of other rappers rhymes and crowd energy. If your looking to learn more about Em’s past [which is rarely mentioned on this album], these would be the tracks to listen to.
This album has won so many awards it is not even funny, it also had the normal Bilboard hits and the hits that went about on every category of the chart. And another amazing thing is that this album stayed #1 on the charts for nine weeks when other albums were coming out at a rapid pace. Eminem won a Grammy for best solo performance in “The Real Slim Shady” and album of the year.
This is one of the best rap albums of all time, after this record [only his second] VH1 already said he was the sixth greatest rap artist of all time. This record popularity will only grow larger like with other timeless records [Dark Side Of The Moon, Rumours] over time. It is my third favorite record of our century [behind Kid A by Radiohead and Relationship Of Command by At The Drive-In] and I am not even close to a big rap fan. This is a record that any one that considers themselves a true rap fan needs to buy, borrow, or at least download.
Download These:
The Way I Am
Kim
The Real Slim Shady
Criminal
Kill You
Stan
Marshall Mathers
