The Marshall Mathers LP
by Eminem

Some of the pop references date this album and it is much more silly than The Eminem Show which I prefer over this.

Can't deny the effect it had on pop culture. Can't deny his word play and linguistics. Even if the topics are now seen as immature now, they were rule benders and breakers at the time. His lyrics shocked and alarmed people in a way no one had done before.

And bringing rap to white people and showing that it can be done has influenced countless white musicians since, even if this wasn't his intent. We all now know he is predominantly raised in Black culture of Detroit and is what he is most comfortable with. This guy is no white collar suburban-ite

It hasn't aged all that well as our culture over the last 15's years has become more and more sensitive and PC to cultural and genetic differences.

Criminal, Kill You, the singles, I'm Back are all excellent.

Kim literally freaked me out when I heard it. It is so shockingly uncomfortable and executed perfectly for what was intended. But, yeah, I skip that one.

From paladisiac TOP 100 COMMENTER 12/12/2011 13:54 | #32730 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

One of the main things i like about rap is the ability to cram a ton more lyrical content into an artistic musical piece. There is an artistry to sadism and offending people, especially in the same breath as expressions of love and thoughtful humor. After the PSA skit where he advises people to sue him, Em launches into "kill you" showing off his mastery of turns of rhyme and syllable as in "Like a murder weapon, I'ma conceal you / In a closet with mildew, sheets, pillows and film you / F*ck with me, I been through hell, shut the hell up / I'm tryin' to develop these pictures of the Devil to sell 'em". He brings highly descriptive venom from public figures to those in his personal life. But he disarms with insight on track #3, "Stan" (w/dido sample), taking the voice of an obsessive fan that takes his lyrics too literal, a sort of backhand slap at all those obsessive parents who fret over his lyrics. At the end, Em speaks as Em trying to ground the fanatic making Em seem a lot more human than the previous track and setting up a dichotomy he carries throughout the album. Of course, for the most part he's being all controversial and offensive, as on "who knew" ("I don't do black music, I don't do white music / I make fight music, for high school kids") and "i'm back" ("you better get rid of that nine / what good is a nine against a man who strangles himself?"). (i like how he sounds child-endorsed with the kids' voices at the chorus.) But the stand-out tracks are "the way i am", "the real slim shady", "marshall mathers" and "drug ballad". "marshall mathers" shows off his ability at inner-verse rhyme ("I sit back with the pack of zig zags and this bag / Of this weed it gives me the shit needed to be / The most meanest MC on this earth / And since birth I've been cursed with this curse to just curse") bemoaning the media and public's perception of him. "the real slim shady" is the pop culture comedy with lines like "sometimes i want to get on tv and just let loose, but can't, but it's okay for tom green to hump a dead moose" (remember tom green, right?) and "but if we can hump dead animals and antelopes, then there's no reason why a man and another man can't elope". "marshall mathers" rips it. Check this humor: "I'm anti-Backstreet and Ricky Martin / With instincts to kill N'Sync, don't get me started / These f*ckin' brats can't sing and Britney's garbage / What's this bitch retarded? Gimme back my sixteen dollars" and "My f*ckin' b|tch mom's suin' for ten million / She must want a dollar for every pill I've been stealin'". I love the ominous pounding behind Em's tale of killing his wife Kim. Sounds like real overflowing domestic rage of betrayal dialogue. I find it interesting that eminem was found and produced by dre and yet dre's strength is em's weakness -- that being guest appearances. Dre's ok on this, but snoop, D-12 and other guests bring the party down. That's probably because Em was just such a great rapper that he made others look like slouches.

You know, If aliens would come up the earth, destroyed in it's millions years, and found out this LP to be the last record of humanity, they would think that we we're pretty fucked up, and we actually are. (Edited)

While I would say that Jay-Z is better overall, and certainly more consistent over a longer period, Eminem tops him here. Em cannot match Jay for 'flow', but this album shows an incredibly talented young man at the top of his game. His best lines contain some magic combination of venom and humor; we laugh even as they sting. He will never be this great again. Matter of fact, after just struggling to get thru his latest, Recovery (almost 80 min long, Ugh!!), I'm almost ready to give up on him altogether. This one here, though, is the real deal. One of the 5 greatest rap albums ever.

From TheHolyKiwi TOP 100 COMMENTER 05/14/2017 00:17 | #190726 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Greatest horrorcore album ever released. When Eminem was raw, gritty, horrific and dark, he was at his best. That's exactly what this album is. Kim is a standout of aggressiveness, TRSS is a standout of comedicness and Stan is his most quality track to date. (Edited)