The Marshall Mathers LP vs. The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (Part 1/2)

What a lovely looking house. No really...

So it'd be a pretty typical idea for a white guy who is into hip hop music to do a hip hop review on Eminem. Right? Right? Well I think I can safely assume we all know who Eminem is despite the fact what version of him you like (Pre-Encore/Post-Encore) or when you started supporting him.

So it turns out me & Eminememem have quite a few things in common. He was born Marshall Bruce Mathers The 3rd. I was born Timothy Michael Donnelly The 3rd. Marshall was "White" "A motherfucking Bum" & "Lived in a trailer with his mum" I too, am white, a bum & grew up in a trailer with my mum. 

No seriously I did... 

Well ahem. Actually I couldn't of lived a more different life than our friend Marshall Mathers. I didn't come from a broken home, My mum wasn't heavy on drugs (That I'm aware of hehe) I never really had a moment where I can honestly say I was "Broke as fuck" but I did go on the dole for about a year so I guess that counts for something right? (Even if that scenario was my own doing). I've also never had situations where I lived in a house in a poor community that got regularly burgled & had to use whatever little money I had to pay rent & look after a newborn child. I've had it pretty good in life so whatever issues I think I have, it's NOTHING compared to what Mr. Mathers had to endure with growing up. As "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes put it appropriately "Tough times".

I got into hip hop in the early 2000's. Probably around 2003-2004 when I was making that big transition from primary/intermediate to high school. Ludacris, Eminem & Lil Jon were all the rage at this time. I remember I went from liking metal & not really liking hip hop all that much to pretty much having a most profound attachment to hip hop that is so intense it's still my absolute favourite form of music even today. I also remember not liking Eminem at first & I'm pretty sure I was adamant to my folk that I didn't even like Eminem's music when they decided to invest in my new found hip hop music. But thank fuck they did end up buying The Marshall Mathers LP on cassette. I'm sorry what? Did you say cassette? Damn right I did. They were still around at this time while everything was making the transition to the CD's we use now. At least my parents knew who & what was hot in rap at the time. & I actually have to thank them for helping me find my own musical identity for that. So while I avoided listening to this album like the plague, my cat like curiosity finally enabled me to give it a spin & boy did it leave me an everlasting impression on me.

What many people consider to be Eminem's magnum opus (which is just a fancy term meaning this is their best body of work) I'm going to be reviewing this album track by track. This is going to be a fun journey down memory lane & I'll try not to let nostalgia hamper my critique. Keep in mind I have not listened to this album in YEARS.

1. PSA 2000

Oh wow!! Does anyone remember these intros? Jeff Bass of the Bass Brothers (The production crew who worked with Eminem early on in his career before & while he was becoming famous) does a Public Service Announcement (PSA) similar to the one found on his 1st studio album "The Slim Shady LP". Here you find Eminem whispering vulgar things for Jeff to say to the public with Eminem announcing at the end of the skit to "sue me" which in turn explains the joke in itself. For those who don't understand the joke on this skit basically what it is is the fact Eminem can get into trouble for slandering with some of the lines (E.G. "If you don't like it you can suck his fucking cock") but if he gets someone else to say the lines for him the blame can get shifted off of him & onto to that person instead. Basically he is mocking censorship here & the fact he was in a few lawsuits for slander with his mother & his high school bully at this time. I just wrote a summary of a skit that is longer than the skit itself. WOW.

2. Kill You

What an album opener this is. A track that is just as infamous for being targeted as being misogynistic as it is for blatantly stealing it's musical backing from the french jazz pianist Jacques Loussier's song "Pulsion". Good one Dr. Dre. Don't clear the sample & get sued for using it for Eminem's lyrics. What a class-A guy Dr. Dre is for that stumble everyone. As for the misogyny this is where it goes over most people's heads. Eminem uses the Slim Shady persona to make a satire reply to critics about him being misogynistic & does it in a graphically violent & women hating way. Very tongue in cheek to the point he makes fun of his own satire at 1 point. 

"Oh, now he's raping his own mother, abusing a whore

Snorting coke, and we gave him the Rolling Stone cover?"

He also ends the track with what is now known as his famous "You know I'm joking" line he has implemented sarcastically on a whole bunch of opening songs on his albums. Great start so far.

3. Stan

This is hands down & no contest the single greatest Eminem song ever made bar none. No question about it. If you have never heard this song before my suggestion would be to stop you are doing & listen to it right now. Hell, even if you DO know this song give it a fucking spin right now. This song was groundbreaking in it's day & still holds up extremely well even today. The backing by a dude who I've never heard of before or since this song (Mark The 45 King, apparently he did Jay-Z's "Hard Kock Life" Who Knew? See what I did there?) is brilliant with a low thumping bass line & the sound of rain with occasional (& later on in the song more frequent) thunder sounds. The song samples the first verse of Dido's (or Dildo if you ask my mother) song "Thank You" whose song was released as a single within mere weeks of this being a single in what seems to be an uncanny alliance to boost the profile of BOTH songs sales. Dido herself loves & has supported her usage of vocals on this track & it's easy to see why. This song if you don't know (Why wouldn't you?) is about an obsessive overzealous stalker like fan named Stan (played by Eminem) writing a couple of letters to Eminem (The first 2 verses) which grows increasingly hostile in nature as time goes along without a response from Eminem. The 3rd verse is truly a sound to behold & the 4th deals with Eminem oblivious to what we the listeners know what happens in the 3rd verse, writing back to Stan. The plot twist near the end of his letter back to Stan is amazing & shows the level of creativity & depth this song has. This was also a great response to critics who thought he couldn't write a mature song without resorting to shock tactics to make his point in a song. Without a doubt 1 of the most inventive, creative & amazing raps ever invented & THE best Eminem song of all time. Infinity/5 Stars.

4. Paul (skit)

A sequel of sorts to the "Paul" skit on The Slim Shady LP in which he told Eminem to tone down the content of the album. On this 1 it sounds like he is about to say more of the same but it seems like he feels like it would be a lost cause considering that this album probably has more offense content on it & he just hangs up on Eminem's answer phone after announcing "Fuck it". You can't say you really blame him being Eminem's manager & all.

5. Who Knew

Apparently this was originally supposed to be the lead single off the album before Interscope Records convinced our white friend that the 1st single should be a pop friendly radio song. So thanks in part to this song we got "The Way I Am" & "The Real Slim Shady" out of this. Also the first couple of lines in the first verse are pretty much the exact same lines in "Turn Me Loose" a song of Fred Durst (Lead singer of my favourite band ever Limp Bizkit) featuring Eminem that didn't make the final cut of Limp Bizkit's Significant Other album. This being of course before they fell out but that's a story for another time. This song with it's pretty bland, but kept interesting enough by Dr. Dre to keep it from becoming stale bass driven beat, finds Eminem responding back to critics who site his music as an example of making people violent. He among other things at 1 point points out the hypocrisy of parents who think Eminem's music is "too violent" for their kids but have no problem with them watching violent movies, dressing & looking more mature than they should for their age with the power of make up & thinking Eminem teaches their kids the naughty words of the english language despite the fact they are filled in a society where those words float around rampantly everywhere they go anyway. He also takes the good time to announce in his defense that he never knew he was going to blow up so big to garner all the controversy over his shock rap lyrics. Who knew Eminem was such a great guy deep down?

6. Steve Berman (skit)

This is the start of the hilarious Steve Berman skits found on Eminem albums where Eminem talks to the director of marketing at Interscope records about the content of his albums. He pretty much demeans the whole album in no uncertain terms, tells Eminem why Dr. Dre is a better artist marketing wise compared to him & then demands he leaves his office in no uncertain terms. I don't wanna spoil the actual dialogue as it's best heard to truly appreciate it's blurring of the lines of reality. Which leads us to...

7. The Way I Am

Lucky Rakim. For those who don't know who Rakim is just look up Eric B & Rakim's albums "Paid In Full" & "Follow The Leader" Rakim basically invented how modern rap sounds & how lyrics are constructed & set the blueprint for every rapper to follow from since. He's lucky because the chorus of this song finds Eminem paying homage to him by using a line from his song "As The Rhyme Goes On" with

Rakim:

"I’m the R the A to the K-I-M

If I wasn’t than why would I say I am"

Eminem:

"I am whatever you say I am
If I wasn't than why would I say I am"

As for the actual topic. Eminem pretty much details what his newfound fame is like & how miserable he finds it with all the attacks on him due to his controversial lyrics & how autograph seeking fans pick horrible times to try & get an autograph from him among other things. You can feel his anger in this song & the awesome bell chiming & deep bass blend in well & help set the tone of his mood perfectly. & according to my liner notes the backing music was produced by Eminem!! Well done Emindemented. Great wee number is this.

8. The Real Slim Shady

This song was fucking HUGE back in it's heyday. In no small part due to the catchy beat produced by none other than the incredible Dr. Dre & it's massive pop appeal & humourous lyrics mainly involving making fun of various celebrities, critics, mainstream media & himself. This includes a hilarious line where Eminem goes to do a lead in for Dr. Dre to say something on the track only for a brief few seconds of a pause before he informs us that Dre has nothing to say because he's actually tied up & dead in Slim Shady's basement. Classic. Lead single off the album as well. He wrote The Way I Am to be his lead single but then ultimately decided to write this song on top of that song & used this as the lead. Give the man a fucking medal. He is such a hard worker of writing quality singles after all ladies & gentlemen.

9. Remember Me?

Nope...

Actually I'm just kidding. This song features RBX who is probably best known for his work on Dr. Dre's 1st solo (if you can call it that) debut album "The Chronic" &.. not much else I can recollect AND it features Sticky Fingaz (In before "eww that's sick" Sticky Fingers is actually street slang for a burglar) of the hardcore rap group (& 1 of my all time favourite rap groups) Onyx. This song was originally supposed to appear on Dre's album "2001" (Not like he needed it anyway) but Eminem hijacked it & decided he wanted it for his album & I gotta say it worked out well in Eminem's favour in doing so. This Dr. Dre dark brooding street beat which sounds like the type of music if you got approached a shadowy figure in a dark alley before getting mugged or raped sets the tone for the hardcore rappers to follow. SO IN ORDER OF TRACK APPEARANCE.

RBX:

I got nothing here. He just raps & does an okay job. Umm he sounds menacing so I guess that's a plus?

Sticky Fingaz:

Oh boy did this leave an impression on me. Sticky sounds psychotic & fucked up here. & it's his rugged & raw as fuck manly growl of a voice that made me a big fan of his in the first place. Including being the most impressive member in Onyx. His verse is probably the most scary sounding on the song just because he has such a commanding & hardcore presence about him you can't help but take notice of him.

Eminem:

1 Thing I like about this song is how the artists each do a different variation of the chorus before their verses, referencing lyrics, song titles, albums etc. to their past work while asking if people "Remember Me?" which I guess was the whole point. If you're wondering why I haven't even mentioned Em's verse yet it's well.. because I've got nothing more to add to his usual topic on this album of shock rap & answering critics. He rhymes it all together bloody well though & actually sounds deranged on his verse, especially right at the end of his verse when he is screaming at the listener if they remember him. Freaky stuff.

10. I'm Back

SLIM SHADY'S BACK EVERYONE!! WHOOOOO!! You know what this means right? More shock rap tactics. More crazy 1 liners. More crazy psychotic rhymes. & it's about damn time considering how much of a whineball Marshall was becoming to sound like. Slim Shady shines bright here & even makes fun of his own line about raping Christopher Reeves as a "touchy subject". Ouch. To boost the satire this song produces he has kids yelling "SLIM SHADY" in the chorus as if cheering or hooraying his comeback. & I felt like doing the same thing to be honest after all that whining about being famous & being criticized for his lyrics. Then again it probably helps that Dre produced this banga-tanga. We also get our first censored line on an explicit song where he again, pays homage to a very famous & often quoted line from a Rakim song (This time "My Melody") & remodels the lines referring to the Columbine shootings which were probably not even a year removed at this time, so pretty much in most people's minds. He would later go on to reference the censoring of this line & re-use it completely uncensored on The Marshall Mathers LP 2 but we'll get to that later.

11. Marshall Mathers

Damn jinx. Eminem has such discontent for his life that not even becoming famous & rich can cheer him up. This song has him target life in general. He discusses how before he was famous no one gave a fuck about him or what he did with his music but the second the mainstream caught on suddenly everyone gives a fuck about him & has something to say about his music. He reckons he is just a normal dude & nothing special is about him. While this is probably true if we are talking about him as a person he does have insanely superior rapping skills to 99.9% of rappers. I love how dark & brooding this song is & thanks to the Bass Brothers instrument it perfectly matches a guy who at this point in his life couldn't catch a break no matter what he did in life. I also must admit it is highly amusing when Eminem breaks out a parody of boyband LFO's "Summer Girls". Awesome stuff here. He has every reason to be as angry & discontent with life as much as he is here. We also have our 2nd censored line of the album of Eminem's line where he calls his mother's lawyer a faggot is censored out. I'm going to take a gamble & say it is due to it being a legal liability to him at the time.

12. Ken Kaniff (skit)

This skit is Eminem using his gay character Ken Kaniff (Which was actually invented by underground rapper Aristotle on a skit on The Slim Shady LP but when they had a fall out after the album Eminem did the voice in all skits to follow) in which he is getting his dick sucked by The Insane Clown Posse (Who Eminem was embroiled in a feud with at the time). Probably 1 of the most awkward & downright sexually explicit blowjob skits of all time. It ends when it is revealed ICP are fantasizing that they are sucking Eminem's dick & Ken Kaniff gets upset & leaves them in a huff. Was kind of somewhat amusing back then to a degree (Because ICP kind of deserved it at the time) but it is less amusing now in this day & age.

13. Drug Ballad

I know there are a few people who don't like this song & while you are entitled to your opinion allow me to explain something very important to you. Okay, you ready for this?

YOU ARE COMPLETELY WRONG IN EVERY CONCEIVABLE WAY POSSIBLE!!

This song is a mark of genius. Eminem starts off this track announcing this is his "love song". Of course his love isn't for women (misogynist remember silly?) but an ode to the almighty drugs of this world. (Song title could of, maybe might of been a factor in dictating this conclusion) The rhyme scheme is crazy in this song & being that I am a Stan (See what I did there?) of the lyrics factor in hop hop, you have no idea how much this makes me happy. I am so proud of the clever & witty wordplay here that Mr. Mathers deserves a straight up round of applause for his efforts (So go ahead clap bitch). & this is why Eminem is great. Take a cliche subject & do a great spin on it, bringing something fresh to the table. Thumbs up BOY!! (Also features Dina Rae's vocals from "Cum on Everybody" from the Slim Shady LP re-pasted onto this track because it is a sort of spiritual successor to that song AND may or may not feature a beat by The Bass Brothers. Just sayin')

14. Amityville

Fucking Amityville... 

I am so glad to be able to be this far into the album to finally write about this song. What can I say I heart this song to pieces with all my love. (Yes I deliberately switched 2 words in that previous sentence). This song (beat brought to you courtesy of The Bass Brothers) features the man known as Bizarre. Who, for all intents & purposes is rather tolerated or hated with a fucking passion. As for me I absolutely adore the guy. I enjoy & am thoroughly entertained by his dark, twisted, demented & un-pc sense of humour because well.. I find that type of stuff funny anyway. Yes I'm borderline mental for finding humour in rather not-very-humourous subjects. (Fuck you.) This song starts off ominous which is the perfect set up for this type of horror-or-or shock rap. They liken Detroit to Amityville (No really they do). Eminem's 1st verse is a lyrical wet dream for me as he proceeds to rhyme two 9 syllable lines, followed by another rhyme with the last 4 syllables. (aaaaand cum) Bizarre comes straight off the bat on the 2nd verse with some seriously fucked up lines & it doesn't get any better as his verse goes on but speaking of which, grants me an evil sadistic smirk of approval. Then on the 3rd verse Eminem just straight up sounds zany & bouncing off the walls with such hate filled anger, proclaiming that he is proud somewhat that Detroit is known as the murder capital. Truly reaching some psychotic levels here & I love every damn second of it. (Can you tell how much I enjoy this track? No really can you? I'm not sure I mentioned it enough)

15. Bitch Please II

Hooray for Dre. This Dr. Dre produced stellar all-star cast of rappers (Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg & Xzibit) join Eminem for a song that serves as a sequel to "Bitch Please" (No shit I swear) by Snoop Dogg which in turn featured Xzibit & Nate Dogg & was produced by Dr. Dre (Glad I got that out). So without further a due I present to you. The format I used for Remember Me. Before I start though, Nate Dogg does the chorus & this is 1 of his more memorable 1's (Even though he was the king of the hooks in hip hop regardless, an untouchable force). Anyway:

Dr. Dre:

Dre comes out swinging here on his retooled reinvented instrumental of the Bitch Please beat. He sounds pretty good actually & there is even a shout out to Limp Bizkit thrown in here (before the beef with Eminem & them). I gotta admit Dre surrounds himself with such extraordinary talent I don't think he'll ever falter lyrically.

Snoop Dogg:

Snoop Dogg had been signed to No Limit who made crap rap music generally but had Snoop. Snoop after losing his friend Tupac sort of lost his way a little in rap music but the album he'd released the year before this album "No Limit Top Dogg" saw him reunite with a lot of his old rap pals. What does this have to do with anything you ask? He sounds on fire & rejuvenated here. Before he got lazy with his rhymes in the years after this time period. It's great to hear Snoop on top of his game.

Xzibit:

Comes straight off the chorus with a reference to black slavery saying he is the head nigger in charge. I love how african-americans take racist words & phrases & try to make something positive out of them between themselves only for them to then turn around & say "Oh I forgot to mention only WE are allowed to say it, not you white folk" therefore reclaiming it's racist stigma after attempting to remove it. Back on topic however, this is what I'll say is your standard Xzibit guest feature verse although I do enjoy the cleverness of the lines 

"Bitch please, you must have a mental disease
Assume the position & get back down on your knees"
You might think that's the opposite of what I just stated it was (Keyword: Cleverness) but if you think about it properly from a lyrical/poetic stand point it is actually a nicely fitted go home line in the form of a pun. Both as a sexually orientated line AND as a threat to other rappers to back off & worship him as being superior. BOOM. 

You've just been schooled by me on hip hop lyrics.

Eminem:

Eminem both starts & ends his verse with his impersonation of Snoop Dogg & it is mildly amusing I must admit. Even Snoop seemed hella impressed as he ad-libs with Eminem at the start playing along. Here Eminem plays along with his critics & portrays a "Maybe they're right" attitude in classic satire commentary. At least he seems to have a creative take on his criticism this time...

16. Kim

WOW. Just WOW.. Talk about taking cheating extremely personal. The set up blurs the line between fact & fiction here & is a prequel to the song "Bonnie & Clyde '97" on The Slim Shady LP where he buries his dead girlfriend/wife/baby's mumma. This is all about him killing her lover, her lovers 4 year old boy (A line which is probably justified in being CENSORED as the mention of slitting a 4 year old's throat pops up in the song). The song has Eminem playing the role of both him & Kim where he as a psychotic breakdown & kidnaps Kim, drags her to the middle of nowhere & promptly kills her then dumps her body in the trunk at the end of the song. The whole song is screamed & has 1 of the creepiest & eeriest feels to a rap song you'll probably ever hear (Thanks in due part to the ever fabulous Bass Brothers). I can absolutely see why people feel highly uncomfortable & disturbed while listening to this. That's not to say it is a bad song per se but it is a hard song to stomach & has an acquired taste to truly appreciate. 1 of which I love simply because this song gives me the shivers & it's supposed to give you that vibe so well done Marshall (I'd say a "clap clap for the handicap" was in order but then he'd probably brutally murder me next). Horrorcore at it's absolute finest. The brutal execution of Kim at the end of the song with him choking & throttling her throat while screaming at the top of his lungs to "Bleed bitch bleed" is truly a monstrous & frightening musical moment to behold.

17. Under The Influence

Fun fact time. My mummy has never liked this song & I for the life of me can not work out why. I mean surely it has nothing to do with the lines in the chorus that go

"So you can suck my dick if you don't like, my shit 

Cause I was high when I wrote this so suck, my dick"

Ain't that right mummy? Anyway this song features what was mine & probably nearly everyone else's 1st taste of the crew that Eminem was in: D12. I wanna say this is a sort of preview to both the crew & the debut D12 album that would come out in the following year "Devil's Night". I would do a verse by verse like I've done above but really the whole entire track is just a straight up battle rapping track with horrorcore (which is a cross between horror/shock rap & hardcore street rapping) elements sprinkled throughout. Everyone comes out with a pretty strong showcase here. I can't say any one verse really stands out here as D12 worked as a damn good unit when paired together on tracks. More of both a continuation of the shock rap from the previous track & a wind down song to cool things off before the album ends. Bass Brothers beat yet again.

18. Criminal

Finally we are here. What is supposed to be the last track on most copies of the album (Not my cassette but we'll get to that) this is almost too perfect a way to end an album. What is often revered as 1 of Eminem's best songs & showcasing lyrically. It is a very humourous, witty & clever retort to his critics. Basically to try & simplify this track the easiest way I can think of, this song (Bass Brothers musically styled) is about Eminem saying that if people believe that what he says on record is true or that he would actually do it then that makes him a criminal. The intro to this track has the same format as the final song on the Slim Shady LP "Still Don't Give A Fuck" with the "A lot of people ask me" dialogue. He then proceeds to go on a venomous rampage lyrically & makes light of anything & everything that he has been criticized for & plays along with his very own criticisms against him in a most truly dazzling manner. With things such as saying he's not homophobic but gays are "heterophobic" among other completely outlandish 1 liners both poking fun at his own controversy & at society's very own hypocrisy. This also features a very memorable robbery skit in-between the chorus & 3rd verse which fuels his 3rd verse to describe the aftermath of said robbery in a very over the top violent way. His flow is also mental as fuck on this song providing a crazy cartoon like sounding flow with ridiculously high level wordplay. The song also perfectly portrays the craziness of Eminem's rapping personas. Definitely a stand out track on the album. A shining 5 stars.

19. The Kids

A bonus track on my widdle cassette after Criminal & replacement track of "Kim" on clean versions of the album where Eminem does impersonations of Mr. Mackey, Cartman, and Wendy Testaburger (from the TV adult cartoon show South Park) while doing an anti-drug speech to the kids of South Park Elementary. This song is humourous in nature where he talks about "Bob" who is a heavy pot smoker who has cases of paranoia & schizophrenia (To the point of murderous & rapist intentions in true Eminem fashion), "Zach" who takes ecstasy at a party due to peer pressure from friends & has a bad trip that kills him (or close enough to death) while his friends laugh about it who obviously weren't affected as much. The last verse deals with Eminem telling them all about his magic mushroom obsession & telling everyone not to follow in his footsteps while admitting to taking heaps of drugs as the only thing he is good at. The Bass Brothers beat is loopy, cartoonish & trippy but serves it purpose pretty well to Eminem's silly over the top take on a South Park tribute/parody.

Verdict:

*SIGH*

Holy lyricals Batman was this ever an interesting path down memory lane. I had quite a bit of fun listening to this priceless gem again. Eminem was absolutely on fire at this time, creatively, lyrically & musically. I can definitely see why people think of this as the finest album he ever made & I'd be hard pressed to disagree, however this is not my favourite album of his but boy is this easily a top contender for most consistent & incredible body of work. My only real complaint is that Eminem came off as a whiny bitch some of the time on this album & it kind of dragged it down for me. Sure you got a lot of heat & people targeted you like nothing but I don't need to hear about it constantly track after track after track. He is lucky he was able to creatively invent exciting & fresh ways to combat his criticism through the use of serious, comical or just downright ugly stabs at his personal life & conflicts using a combination of fact & fiction using the Slim Shady persona where needed. This was however Marshall Mathers time to shine & boy did he ever shine bright here. This easily holds up even today even if some of the references are a little dated, but the incredible multi-syllable rhyming patterns, the witty & clever wordplay & the ever so fitting instrumentals for each track give this album more than enough fuel to stand toe to toe with any other rap album. As for track to track, A to Z I felt there were no weak tracks at all, every track in my humble opinion comes across as a strong ferocious lion & that my friends is a rarity in albums. I also tend to dislike long albums in hip hop because I get bored over the halfway mark BUT I never felt this way not even once the whole time I listened to this & this album is around 1 hour & 13 mins long but with the included bonus track bumps up to 1 hr 18mins which is an incredibly long listen, ESPECIALLY when reviewing the damn thing track by track. All in all I've gotta say this set the bar damn high not just for Eminem but for rap in general & few have been able to try & top it until Eminem himself decided on making a spiritual successor to this in 2013. That album will be compared to this masterpiece of hip hop (Some say unfairly but we'll see). Until then Adiós, Au revoir & SEE YA!!

- Hexus