And it is, as he spends much of the album commenting on the media circus that dominated on his life ever since the release of Marshall Mathers. Third time around, it's The Eminem Show - a title that signals that Eminem's public persona is front and center, for the very first time.
Second time at bat, he turned out The Marshall Mathers LP, delving deeper into his past while revealing complexity as an artist and a personality that helped bring him an even greater audience and much, much more controversy. First time around, Eminem established his alter ego, Slim Shady - the character who deliberately shocked and offended millions, turning Eminem into a star. It may not shock the censors today, but to an entire generation, they still spit out each word in defiance.It's all about the title. The Eminem Show stands the test of time as an example of Eminem’s unparalleled flow and provocative lyricism. The album would go on to win two Grammy awards and land on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. But Shady’s cute, Shady knew Shady’s dimples would help.”Įminem also mixes things up stylistically on the album, fusing guitar-driven melodies with rap rhythms on tracks like “Sing For The Moment,” where he heavily samples Aerosmith‘s “Dream On” and the stomp-stomp-clap from Queen’s “We Will Rock You” on “Til I Collapse,” striking crossover appeal to rock fans. If they were brown, Shady’d lose, Shady sits on the shelf. He’s also refreshingly self-aware, as he takes shots at his own privilege on tracks like “White America” when he raps “Look at these eyes, baby blue, baby just like yourself. “Cleanin’ Out My Closet” would become one of the unexpected hits of Marshall’s career, achieving the chart status that equally introspective songs “The Way I Am” and “Stan” only came close to. On The Eminem Show, it’s all about Marshall Mathers, whether he’s exorcising his family demons on “Cleaning Out My Closet” speaking on fame in “Without Me” or reflecting on being a father on “Hailie’s Song,” he’s one of the few rappers wholly capable of conveying regret, anger or even despair. With his previous albums, Eminem had introduced the world to his amplified alter ego Slim Shady, but also managed to sneak in personal details, all while maintaining an unassailable shield of masculine bravado.
It appeared everyone wanted tickets to The Eminem Show. It immediately shot to No 1 on the Billboard 200 and became the best-selling album of 2002. To minimize the collateral damage, Interscope decided to release the album early and The Eminem Show instantly sold 284,000 in its first 24 hours. The hype bar had been raised to say the least, and just 25 days prior to The Eminem Show‘s intended release date of June 4, the album had been leaked.