It was a surreal and meta moment for an MC who raps about winning an MTV Award and having to sit next to the very pop stars he eviscerates in his music.īut it was another track, not as big as “Slim Shady,” but arguably just as iconic, that would have the strongest cultural impact: “Stan.” Eminem never followed tradition, but as the third track – and second song proper – on The Marshall Mathers LP, a seven-minute concept song that sampled Dido was one of the last things anyone expected. Then, in a stroke of brilliance, he brought his Slim Shady army to mainstream America in an unforgettable MTV Video Music Awards performance, with a swarm of Eminem lookalikes marching down the aisle and recreating the track’s iconic music video. It was famously added to The Marshall Mathers LP at the last minute (mere hours before the album was due), having been concocted in response to concerns that The Marshall Mathers LP didn’t yet have a song that could repeat the impact of “My Name Is.”Ī career-defining track, “The Real Slim Shady” spoke to Em’s vast influence over pop culture, with the MC addressing a whole generation of Slim Shadys who “cuss like me, who just don’t give a f_k like me/Who dress like me, walk, talk and act like me.” “The Real Slim Shady” would become Eminem’s biggest hit ever, peaking at No.4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and going on to be of the most iconic songs of the decade, if not hip-hop to date. As a sequel to “’97 Bonnie And Clyde,” “Kim” is one of the most explosive tracks on the album: Eminem raps from both sides of his notorious relationship with his ex-wife, going from rabid devotion to hatred, over The Bass Brothers’ rock-heavy production, with chilling results. Both of these interludes would continue to define Eminem’s albums for years, further blurring the line between Marshall Mathers’ alter ego and his reality.īut on The Marshall Mathers LP, what felt familiar then sounds darker and more biting now. There were plenty of familiar elements on The Marshall Mathers LP, including a second appearance from Eminem’s manager at the time, Paul Rosenberg, who acts as the resident naysayer to the rapper’s antics on “Paul – Skit.” There’s also the first appearance of a “Steve Berman” skit, then the president of sales and marketing at Interscope Records, who provides an enlightening view of how Em’s record is “received” within the industry. On the track “Marshall Mathers” he performed a raw excavation, while “Drug Ballad” found him sneering through a veneer of intoxication the album’s stunning closer, “Criminal,” saw him walk a tightrope between the two. The former album had established much of Eminem’s personal and cultural mythology, but on The Marshall Mathers LP, released on May 23, 2000, he would delve in even further and completely deconstruct his personal life. As a follow-up to The Slim Shady LP, The Marshall Mathers LP functions as both a remake and a sequel, expanding upon old ideas and branching out into new, surprising territory, with Dr.
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