Throwback Thursday: The Eminem Show

Hey what's going on world? Welcome to another Throwback Thursday. Not sure why, but I have been in a big rap mood lately. Not necessarily that today's rap is anything exciting, but I've brought out a lot of my old records and have been reminded of how great rap used to be not so very long ago. One of those old favorites of mine is the album I'm about to review for this week's Throwback Thursday. In the spirit of my man Eminem's new single "Not Afraid" being all over the airwaves (which I've already posted my thoughts on here), I went into a retrospective of the older Eminem records I used to enjoy. This week I chose...



Artist: Eminem
Album: The Eminem Show
Released: 2002, Aftermath/Shady/Interscope Records

Up to this album's release in 2002, there was no sugar coating the fact that Eminem was #1 in the rap world. Whether or not you loved him or hated him, album sales don't lie. His initial breakout with The Slim Shady LP has sold rough 6 million worldwide to date. The follow up (and career peaking) Marshall Mathers LP has sold roughly 19 million worldwide to date. At the time, Eminem had done it all in music after merely 2 major label recordings. He had done world tours, sold millions of records, performed and recorded with huge names in rap, made magazine covers and newspaper headlines, saw his way onto everyone's television set, angered the government and censorship groups, and yet at the same time had music critics eating out of his hand. The question lingered; how in the hell was he going to follow up The Marshall Mathers LP: the album that put his name in everyone's mouth, his face on everyone's magazine, and his status on top. The answer? Perhaps my favorite Eminem album: The Eminem Show. What made this album so significant to me was the toning down of the insane "Slim Shady" moniker he had created for himself. He had already proven himself as the king of controversy and shocked America to death about gruesome themes like drugs, sex, and homophobia. This album went to a great length to give controversy a backseat and show off what Eminem was all along: an artist.

#1 - The Production. How do you prove your critics wrong and show that you don't necessarily need Dr. Dre to be succesful? Produce most of the album yourself; and that's exactly what Em did. With only 3 tracks produced the the Doctor, the rest of the production was handled by Mr. Mathers.

#2 - Lyrical skill. It was mainly shock value in the previous albums. In this album not only does he step the flow up, but he tells a solid story with his rhymes. He stays on theme, his rhymes and metaphors are consistent, and he tells a story in his lines. Much more improved from his previous showcases. I think this album was the one that reminded all of those of losing his rap skills since "selling out" that he was still the skillful rapper that came out of the slums of 8 Mile.

#3 - A more personal touch. In The Eminem Show we catch a glimpse more into a more serious and personal side of Em. The gimmicks and shock value aren't so necessary anymore. He goes into lyrical depth about his childhood, his stance on politics & government, race dichotomy in rap, recent personal events, being a father, and how he has dealt with fame.

All in all, this is a more consistent album and more of a proving ground of the artist that is Eminem. It showed that Slim Shady could evolve and that he wasn't a one trick shock value pony. The end result: another classic album that sold as much as The Marshall Mathers LP worldwide. Eminem could have died out, but decided not to, and The Eminem Show set the stage for the artist that we still know and love to this day. Good job Em. You deserved your success. Detroit WHAT!!

Standout tracks: The whole damn album!

Review: ***** (5/5 stars)

~Dr. M

Scale:
***** - Amazing! Highly important
**** - Great, very enjoyable
*** - Decent, worth checking out
** - Average, not very exciting
* - Poor, don't even bother