Eminem - The Slim Shady LP (1999)
A few years ago when I went and lived on campus at a trade school, I admit it, I was a bit of a Stan. One of my roommates even called me out by saying "I bet if Eminem walked in this room right now, you'd freak the fuck out" and it flabbergasted me: Who WOULDN'T freak out if Eminem suddenly walked into their dorm room? Like even if you weren't a fan of his music, there'd be something that'd click inside of your brain just like "WAIT A SEC, WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON" and you'd realize that something truly fucking insane is happening, or better yet, feel fear because Eminem talks about some -really- fucked up shit on this album, from violence, drugs, and of course the many "I've got to shit on a celebrity" verses that are all throughout his discography, but dammit, this is some good shit and you KNOW it. There was a reason why my sister pulled me away from the TV back in 1999 when "My Name Is" came on MTV, and that's because this album is pretty fucking explicit in every sense of the word, but you already know that because you got this album when you were 11, and really, it's just as good as it was back then.
There's something crazy about Eminem on this album: His lyrics are vivid, descriptive, and crazy as shit, but also have amazing rhyme schemes, as he manages to not just be able to say entertaining shit, but when you really break it down on paper to multi-rhymes, internal rhymes, and genuinely clever lyrics, Eminem MASSIVELY improved as an MC since his previous releases, and that's saying a lot because even on "Infinite" he sounded like a guy you wouldn't want to fuck with in a beef. When you couple that with some Dr. Dre beats, and some beats complimentary of the amazing Bass Bros, then you end up getting an album that can be hit-or-miss to even Eminem's fanbase, but God, if it hits you, it hits hard.. Because it has a roll of quarters hidden in its fist, and a knife in the other hand. I mean, shit, do the lyrics "I walked into a gunfight with a knife to kill you, and cut you so fast, when your blood spilled it was still blue. I'll hang you till you dangle and chain you with both ankles, and pull you apart from both angles. I wanna crush your skull 'til your brains leaks out of your veins, and bust open like broken water mains" sound like they're fucking joking to you?! Sure, I could go on about the songs the public already knows, like "My Name Is", the Dr. Dre collaboration "Guilty Conscience", all that shit, but truth is, even if you know the biggest singles, you only know half of the story with what's really going on and being portrayed in this album.
Where nearly everyone will interpret the music as being edgy as fuck and angry to the point of being over-the-top, if you peek further into the album, you get lesser known tracks like "Brain Damage", "If I Had", and the especially amazing "Rock Bottom" that show the reason behind the anger: Anger, drugs, and sex paints the character of Slim Shady perfectly, but with those songs, you get a look at Marshall Mathers: Physical abuse from his drug-addicted mother (who he even goes as far as to call a "cunt" on this album), depression, and poverty essentially defines him as an actual person past the morbid and hilarious threats of violence, and it's such a welcomed change from other tracks on the album in the way that it takes a moment to expose you to who he actually was behind the scenes: The underdog that was going to bite and tear its way to the top of the dogpile (heh), organs hanging out of its bloody mouth, if only to be able to finally financially provide for his daughter Hailie, who, might I add, gets a shining feature on this album in the form of "'97 Bonnie & Clyde" in which.. Y'know what, fuck it, if you haven't heard it, just go listen to that track. My brother had a cassette copy of this album after it came out and it never played this song, his guess is because "It's so fucking evil", but on the other hand, my mom thought it was fucking hilarious, and really, neither of them are wrong.
Aside from Dr. Dre on "Guilty Conscience", Hailie's cries being on "'97 Bonnie & Clyde", and Royce Da 5'9" going bar-to-bar with Eminem in "Bad Meets Evil" which would later become the name of their duo, there's a complete lack of features on this album, and that's fucking perfect because when Eminem's rapping on this album, you never really want to hear anyone else, because hardly anyone else can match his disgusting imagery, fucked up sense of humor, or unique personality as he effortlessly flows terrible thoughts from his mind to out of his mouth in order to make this album one of those albums you had to hide from your parents, but that brings to mind another thing that's great about this album: It's so cartoony. On other Eminem albums ("The Marshall Mathers LP" and "Relapse" come to mind), the violence and everything else on those albums is just so real and morbid sounding, but on here, with Eminem's high-pitched nasally flow, Eminem comes off as the perfect soundtrack to the most fucked up episodes of "South Park" that you can find, and it's so fucking enjoyable. Listening to this album just smacks a smile on my face, I can't help it.
I wouldn't say all that glitters is gold, because the production very much sounds like the year it came out in (1999) and it's really appalling because even on the tracks that Dr. Dre produced, they sound dated for today! The reason I bring him up specifically is because "2001" dropped later that year and it still sounds fucking FLAWLESS production-wise!! What the hell?! Can you imagine this album with the beats off of that album instead?! It'd be fucking insane!! That being said, it helps serve as a time capsule to that specific time in hip-hop, especially when you have songs like "Role Model", "Just Don't Give a Fuck", and the appropriately titled ending track "Still Don't Give a Fuck", because it allows them to appear that much more menacing: That kind of shit is expected in hip-hop today (largely due to this album and Eminem's career in general) but when you dial it back with older sounding production, it reminds you just how fucked up this shit was for the time it came out in, and helps show that Eminem really fucking murdered songs without needing great production, which isn't to say the beats on here aren't pretty good ("Role Model" and "I'm Shady" both stick out as highlights), but definitely different than what he'd go on to have.
"I wanted an album so rugged nobody could touch it. Spent a million a track and went over my budget, now how in the fuck am I supposed to get out of debt? I can't rap anymore, I just murdered the alphabet" Eminem raps on the ending track "Still Don't Give a Fuck" and it's true: The dude fucking slaughtered a dictionary when it came to rhyme schemes for this album, to come straight out the gate into the mainstream eye with an album that didn't just poke and bite at what was considered "acceptable", but managed to stay alive as a very memorable and enjoyable album over the years due to its musical substance, nonstop notable lyrics and storytelling, and just generally being the diaries of a man with nothing to lose, no one to trust, and not a single fuck to give. Violent, drug-hazed, and grotesquely sexual content delivered excellently = An album you hid from your parents, and are going to hide from your own children years later. Classic.
9/10
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Feel free to check out the song previews/buy this album using my Amazon Associate link!
