Under the aegis of his titular anti-hero, meanwhile, Eminem felt the freedom to expound on anything that took his fancy on darkly comic fantasies such as lead single “My Name Is,” which introduced Slim Shady as a vengeful, ogre-ish loose cannon, and “Guilty Conscience,” on which he uses his alter ego to trade lyrical blows on the subject of ethics with guest rapper Dr Dre. Nonetheless, “Rock Bottom” is one of the best Eminem songs, detailing a particularly dark period in his life. There are only a few songs on the record that aren’t rapped from the vantage point of Shady. Eminem's global success and. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in Middle America and is critically acclaimed as one of the greatest rappers of all time. Eminem is among the best-selling music artists of all time, with estimated worldwide sales of over 220 million records.The fallout from its controversial lyrics led to a difficult following year, however, with Eminem facing further lawsuits from both his mother and estranged wife. (The latter song features a memorable sampled chorus from Dido, who also features in the video.)The Marshall Mathers LP debuted at the top of the charts, becoming the fastest-selling solo album in music history, shifting almost two million copies in its first two weeks of release. Elsewhere, smash hit single “The Real Slim Shady” poked fun at celebrities and detractors alike, while two tracks showed Eminem in a more self-reflective mood: “The Way I Am” examines fame and its repercussions, and the huge hit single “Stan” recounts a cautionary tale about an obsessed fan who takes Eminem’s violent fantasies too seriously. Undaunted (and even reveling) in the controversy he’d caused, the following year’s The Marshal Mathers LP found him expanding on the darkness of its predecessor, mixing razor-sharp humor with increasingly brutal personal attacks that often blurred the boundaries between fact and fiction on a collection that included the best Eminem songs to date.His mom – who had recently hit him with a $10 million dollar defamation-of-character lawsuit – came in for particular scorn on opener “Kill You.” Perhaps his most harrowing song, “Kim” is a fantasy detailing an imaginary argument between Eminem and his wife just before he kills her. The Slim Shady LP turned Eminem into a global star, though it also roused the ire of many concerned that its lyrics glorified violence, misogyny, and homophobia.
Released as a single just prior to the 2004 presidential election, the anti-war protest song “Mosh” was a pointed attack on the Bush administration and the continued presence of American troops in Iraq. On the Martika-sampling “Like Toy Soldiers” he made a heartfelt plea against violence in hip-hop. It dealt with the continued fallout of his fame while probing deeper into politics, with fictional and pointedly controversial lyrics kept to a minimum. In it, Eminem also reveals some of his biggest influences: “Reggie, Jay-Z, 2Pac and Biggie/André from OutKast, Jada, Kurupt, Nas and then me.” (Reggie is the one and only Redman.) Slim Shady, meanwhile, makes a re-appearance on the rebellious comedy of “Without Me,” a hit single that more than earns its place among the best Eminem songs.2004’s Encore was a thematic companion piece to The Eminem Show. Propelled by the stomp-clap rhythms of Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’, “Till I Collapse” features some of Eminem’s most inventive rhymes with an assist on the hook via Nate Dogg. On “White America” he accuses the US government of censorship based on his presumed bad influence on white suburban teenagers, while his row with his mother was revisited on “Cleanin’ Out My Closet” with a vitriolic account of his traumatic upbringing. Beech travel air performancePerhaps the best song of all, though, is the Rihanna collaboration, “Love the Way You Lie.” He was back to his bolshy best on 2013’s The Marshall Mathers LP 2, which revisited his most celebrated work. Tracks such as “Déjà Vu,” which details an overdose and his life as an addict with refreshing honesty, and “Going Through Changes,” which details his grief at the loss of Proof, and his ongoing love for ex-wife Kim, revealed a more mature side to the star. After canceling his 2005 European tour, he checked himself into rehab for dependency on sleep medication.Two comeback albums, 2009’s Relapse and 2010’s Recovery, dealt with his battles. Following the album’s release, the breakdown of Eminem’s marriage and the death of his best friend Proof precipitated Eminem’s own problems with addiction. The latter tapped folks like Skylar Grey, Ed Sheeran, and Q-Tip to help. The former memorably parodies the cover to The Beastie Boys’ Licensed to Ill and features guest appearances from Royce da 5’9” and Jessie Reyez. With a gospel hook sung by Beyoncé, the song sees Eminem taking a reflective look at his past, addressing his fans’ expectations, the bar he set for himself, and the “time when I had the world by the balls/Eatin’ out my palm.” Acknowledging his drive to keep pushing forward – “Always in search of the verse that I haven’t spit yet” – it’s a sharp reminder that, as he put it, “Bitch, I wrote ‘Stan’!”, but he also continues to be one of the most thoughtful rappers in history.This was readily apparent on 2018’s Kamikaze and 2020’s Music to Be Murdered By, which saw the rapper once again flexing his verbal talents.
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