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The Marshall Mathers LP

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The Marshall Mathers LP is the second commercial and third overall studio album released by American rapper Eminem, released in 2000. Widely seen as his magnum opus, the album sold over 1.76 million copies in its first week, earning a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest selling rap album ever. It went on to sell over 21 million copies worldwide, earning critical acclaim, as well as considerable controversy and protest from groups such as GLAAD for its homophobic and violent lyrics.

Background

Lyrical content

As evidenced by Eminem's decision to include his real name in the album's title, this is a more serious and personal album than his major-label debut, The Slim Shady LP, which predominantly featured his exaggerated Slim Shady persona. Much of the album is spent addressing his rise to fame and attacking those who criticized his first album. Along with The Slim Shady LP, it contains many references to the occult. Other themes include his relationship with his family, most notably his mother and Kim Mathers, his former wife.

Production

Much of the first half of the album is produced by Dr. Dre and Mel-Man, who typically employ sparse, stripped-down beats, allowing Eminem's rapping to take center-stage. F.B.T. Productions and Eminem produced most of the second half, which ranges from the laid-back guitars of "Marshall Mathers" to the gritty atmosphere of "Amityville." The only outside producer on the album is The 45 King, who provides a haunting beat for the famous "Stan" single that samples Dido's "Thank You" with the addition of a slow bassline.

Piracy

Early bootlegs of the album started to sprout up on early 2000. The bootlegs came with 14 songs with songs "Remember Me", "Marshall Mathers", "I'm Back" and "Ken Kaniff" deleted from the album. There was also a hidden track at the end of "Criminal" named "Quitter". The only difference on "Quitter" is that the "Hit 'Em Up" background is deleted.

Reception and controversy

During the first week of sales, the album sold 1,760,049 copies, becoming the fastest-selling rap album in history, more than doubling the previous record held by Snoop Dogg's 1993 debut Doggystyle, and topping Britney Spears' record for highest one-week sales by any solo artist.[1] The Marshall Mathers LP is still Eminem's best-selling album. It finished out the year 2000 as the second highest selling album of the year with over 7.9 million sold.[2] To date, the album has been estimated to have sold approximately 10 million copies in the U.S.[3]

Protests against the album's content reached a climax when it was nominated for four Grammy awards in 2001 including Album of the Year, marking the first time a hardcore rap album was ever nominated in this category. At the ceremony, Eminem performed "Stan" in a duet with the famous homosexual artist Elton John playing piano and singing the chorus, in an attempt to silence GLAAD and others who claimed his lyrics were homophobic, though GLAAD did not change its position and spoke out against Elton John's decision. Despite significant protests and debate, The Marshall Mathers LP went on to win Best Rap Album, but surprisingly lost to Steely Dan's comeback album Two Against Nature for Album of the Year.

Despite the overwhelming controversy surrounding the album and its commercial success, it received a great deal of praise from music critics. A writer from Village Voice applauded the album and declared it; "...a work of art whose immense entertainment value in no way compromises its intimations of a pathology that's both personal and political". The writer also acknowledged Eminem as exceptionally witty, musical, discernibly thoughtful, and good-hearted.[4] Allmusic called the album fairly brilliant and noted its production for its liquid basslines, slight sound effects, and spacious soundscapes.[5] New Musical Express gave the album a perfect rating and described it as a "Gruelling assault course of lyrical genius".[6] Entertainment Weekly commended the album for its diversity, calling it "indefensible and critic-proof, hypocritical and heartbreaking, unlistenable and undeniable" and "the first great pop record of the 21st century".[7]

In 2002 French jazz pianist Jacques Loussier filed a $10 million lawsuit against Eminem, claiming the beat for "Kill You" was stolen from his song "Pulsion".[8] He unsuccessfully demanded that all sales of the album be halted and any remaining copies destroyed.

Censorship

Just like The Slim Shady LP, there is an intro track named "Public Service Announcement 2000" that describes the same language and content as the last album.

Parts of the album are censored even on its explicit version, namely the lines "I take seven [kids] from [Columbine], stand 'em all in line" on "I'm Back", "[your attorney Fred Gibson's a] faggot!" on "Marshall Mathers" and "there's a [four] year old little [boy] laying dead with a slit throat" on "Kim". The last two lines can be heard on the rare album The Shady Shizzle Collection which contains all uncensored songs.

The clean version of the album is only slightly censored, as it leaves profanities like "shit", "ass", "bitch", and "damn" uncensored. The only content significantly edited were offensive and violent parts that were aimed at police, prostitutes, women, gays, and schools such as Columbine. On many copies of it, however, it does shorten the opening track from a 25-second "Public Service Announcement" much like the one on The Slim Shady LP to just two seconds of silence. On other copies though, the track is still left fully intact. On the clean version, the song "Kim" was removed because of the violent messages aimed at his wife and was replaced with "The Kids".

Attack against Insane Clown Posse

In Eminem's response to Insane Clown Posse's track "Eminem's Mom" as well as other feuds the artists have had against each other, Eminem responded to it all with a skit named "Ken Kaniff" which was an attack towards Insane Clown Posse as the skit parodied the group members Shaggy 2 Dope and Violent J performing fellatio on their record producer.

As well as the song "Marshall Mathers", Eminem states in the song "I was put here to put fear in faggots who spray Faygo Root Beer and call themselves "clowns" cause they look queer. Faggot 2 Dope and Silent Gay claiming Detroit, when y'all live twenty miles away (fuckin' punks) and I don't wrestle, I'll knock you fucking faggots the fuck out".

Singles

The Real Slim Shady

Main article: The Real Slim Shady

"The Real Slim Shady" was the first single released from The Marshall Mathers LP. It was also his first #1 single on the UK Singles Chart. The song is a critique of manufactured pop songs that were being churned out at the time. It parodies these songs by including features of a typical pop song, a repetitive chorus etc. Most hardcore rap and general music fans missed the irony, and classed this as a novelty pop song itself rather than a parody of one.

The song was a hit single, becoming Eminem's first chart topper in some countries, and garnering much attention for insulting various celebrities. The chorus is about the sudden fashion changes and other changes in the media and pop culture caused by Eminem's success: "I'm Slim Shady, yes I'm the real Shady/All you other Slim Shadys are just imitating/So won't the real Slim Shady please stand up, please stand up, please stand up?". The chorus echoes the tagline of the classic TV quiz show To Tell the Truth. (The TV show's signature phrase is "Will the real ___________ please stand up?")

The Way I Am

Main article: The Way I Am (Eminem song)

"The Way I Am" was released as the second single from The Marshall Mathers LP. "The Way I Am" features a much darker sound and much deeper subject matter than the album's lead single, "The Real Slim Shady."

It features the first beat Eminem produced on his own, featuring an ominous bassline, a piano loop, and chimes. In the song, Eminem lashes out at people he feels are putting too much pressure on him, including overzealous fans and record executives expecting him to top the success of his hit single "My Name Is". He also shares thoughts on the Columbine school shooting.

During the chorus, Eminem questions his identity in the face of massive amounts of attention from millions of strangers. While his previous album, The Slim Shady LP, was somewhat more cartoonish than this album, and he rapped therein as a distinct character who goes by Slim Shady, his critics believed that Eminem, Marshall Mathers, and Slim Shady were identical. Similar to other musicians and artists who lost their identity in some fictional construct (David Bowie, Alice Cooper), Eminem expresses his doubts about who he has become.

The chorus is similar to a rhyme used by rapper Rakim in the song "As The Rhyme Goes On" from his debut album with DJ Eric B..

I’m the R the A to the K-I-M
If I wasn’t, then why would I say I am?

Stan

Main article: Stan (song)

"Stan" was the third single released from The Marshall Mathers LP. It peaked at number one in the United Kingdom and Australia. The song is perhaps Eminem's most critically acclaimed song and has been called a 'cultural milestone'.[9]

"Stan" is a haunting story of a fan who is obsessed with Eminem and writes to him but doesn't receive a reply. Unhinged already, the fan (Stan) drives his car off a bridge with his pregnant girlfriend in the trunk. The first three verses are delivered by Stan, the first two in letter form and the third being spoken as he is about to drive off a bridge and is recording a cassette to send to Eminem. The song makes heavy use of sound effects, with rain and thunder heard in the background, as well as pencil scratchings during the first two verses, and then as Stan drives off the bridge, listeners hear tires screeching and a crashing sound, followed by a splash of water, in a style similar to the 1964 songs Dead Man's Curve and Leader of the Pack. The fourth verse is Eminem responding to Stan, only realizing at the last second that he has heard about Stan's death on the news as he was writing to him.

The song can also be interpreted as a reply at Eminem's critics, who accuse him of promoting drugs and violence, because it creates a scenario that clearly shows that his rap lyrics are not meant to be taken seriously, "what's this shit you said about you like to cut your wrists too? I say that shit just clownin dogg, c'mon - how fucked up is you?" This theme is repeated throughout his music.

The song was produced by The 45 King and samples the first couple of lines of "Thank You" by Dido as the chorus.

"Stan" has been listed by many as one of the greatest hip-hop songs of all time. It was ranked #3 on a list of the greatest rap songs in history by Q magazine,[10] and came in 10th in a similar survey conducted by Top40-Charts.com.[11] Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time ranked it #290. It also ranked #45 on the 100 Greatest Rap Songs in addition to being declared the 222nd best song of all time by Acclaimedmusic.net.[12]

Airplay singles

"Bitch Please II" and "Drug Ballad" were released as non-mainstream airplay singles, and all of them charted, along the non-released "Kill You".

Track listing

# Title Featured guest(s) Producer(s) Time
1 "Public Service Announcement 2000" 0:26
2 "Kill You" Dr. Dre, Mel-Man 4:24
3 "Stan" Dido The 45 King, Eminem (co) 6:44
4 "Paul" (Skit) Paul Rosenberg 0:11
5 "Who Knew" Dr. Dre, Mel-Man 3:48
6 "Steve Berman" (Skit) Steve Berman 0:54
7 "The Way I Am" Eminem 4:50
8 "The Real Slim Shady" Dr. Dre, Mel-Man 4:44
9 "Remember Me?" Sticky Fingaz, RBX Dr. Dre, Mel-Man 3:39
10 "I'm Back" Dr. Dre, Mel-Man 5:10
11 "Marshall Mathers" F.B.T., Eminem 5:21
12 "Ken Kaniff" (Skit) 1:02
13 "Drug Ballad" * Dina Rae F.B.T., Eminem 5:00
14 "Amityville" ** Bizarre from D12 F.B.T. 4:15
15 "Bitch Please II" *** Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, Nate Dogg Dr. Dre, Mel-Man 4:48
16 "Kim" **** F.B.T. 6:18
17 "Under the Influence" D12 F.B.T., Eminem 5:22
18 "Criminal" ** F.B.T., Eminem 5:19

* - Known as just "Ballad" on the censored version of the album. Although Dina Rae sings some parts in this song, she is not credited in the track listing, although she is mentioned in the album's liner notes.
** - On the edited album, "Amityville" is 13-14 seconds shorter than the explicit version. The edited version of "Criminal" is 2 minutes less than the Explicit version.

*** - The cover of both the censored and the uncensored album refer to this track as "Bitch Please II".
**** - "Kim" is replaced by the South Park-themed "The Kids" on the censored version of the album. In the UK reissue and double disc versions, both songs were included. The original UK single album CD issue does not feature "The Kids". * - "Kill You" is listed as "**** You" on the censored version of the album

Limited edition bonus disc

For a limited time, there was a special import version of The Marshall Mathers LP, containing the original album and an enhanced bonus disc featuring the instrumental versions of the three singles, the explicit version of "The Kids", originally only found in its censored state on the clean version of the album, and a remix to "The Way I Am", with alternative metal rocker Marilyn Manson in place of Eminem in the chorus. In addition, the enhanced CD portion contained the uncensored music videos for the album's singles.

# Title Featured guest(s) Producer(s) Time
1 "The Real Slim Shady Instrumental" - Dr. Dre & Mel-Man 4:44
2 "The Way I Am Instrumental" - Eminem 4:50
3 "Stan Instrumental" - The 45 King and Eminem (co-producer) 6:43
4 "The Kids (Explicit Version)" - Eminem 5:03
5 "The Way I Am (Danny Lohner Remix)" Marilyn Manson Eminem 4:53

Chart certifications

  • US - Diamond[13] (10 Million +)[14])
  • Mexico - Platinum (150,000+)
  • Australia 4x Platinum[15] (280,000+[14])
  • Norway - 2x Platinum[16] (20,000+[14])
  • Canada - 8x Platinum[17] (800,000+[14])
  • Austria - 2x Platinum (70,000+)
  • Sweden - 2x Platinum[18] (80,000+[14])
  • Brazil - Platinum (60,000+[14]) *International Artists certification
  • Hungary - Gold
  • Germany - 2x Platinum[19] (400,000+[14])
  • Europe - 6x Platinum IFPI[20] (6 Million+)
  • Switzerland - 4x Platinum
  • New Zealand - 6x Platinum[21] (90,000+[14])
  • Netherlands - 2x Platinum[22](140,000+[14])
  • France - 2x platinum[23] (400,000+[14])
  • UK - 5x platinum[24] (1.5 Million+[14])
  • Finland -Platinum
  • Belgium - 2x Platinum
  • Japan - Gold (100,000+)
  • Korea - 3x Platinum

World Wide Sales: 21 million

Accolades

Personnel

  • Dr. Dre - Executive producer/Producer/Performer/mixing
  • Eminem - Vocals, Producer, Mixing
  • DJ Mark the 45 King - Producer
  • Snoop Dogg - Performer
  • Jeff Bass - Producer/Performer
  • Steve Berman - Performer
  • John Bigham - Guitar
  • Chris Conway - Engineer, Mixing
  • Steven King - Engineer
  • Joe Martin - Production Coordination
  • Lance Pierre - Engineer
  • Michelle Lynn Forbes - Engineer, Mixing
  • Xzibit - Performer
  • Tom Coster, Jr. - Keyboards
  • Mark Bass - Producer
  • Mike Elizondo - Bass, Guitar, Keyboards
  • Larry Chatman - Project Coordinator
  • Aaron Lepley - Engineer
  • Camara Kambon - Keyboards
  • Rick Behrens - Engineer, Mixing
  • Sticky Fingaz - Performer
  • RBX - Performer
  • Bizarre - Performer
  • D12 - Performers
  • Les Scurry - Production Coordination
  • Kirdis Tucker - Project Coordinator
  • Jason Noto - Art Direction, Design
  • James McCrone - Engineer
  • Mike Butler - Engineer, Mixing
  • Rob Ebeling - Engineer, Mixing
  • Akane Nakamura - Engineer, Mixing

Album chart positions

Year Chart positions
Billboard 200 Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums Top Canadian Albums Top Internet Albums Australian ARIA Albums Chart
2000 1 1 1 1 1

Singles chart positions

Year Single Chart positions
Billboard Hot 100 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks Hot Rap Singles Modern Rock Tracks Rhythmic Top 40 Top 40 Mainstream Top 40 Tracks Canadian Singles Chart Latin Pop Airplay Latin Tropical/Salsa Airplay
2000 "Bitch Please II" (feat. Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, & Nate Dogg) — 61 — — — — — — — —
"The Real Slim Shady" 4 11 7 19 1 13 9 15 28 23
"The Way I Am" 58 26 — — 5 — 36 — — —
"Stan" (feat. Dido) 51 26 — — 9 33 34 — — —
2001 "Drug Ballad" — 71 — — — — — — — —

Trivia

  • The Marshall Mathers LP features a number of lines mimicking songs from Eric B. & Rakim's album Paid in Full. The chorus to "The Way I Am" resembles lines from the song "As the Rhyme Goes On", and the first two lines from the third verse of "I'm Back" are based on lines from "My Melody".
  • Dr. Dre's "What's the Difference" from his album 2001 is the instrumental playing in the background of "Steve Berman (skit)".
  • The chorus to the song "Remember Me?" is performed once by each of the three rappers in the song (Eminem, RBX, and Sticky Fingaz), and each one features lines taken from one of their previous songs. RBX's lines come from "High Powered" on Dr Dre's 1992 album The Chronic, Sticky Fingaz' lines come from Onyx's debut album Bacdafucup, while Eminem's lines come from his previous albums, The Slim Shady EP and The Slim Shady LP.
  • Pacewon & Young Zee (of the Outsidaz) were supposed to have verses on "Amityville". Eminem and Pacewon fought over Pace's verse, so their verses ended up getting cut.
  • In the lyrics of "Kill You", 'A blood stain is orange after you wash it three or four times in the tub / But that's normal, ain't it Norman?' is a reference to the film Psycho's Norman Bates.
  • The line 'I used to give a fuck/ now I give a fuck less/ What do I think of success/ It sucks too much to stress/ I guess I blew up quick...' from "I'm Back" was borrowed by Jay-Z for "Success", a track from his tenth studio album American Gangster.
  • The Marshall Mathers LP was the first album which on its cover used a mirrored "E" instead of the second "E" in "Eminem" — a common feature since then.
  • The house that is on the front cover is the actual house Eminem grew up in. He was driving by showing it to some friends and they stopped and asked the new owner of the house if they could take a picture with him sitting on the front porch and the owner agreed.

References

  1. ^ Rolling Stone - The Marshall Mathers LP sells 1.76 million in first week
  2. ^ SoundScan List of Best Sellers - 2000
  3. ^ Gabriella (February 2001). Interview with Eminem: It's Lonely at the Top. NY Rock. Accessed December 13, 2007.
  4. ^ village voice > music > Consumer Guide: Getting Them Straight by Robert Christgau
  5. ^ link
  6. ^ Eminem: The Marshall Mathers LP (2000): Reviews
  7. ^ The Marshall Mathers LP | Music Review | Entertainment Weekly
  8. ^ BBC News - Eminem sued by jazz star (March 31, 2002)
  9. ^ http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/17456/Eminem_Curtain_Call_The_Hits
  10. ^ http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/q150lists.htm
  11. ^ http://top40-charts.com/features/top100_greatest_hiphop2.php
  12. ^ Acclaimed Music
  13. ^ RIAA Certification levels
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k IFPI Worldwide Gold/Platinum Certification levels
  15. ^ AIRA 2003 Certifications
  16. ^ Norway Certifications (2001)
  17. ^ CRAI Certifications - Searchable database
  18. ^ Sweden IFPI - Gold/Platinum Sales (År2001)
  19. ^ Germany Certifications - Searchable database
  20. ^ IFPI Certifications 2007
  21. ^ The Complete New Zealand Music Charts 1966-2006: Dean Scapolo: ISBN 978-1877443-00-8
  22. ^ NVPI Certifications - Searchable database
  23. ^ France 2x Platinum Certifications 2001
  24. ^ BPI Certifications for Marshall Mathers LP
  25. ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5938174/the_rs_500_greatest_albums_of_all_time/4
  26. ^ TIME.com - The All-TIME 100 Albums
  27. ^ IGN.com - Top 25 Rap Albums
  28. ^ http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best_rap-album.html
  29. ^ Defenitive200.com - 200 list
  30. ^ 2006 Q Magazine — 100 Greatest Albums Ever
  31. ^ Wikipedia.com - XXL Magazine
Preceded by Billboard 200 number-one album
June 10 - August 4, 2000 		Succeeded by
Preceded by UK Albums Chart number-one album
June 30 - July 21, 2001 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album
March 5 - March 11, 2001 		Succeeded by
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