The Slim Shady LP Review

I will review all of Eminem's albums to mark my return to the website.

Many argue over what they view as the best Eminem album. Many point to his major label debut, others say The Marshall Mathers LP. 

The Slim Shady LP was released in early 1999, and became a huge success. "My Name Is" alone made Eminem a house-hold name.Dr. Dre basically risked the legitimacy of his career by investing his production and support for Eminem, and luckily, it paid off. Big time.

Dre sure did risk his career investing in Eminem. Many believed Dre had "fallen off" the rap circuit following his split with Death Row Records in 1996. Luckily, it paid off for both of them.

Although Dre is credited with producing the album, most of the tracks are actually done by The Bass Brothers, a production duo from Detroit that have been working with Eminem shortly before he met Dre. They worked on his previous release, The Slim Shady EP. That EP was the introduction of Eminem's "Slim Shady" persona, and helped make him a distinct rapper in the game, especially after his decent but commercially unsuccessful debut, Infinite. 

The album opens with a disclaimer message, and then you're hit with Eminem's biggest single of all time, "My Name Is." The song has been played to death, and even non-Eminem fans have heard it countless times. The song is basically an introduction to Eminem's style of offensive rap. While the song may not be played a lot by Eminem fans due to it's over saturation, it's still a charming song. The beat, produced by Dre, is extremely memorable.

That's so 90's

Next we get the controversial "Guilty Conscience." The beat is great, and the concept of Eminem and Dre arguing as a person's conscience in three situations is brilliant and is pulled off very well. The only gripe I had with the album version of the song is that, in the video, a beat is played during the interludes parts where the narrator describes the situations. I think it just made the song flow more smoothly. Still a great tune.

"Brain Damage," the first track produced by The Bass Brothers, is amazing to say the least. Eminem's flow matches perfectly with the piano based beat. "If I Had" is a bitter sweet track reflecting on Eminem's economic status and frustrations before he made it big with this album. The beat is very atmospheric, and Dina Rae's vocals with it a strong 90's R&B feel while stilling sounding like Eminem. "97 Bonnie and Clyde" contains the same verses from Eminem from the EP version, but contains a different beat. Contrasted to the xylophone-esque sampling of the EP version, the new beat contains an atmospheric, surreal presence similar to that of the previous track. Although I really like the beat, the lyrics unfortunately deal with Eminem's twisted revenge fantasies of killing his wife. While I do not have a problem with this, this would later become the a blueprint of many Eminem songs that delve into his family issues, and it's an area I'd, for the most part, like to avoid listening to.

Next we get "Role Model," a Dr. Dre and Mel-Man produced track, is a straight banger. One of Eminem's earlier torch carrying anthems, Eminem shows off his lyrical flow and comedic side while taking jabs at rapper Canibus and then First Lady Hillary Clinton. The guitar style sample is one of the best on the album, bar none. Afterwards comes the amusing "Lounge" skit that relates to "My Fault," a comedic "cautionary tale" about Eminem dealing with a girl who is overdosing on psilocybin mushrooms. It's not his best use of flow, but the song is funny and contains a catchy beat and chorus.

"Cum on Everybody" is, in my opinion, the worst track on the album. I don't hate this song, but it sounds like an obvious use of filler. The beat, especially compared to all the other beats on his other albums, sounds out of place, like it would be Puff Daddy song. Lyrics are decent, but still a low point on the album.

Luckily, the album picks up with "Rock Bottom," which has one of the best beats on the album. An incredible use of guitar in the intro and on the hook, along with an ominous sounding choir. One of Eminem's crowing achievements in his career. "Just Don't Give a Fuck" has a slightly revamped instrumental compared to the EP version. On the second verse, a horn selection is added, and I much prefer this version for that. Another great introduction to Eminem's style.

"As the World Turns" offers another incredible beat, and is one of the better tracks on the album. "I'm Shady" has an infectious chorus and the piano beat is basic but works well. "Bad Meets Evil", featuring Royce da 5'9", is probably my favorite track on the entire album. While there are about 4 or 5 other songs on this album that I would consider some of the best songs in rap period, I'd consider this song just about perfect. Both rappers rap some of their best verses ever, and perform the song in a "battling" sort of way. The beat is spectacularly orgasmic, too.

Royce and Eminem dropped a few great tracks under the name Bad Meets Evil before tension arose between Royce and D12. The feud ended shortly before Proof's death in 2006, and the duo reunited for 2011's Hell: The Sequel. However, I can't be the only one to dislike the current project for it's trashy beats, and wish the duo were able to record more songs together while they were in their glory days.

The album closes with "Still Don't Give a Fuck," which is the "sequel" to "Just Don't Give a Fuck." It isn't exactly a banger, but it ends the album on a good note.

The Slim Shady LP is one of the greatest albums in hip hop. I prefer it to the MMLP because a lot of the raps that came out by Eminem after this mainly focused on how "ironic and controversial" he was being. This album blew up so much that he became both too popular and too controversial that he added a new "self aware" attitude to his music. Here, it's a tme before he was huge, so while some of his lyrics may seem juvenile, they seem more honest.

Rating: A