The Eminem Show
The Eminem Show is a fitting title for Eminem's third album. His rap career has become a show that millions of fans are infatuated with. Em is at the height of his fame. He used to only cuss to make your mom upset, but now he has angered homosexuals and the FCC. In addition to being Mr. Controversy he has also become a reputable MC, up there with Jay-Z, who by 2002 was arguably the best rapper alive.
And he's not timid about establishing his high-esteemed hip-hop status. "There's a certain feeling you get/When you real and you spit, and people are feelin' your s**t," raps Eminem on "'Till I Collapse." He is aware of what his fame has built up among other rappers and voices his awareness with self-confidence. Over the Dr. Dre-featured "Say What You Say" he cleverly raps, "I joke when I say I'm the best/In the booth, but a lot of truth is said in jest." He sporadically asserts his rap superiority throughout the album without exhausting his claim but rather further proving his claim.
With his new status he focuses less on his personal life and more on American culture. On "White America" he uses his influence ("It's like a f**kin' Army marchin' in back of me) to criticize the U.S. government. At the end of the track he scathes at the White House "f**k you Ms. Cheney, f**k you Tipper Gore!" for infringing on his First Amendment rights. He ears no responsibility for any violent acts he might have inspired, emphasizing "this is crazy the way we act/When we confuse hip-hop with real life when the music stops" on "When The Music Stops." And when exercising his freedom of speech he is full of passion and angst. "Listen to the sound of me spillin' my heart through this pen/Motherf**kers know I'll never be Marshall again!" raps Eminem on "Soldier."
His beats are more rock-influenced than his previous two albums and almost entirely produced by himself with the exception of three beats from Dr. Dre on "Business," "Say What You Say" and "My Dad's Gone Crazy." He uses a sample from Aerosmith's "Sing For The Moment" on his track with the same title in which he balances deep snares and drums with electric guitars.
On the Dina Rae-featured "Superman" he incorporates both high and low-pitched guitar plucks with a soft bass to set a morose tone. After divorcing his wife Kim, who he has rapped about murdering on past records, he flirts with other women but cannot suppress his violent tendencies. He responds to an eager female, "Put anthrax on a Tampax and slap you 'till you can't stand."
Eminem is the most emotionally purging on "Cleaning Out My Closet." Over menacing guitar riffs and woodpecker-like snares he slanders his mother, in spite of a $10 million defamation of character lawsuit she filed against him. He gradually becomes more furious and explodes at the end of the third verse when he yells, "Remember when Ronnie died and you said you wished it was me?/Well guess what, I am dead, dead to you as can be!"
Three years into his career Eminem is already on the edge of throwing in the towel. On "Say Goodbye Hollywood" he grieves, "If I could swallow a bottle of Tylenol I would/And end it for good, just say goodbye to Hollywood." He regrets the toll his fame has taken on his personal life, most prominently on raising his daughter. But with his skill of articulating his sorrows through angry fluctuations and breathtaking stream of consciousness, he can't say goodbye because the rap game needs him.