The Eminem Show

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The Eminem Show
Studio album by Eminem
Released May 28, 2002
Recorded 2001–2002 at Encore Studios, Marshall's house, 54 Sound
Genre Hip hop
Length 77:26
Label Aftermath, Interscope, Goliath, Shady, Web
Producer Dr. Dre (exec.)
Eminem, Jeff Bass, Mr. Porter
Professional reviews
Eminem chronology
The Marshall Mathers LP
(2000)		 The Eminem Show
(2002)		 Encore
(2004)
Singles from The Eminem Show
  1. "Without Me"
    Released: May 12, 2002
  2. "Cleanin' Out My Closet"
    Released: September 17, 2002
  3. "Superman"
    Released: 2003 (U.S. only)
  4. "Sing for the Moment"
    Released: February 25, 2003
  5. "Business"
    Released: July 22, 2003

The Eminem Show is the fourth studio album by Eminem, released 2002.

The Eminem Show was the best-selling album of 2002. At the Grammy Awards of 2003 it was nominated for Album of the Year and became Eminem's third straight LP to win the award for Best Rap Album. It has been certified 8x Platinum by the RIAA, with over 9.7 million copies sold in the U.S. and over 20 million albums worldwide.[1] In 2003, the album was ranked number 317 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The Eminem Show was Eminem's first album to be produced mainly by himself and was the first Eminem album to be released under Shady Records

Contents

[edit] Release

The Eminem Show was first scheduled for a June 2002 release, however pirated and bootleg copies appeared online on peer-to-peer networks and began surfacing on the streets. Interscope decided to release the album early on May 28 to combat bootlegging. However, many stores in the U.S. began selling it early on Sunday May 26. Despite the confusion over the exact release date, the album still managed to have a wildly successful debut on the charts.The Eminem Show was Eminem's most successful album in terms of charting singles. It spawned two top ten and four top fifteen singles with "Without Me", "Cleanin' Out My Closet", "Sing For The Moment" and "Superman", which managed to reach the top ten without a video counterpart. "Business" was also released as an airplay single but did not chart as high as the others.

[edit] Content

[edit] Subject matter

The Eminem Show is a reflective album, featuring a more personal and serious side of Eminem. This change gives the album a lighter tone, a departure from the hardcore and controversial nature of his previous albums. Over the course of the album, he touches on the issues of race in hip-hop ("White America"), his childhood ("Cleanin' Out My Closet"), the United States Government, army, and terrorism ("Square Dance"), his 2000-assault on a nightclub bouncer and his following conviction ("Soldier"), him coming to terms with fate and how he sold his soul to money, fortune and fame, realizing that fame isn't worth it ("Say Goodbye Hollywood"), his status as a both a hip-hop and pop superstar ("Sing for the Moment"), and his relationship with his ex-wife Kim and daughter Hailie ("Hailie's Song"). Unlike The Marshall Mathers LP, The Eminem Show's release came off without significant complaints about misogyny or homophobia. Also, no tracks are explicitly offensive or misogynistic in the mold of "Kill You" or "Kim" from the previous album. Some shock-oriented and extremely explicit lyrics are still present (for example, "Drips" was so explicit that it was completely removed in the clean version of the album - though it is still listed in the track listing and is instead four seconds of silence, before "Without Me" starts), but they are for the most part toned down. "Hailie's Song" censors "abort her" when he says "God, I'm a daddy, I'm so glad that her mom didn't abort her".[2] Also, in White America, in Eminem's speech the word "flag" is backmasked when he says "To burn the flag and replace it with a parental advisory sticker". Q Magazine's May, 2006 review of the album explains "His two first albums aired dirty laundry, then the world's most celebrated rapper examined life in the hall of mirrors he'd built for himself."

[edit] Production

The album also saw Eminem take a substantially more predominant production role; most of it was self-produced, with longtime collaborator Jeff Bass co-producing several tracks. Dr. Dre, in addition to being the album's executive producer, produced three individual tracks: "Business", "Say What You Say", and "My Dad's Gone Crazy."

[edit] Track listing

# Title Producer(s) Length
1. "Curtains Up" (skit) Eminem 0:30
2. "White America"   Eminem, Jeff Bass, DJ Head[3] 5:24
3. "Business"   Dr. Dre 4:11
4. "Cleanin' Out My Closet"   Eminem, Jeff Bass, DJ Head 4:58
5. "Square Dance"   Eminem 5:24
6. "The Kiss" (skit) Eminem 1:16
7. "Soldier"   Eminem, DJ Head 3:46
8. "Say Goodbye Hollywood"   Eminem 4:33
9. "Drips" (feat. Obie Trice) Eminem, DJ Head 4:45
10. "Without Me"   Eminem, Jeff Bass, DJ Head 4:50
11. "Paul Rosenberg" (skit)   0:23
12. "Sing for the Moment"   Eminem, Jeff Bass, DJ Head 5:40
13. "Superman" (feat. Dina Rae) Eminem, Jeff Bass 5:50
14. "Hailie's Song"   Eminem 5:21
15. "Steve Berman" (skit)   0:33
16. "When the Music Stops" (feat. D12) Eminem, Mr. Porter 4:29
17. "Say What You Say" (feat. Dr. Dre) Dr. Dre 5:09
18. "'Till I Collapse" (feat. Nate Dogg) Eminem 4:57
19. "My Dad's Gone Crazy" (feat. Hailie Jade) Dr. Dre 4:26
20. "Curtains Close" (skit) Eminem 1:00

[edit] Samples

[edit] Critical reception

Initial critical response to The Eminem Show was very positive. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 75, based on 20 reviews.[4] The record became Eminem's third to win the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album and also swept the MTV Music Video Awards winning four awards for Best Male Video, Video of the Year, Best Direction, and Best Rap Video.

[edit] Charts and certification

Chart Provider(s) Peak
position		 Certification Sales/
shipments
U.S. Billboard 200[5] Billboard/RIAA 1 8× Platinum[6] 9,772,443+
European Albums Chart[7] IFPI 1 4× Platinum[8] 4 million+
Argentinian Albums Chart CAPIF N/A Gold[9] 20,000+
Australian Albums Chart ARIA 1 8× Platinum[10] 560,000+
Austrian Albums Chart Media Control Europe 1 2× Platinum[11] 60,000+
Brazilian Albums Chart ABPD N/A Gold[12] 50,000+
Canadian Albums Chart[5] Nielsen SoundScan 1 Diamond[13] 1,000,000+
Dutch Albums Chart NVPI/Megacharts 1 Platinum[14] 70,000+
Finnish Albums Chart GLF 1 2× Platinum[15] 62,212
French Albums Chart[16] SNEP/IFOP 2 2× Platinum[16] 600,000+[16]
German Albums Chart Media Control 1 2× Platinum[17] 600,000+
Mexican Albums Chart[18] AMPROFON 3 Gold[19] 75,000+
Mexican International Chart Position[18] 1
New Zealand Albums Chart[20] RIANZ 1 9× Platinum[20] 135,000+
Norwegian Albums Chart VG Nett 1 Platinum[21] 30,000+
Swedish Albums Chart GLF 1 2× Platinum[22] 120,000+
Swiss Albums Chart Media Control 1 3× Platinum[23] 120,000+
UK Albums Chart[24] BPI/The Official UK Charts Company 1 4× Platinum[25] 1.2 million+

[edit] Other chart certifications

  • Hungary Album Charts — 2× Platinum (12,000+)
  • Italian Album Charts — 3× Platinum (300,000+)
  • Japanese Album Charts — Platinum (405,000)
  • Portuguese Album Charts — 2× Platinum (40,000+)
  • Korean Album Charts — 2× Ducks (2)
  • Ukraine (confirmed by Ukrainian Music Association) — Platinum (50, 000+)

[edit] Singles chart positions

Year Song Chart positions
Billboard Hot 100 UK Top 40 Hot Rap Singles Rhythmic Top 40 Top 40 Mainstream Top 40 Tracks
2002 "Without Me" 2 1 5 1 1 1
"My Dad's Gone Crazy" 115 - - - - -
"Cleanin' Out My Closet" 4 4 5 2 7 5
"Hailie's Song" 113 9 - - - -
2003 "Business" - 6 - - - -
"Superman" 15 - 10 5 10 9
"Sing for the Moment" 14 6 10 18 5 5

[edit] Trivia

  • In the skit "The Kiss", the song "Everybody's Looking at Me" by Eminem is playing on the radio. "Everybody's Looking at Me" was done originally for the The Wash soundtrack but didn't make the final cut.
  • In the skit "Steve Berman" the song "Ain't Nuttin' But Music" by D12 from Devil's Night is playing in the background.
  • In the song "White America" at the very end of the song Eminem laughs and says, "I'm just playin' America you know I love you." which is a blatant reference the previous album Marshall Mathers LP song "Kill You" when he says the exact same phrase except substituting the word 'America' for 'ladies' in which he assures the audience that he was not serious. On 2009's Relapse he says, at the end of My Mom, "Sorry mom... I still love you though".
  • The song "Stimulate" was originally slated to appear on the album, but was replaced by "Say Goodbye Hollywood".[citation needed] "Stimulate" eventually appeared as the B-Side to the "Cleanin' Out My Closet" single.
  • In the song "Hailie's Song", the word "abort" is censored from the line "I'm so glad her mom didn't abort her".
  • It was Dr. Dre who convinced Eminem to include "Hailie's Song" on The Eminem Show. Dre played the song to two of his female friends and when they cried he was convinced that it should be included on Eminem's album. Eminem had originally planned on just keeping the track in a safe for Hailie to listen to when she grows up. He was embarrassed to have it released at first.
  • Many parts of "Square Dance" were written on the set of Eminem's movie, "8 Mile."
  • The title, "The Eminem Show" was created when Paul Rosenberg (Eminem's manager) told Eminem that his life was "like the fucking Jerry Springer show."
  • "Hailie's Song" was supposed to contain an interpolation from George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" but George's widow retracted George's permission. Eminem had to redo the entire song.
  • Hailie came up with the hook to "My Dad's Gone Crazy" while Eminem was mixing "Soldier," Hailie was there playing and said "Somebody please help me".

[edit] References

  1. ^ Amter, Charlie (November 4, 2004). Eminem's Early "Encore". Yahoo! Music. Retrieved December 13, 2007.
  2. ^ Needham, Alex (May 28, 2002). "The Eminem Show review". New Musical Express. http://www.nme.com/reviews/eminem/6410. Retrieved on 2008-08-04. "Though it's partially masked, on 'Hailie's Song', an otherwise tender eulogy to his daughter, Eminem clearly raps the line "I'm so glad her mom didn't abort her"." 
  3. ^ http://www.djhead.com/product/product.html
  4. ^ "Eminem:The Emineme Show (2002): Reviews". Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc. http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/eminem/eminemshow. Retrieved on 2009-04-02. 
  5. ^ a b "Eminem: Charts & Awards". Billboard magazine. http://www.allmusic.com/. Retrieved on 2007-05-19. 
  6. ^ Recording Industry Association of America Recording Industry Association of America.
  7. ^ "European Albums Chart". Music.AllOfMp3.com. http://music.allofmp3.com/ratings/charts.shtml?chartlist=966. Retrieved on 2007-05-19. 
  8. ^ "European Certification (IFPI)". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. http://www.ifpi.org/content/section_news/plat2003.html. Retrieved on 2007-05-19. 
  9. ^ "Argentinian Certification (CAPIF)". Cámara Argentina de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. http://www.capif.org.ar/Default.asp?AnoFiltro=2002&CO=5&CODOP=ESOP&ACCION=+Buscar+. Retrieved on 2007-05-19. 
  10. ^ "Australian Certification (ARIA)". Australian Recording Industry Association. http://www.aria.com.au/pages/aria-charts-accreditations-albums-2003.htm. Retrieved on 2007-05-19. 
  11. ^ "Austrian Certification (IFPI)". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. http://www.ifpi.at/. Retrieved on 2007-05-19. 
  12. ^ "Brazilian Certification (ABPD)". Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos. http://www.abpd.org.br/certificados_interna.asp. Retrieved on 2007-05-19. 
  13. ^ "Canadian Certification (CRIA)". Canadian Recording Industry Association. http://www.cria.ca/gold/0903_g.php. Retrieved on 2007-05-19. 
  14. ^ "Dutch Certification (IFPI)". IFPI. http://www.nvpi.nl/nvpi/pagina.asp?pagkey=61112&documentid=1237955&zoekform=60463&formposted=yes. Retrieved on 2007-05-19. 
  15. ^ "Finnish Certification (IFPI)". IFPI. http://www.ifpi.fi/tilastot/kplista.html?action=etuk&kirjain=E. Retrieved on 2007-05-19. 
  16. ^ a b c "French Chart, Sales & Certification". FanOfMusic.Free.fr. http://fanofmusic.free.fr/ParcoursAlbum-E.php. Retrieved on 2007-05-19. 
  17. ^ "German Certification (IFPI)". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. http://www.ifpi.de/wirtschaft/gpergebnis.php?txtSuche=Eminem&strAktion=suche. Retrieved on 2007-05-19. 
  18. ^ a b "Mexican Top 100 Albums Chart". AMPROFON. http://proyectos.atmosfera.tv/amprofon3/Top100.pdf. Retrieved on 2002-06-10. 
  19. ^ Mexican Gold Certification AMPROFON.
  20. ^ a b "New Zealand Certification (RIANZ)". Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. http://www.rianz.org.nz/rianz/chart.asp. Retrieved on 2007-05-19. 
  21. ^ "Norwegian Certification (IFPI)". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. http://www.ifpi.no/sok/index_trofe.htm. Retrieved on 2007-05-19. 
  22. ^ "Swedish Certification (GLF)". GLF. http://www.ifpi.se/goldplatinum.aspx. Retrieved on 2007-05-19. 
  23. ^ "Swiss Certification (IFPI)". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. http://www.ifpi.se/goldplatinum.aspx. Retrieved on 2007-05-19. 
  24. ^ "UK Albums Chart (Search)". Everyhit.com. http://www.everyhit.com/. Retrieved on 2007-05-19. 
  25. ^ "UK Certification (BPI)". British Phonographic Industry. http://www.bpi.co.uk/index.asp?Page=stats/content_file_118.shtml. Retrieved on 2007-05-19. 

[edit] External links

Preceded by
We Invented The Remix Vol. 1 by Various Artists
Nellyville by Nelly		 Billboard 200 number-one album
June 2, 2002 – July 6, 2002
September 1, 2002 – September 7, 2002		 Succeeded by
Nellyville by Nelly
Home by Dixie Chicks
Preceded by
Destination by Ronan Keating		 UK number one album
June 1, 2002 – June 7, 2002		 Succeeded by
Heathen Chemistry by Oasis
Preceded by
18 by Moby		 Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album
June 3 – July 14, 2002
September 23 – September 29, 2002		 Succeeded by
By the Way by Red Hot Chili Peppers
v • d • e
Eminem
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Compilations
Extended plays
Soundtracks
Video albums
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Filmography
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