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The Marshall Mathers LP

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Untitled

The Marshall Mathers LP is the sophomore major-label album from American rapper Eminem.

Styles & Production

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 CD is spent addressing his rise to fame and attacking those who criticized his first album. Other themes include his relationship with his family, most notably his mother and Kim Mathers, his on-again, off-again wife. The album is considerably darker than his debut; its famous "The Real Slim Shady" single is the one and only upbeat and comical tracks. It was written shortly before the final copy of the album was due, in order for it to have a radio-friendly single.

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.

Reception & Controversy

During the first week, it 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 would eventually be certified as diamond (one of only four rap albums to do so), and is still Eminem's best-selling album.

While the album received a great deal of praise from most music critics, its enormous popularity also provoked a backlash from gay-rights activists (primarily GLAAD), feminist groups, and socially conservative political figures such as Lynne Cheney, who all claimed that many of the album's lyrics were extremely misogynistic, homophobic, and vulgar. Unlike his previous album, Eminem uses the words "fag" and "faggot" multiple times throughout The Marshall Mathers LP, and the tracks "Kill You" and "Kim" were commonly cited as examples of hateful lyrics against women.

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 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 of the Year, but lost to Steely Dan's Two Against Nature for Album of the Year.

Censorship

Parts of the album are censored even on its explicit version, namely the lines "your[Debbie Mathers'] attorney Fred Gibson's a faggot!" on "Marshall Mathers", "I take seven kids from Columbine" on "I'm Back" and "there's a four year old little boy laying dead with a slit throat" on "Kim".

The 'clean' version of the album is only moderately censored and leaves the words "shit", "ass", "bitch", and "damn" uncensored making it one of the most lightly censored albums ever released. The only content significantly edited were offensive and violent parts that were aimed at police, women, African Americans, Jews, gays, and schools such as Columbine. It does, however, 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.

As well, "Drug Ballad" (track 13) was shortened to just "Ballad" for the edited version of the album, and "Kim" (track 16) was replaced with a South Park themed song entitled "The Kids".

Accolades

  • Template:RS500. In its book format, the album was moved up to #298.
  • Byron Crawford and IGN ranked it 17th and 24th, respectively, on their own lists of the greatest rap albums of all time in 2004. [2] [3]
  • DigitalDreamDoor named it the 19th greatest hip-hop album of all time. [4]
  • In 2005 Pitchfork Media and Stylus Magazine named the album #93 and #24, respectively, in their list of the best albums released between 2000 and 2004.
  • It is one of the few albums ever to receive the top ranking of "XXL" from XXL Magazine. It was Eminem's first album to be rated by the magazine.[5]

Track listing

  1. "Public Service Announcement 2000" (Performed by Eminem and Jeff Bass) – 0:25
  2. "Kill You" (Bradford/Mathers/Young) (Produced by Dr. Dre and Mel-Man) – 4:24
  3. "Stan" (featuring Dido) (Armstrong/Herman/Mathers) (Produced by The 45 King) – 6:43
  4. "Paul (skit)" (Performed by Paul Rosenberg) – 0:10
  5. "Who Knew" (Bradford/Elizondo/Mathers/Young) (Produced by Dr. Dre and Mel-Man) – 3:47
  6. "Steve Berman (skit)" (Performed by Eminem and Steve Berman) – 0:53
  7. "The Way I Am" (Mathers) (Produced by Eminem) – 4:44
  8. "The Real Slim Shady" (Coster/Elizondo/Mathers/Young) (Produced by Dr. Dre and Mel-Man) – 4:50
  9. "Remember Me?" (featuring Sticky Fingaz and RBX) (Collins/Jones/Mathers/Young) (Produced by Dr. Dre and Mel-Man) – 3:38
  10. "I'm Back" (Bradford/Elizondo/Mathers/Young) (Produced by Dr. Dre and Mel-Man) – 5:10
  11. "Marshall Mathers" (Bass/Bass/Mathers) (Produced by F.B.T. and Eminem) – 5:20
  12. "Ken Kaniff (skit)" – 1:01
  13. "Drug Ballad" (Bass/Bass/Mathers) (Produced by F.B.T. and Eminem) – 5:00
  14. "Amityville" (featuring Bizarre of D12) (Bass/Bass/Johnson/Mathers) (Produced by F.B.T. and Eminem) – 4:14
  15. "Bitch Please II" (featuring Dr. Dre, Nate Dogg, Snoop Dogg, and Xzibit) (Bradford/Broadus/Elizondo/Joyner/Mathers/Young) (Produced by Dr Dre and Mel-Man) – 4:48
  16. "Kim" (Bass/Bass/Mathers) (Produced by F.B.T.) – 6:17
  17. "Under the Influence" (featuring D12) (Carlisle/Holton/Johnson/Mathers/Moore/Porter) (Produced by F.B.T. and Eminem) – 5:22
  18. "Criminal" (Bass/Bass/Mathers) (Produced by F.B.T. and Eminem) – 5:19
  19. "The Kids" [UK Bonus Track]

Album singles

Single cover Single information
"The Real Slim Shady"
"The Way I Am"
  • Released: October 17, 2000
  • B-side: "Kids", "'97 Bonnie & Clyde" & "Steve Berman"
 "Stan"

Personnel

  • Dr. Dre - Executive producer/Producer/Performer
  • DJ Mark the 45 King - Producer
  • Snoop Dogg - Performer
  • Jeff Bass - Producer/Performer
  • Steve Berman - Performer
  • John Bigham - Guitar
  • Chris Conway - Engineer, Mixing
  • Richard Huredia - 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
  • Eminem - Vocals, Producer, Mixing
  • Camara Kambon - Keyboards
  • Rick Behrens - Engineer, Mixing
  • Joe Mama-Nitzberg - Photography, Art Coordinator
  • Mel-Man - Producer
  • 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
  • Jeff Bass - Producer

Album chart positions

Year Album Chart positions
Billboard 200 Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums Top Canadian Albums Top Internet Albums
2000 The Marshall Mathers LP #1 #1 #1 #1

Singles chart positions

Year Song 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 - #61 - - - - - - - -
2000 Stan #51 #26 - - #9 #33 #34 - - -
2000 The Real Slim Shady #4 #11 #7 #19 #1 #13 #9 #15 #28 #23
2000 The Way I Am #58 #26 - - #5 - #36 - - -
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".
  • In 2002 a French pianist named Jacques Loussier filed a $10 million lawsuit against Eminem, claiming the beat for "Kill You" was stolen from his song "Pulsion." [6]. He unsuccessfully demanded that all sales of the album be halted and any remaining copies destroyed.
  • 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.
Preceded by Billboard 200 Number-one Album
June 10, 2000 - August 4, 2000 		Succeeded by
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