This dilemma was especially acute on the album’s lead single, “ My Name Is.” Surely Em didn’t really staple his teacher’s nuts to a stack of papers or stick nine-inch nails through his eyelids. But nowhere was that through-the-looking-glass tension more potent than it was on The Slim Shady LP.
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Em’s entire catalog has this same kind of tension, and over the years we’ve learned how to parse the meaning in his intricately wrought rhymes. We never know which persona is speaking-we’re stuck in the midst of a narrative without a reliable narrator. That’s why TSSLP is both hilarious and terrifying. Em’s most important theme has always been his own duality.Īll the mirrors are a reflection of his different personas: Eminem exists somewhere between Slim Shady and Marshall Mathers-somewhere between a witty wordsmith with an expansive imagination and a soul-baring artist who’s willing to expose the intimate details of his life. Mirrors have been a recurring theme in Eminem’s work-he raps in front of the mirror in the opening scenes of 8 Mile, he wanders into a house of mirrors in the video for “Not Afraid,” and he punches a mirror in the third verse of “My Darling.” So what’s the reason for this image? Contrary to popular belief, the overarching theme of Eminem’s music isn’t anger or Americana or an oedipus complex (though all of these certainly factor in). But perhaps even more significant was the EP’s cover art: an image of Eminem punching through a mirror. Some of the EP’s songs-including “ Just Don’t Give A Fuck”-later made the TSSLP. The EP was the moment when he discovered his Slim Shady alter-ego, found his voice, and became the artist he still is today. Dre and Interscope Records, but after dropping his underground album Infinite. For many, the legacy of the record remains the humor of “ripping Pamela Lee’s tits off” and raping fat chicks with a “Go-Go Gadget dick," but what’s often forgotten is the darkness rooted in Em’s real life.Įm recorded The Slim Shady EP in 1998, prior to hooking up with Dr. Today, Eminem has so many awards, accolades, and record-breaking moments it’s too cumbersome to count them all, but rest assured TSSLP is where it all began.Īlthough his sophomore set The Marshall Mathers LP is his best-selling album and widely considered to be his magum opus, TSSLP is still an album worthy of re-exploration. The album marks the moment when a man born Marshall Bruce Mathers III went from a self-described “corny-looking white kid” to a pop star on his way to becoming the most famous (and infamous) rapper in history. This week is the anniversary of Eminem’s classic debut album, The Slim Shady LP.
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