"one of the greatest artists of our times"? hmmmmmmmm... i'll give you one of the greatest rhymers of ANY time (if not THE greatest rhymer ever)..

"best pop star in the world"?? hell no.. i'd put someone like Rihanna above him easily.. and there are probably more... in terms of his greatest pop moments i'd say - "My Name Is," "Guilty Conscience," "The Real Slim Shady," "Stan," "Lose Yourself," "Forgot About Dre," and maybe "Superman"... his stint all over MTV and 8 Mile.. "discovering" 50 Cent.... and that's really it (you can throw the Rihanna song in there, but that was more Rihanna than Em.. and i think that song blows)...

dude was a master at controversy (take the word "fag" out of his vocabulary and a vivid track of him killing his wife and see how much press MMLP gets)... and a master at MC'ing... but master at making popular art? i'm a really big fan and i'm not close to agreeing with that.. i honestly think his *popularity* is based on 5 things: 1. he's white, 2. he's white, 3. he's white, 4. he had the right cosign(s) at the right time (Dre & MTV), 5. real fans of hip hop can't deny his MC'ing ability, despite all of the zany stuff that no one would bump in their cars.. (lol as big of a fan as i am, i STILL laugh when i hear someone bumping eminem in the whip)

and in terms of albums.. i'd say MMLP is the only one that holds up in my book.. SSLP is still entertaining in spots, but not well-crafted as a whole project.. Eminem Show was cool at the time (high school for me), but "Cleaning Out My Closet," "Sing for the moment," "Square dance," "Hailie's Song" and about half of the album just doesn't hold up.. Encore isn't as bad as a lot of ppl say (imo), but i count 6 tracks i fuck with and 3 of those are bonus tracks... i'm still in love with Relapse, but that is NOT a pop (or popular) album, it's strictly for the rhyme aficionados and ppl who don't know hip hop, but would follow Em over a cliff... Recovery? i would've rather got a bag of actual shit in the mail.

i think his career, accomplishments and talent are obviously top tier.. but the material is a different story.. and i think it's realllllly easy to see why a lot of people don't like him (even though he easily makes it into my personal top 10)..