Poll question: The Marshall Mathers LP 1 or The Eminem Show. which is better?

Poll result (27 votes) MMLP1 (18 votes) Vote TES (9 votes) Vote

MMLP

Remove the shock value from MMLP and this would be a complete no contest. Lyrically Eminem hit his peak in 2002/2003 between The Eminem Show and the 8 Mile Soundtrack. He was putting on a lyrical clinic on that album. Crazy ass rhyme schemes, internal rhyme, etc.

Saying Goodbye To Hollywood, Til I Collapse, Business??? This is my pick, no doubt about it. And as far as all of his lead poppy singles (My Name Is, Real Slim Shady, etc), Without Me is probably the only one that's actually listenable today.

matter of fact he said Eminem was his mcing persona and this was going to be his mcing album and he showed and proved.

That's interesting...

he has 3 personas...Slim shady is the funny pranking crazy person that's why Slim shady LP was the most fun.

Marshall Mathers is him the real person that's was suppoused to be the most personal.

Eminem is the mc the rip any track dude and the Em show was going to be his most mcing album.. that's why til I collapse was on there

And now that you mention this it kinda puts the first three albums into even further context. I mean there's pieces of all 3 "personas" on each album but it's clear that the name in the title is the overarching theme of the album it's named for.

Not close at all IMO. TES is far more listenable as an album, AND features him rhyming at his absolute peak for much of the album.

>Remove the shock value from MMLP and this would be a complete
>no contest. Lyrically Eminem hit his peak in 2002/2003 between
>The Eminem Show and the 8 Mile Soundtrack. He was putting on a
>lyrical clinic on that album. Crazy ass rhyme schemes,
>internal rhyme, etc.
>
>Saying Goodbye To Hollywood, Til I Collapse, Business??? This
>is my pick, no doubt about it. And as far as all of his lead
>poppy singles (My Name Is, Real Slim Shady, etc), Without Me
>is probably the only one that's actually listenable today.

This.

MMLP has its share of forgettable tracks. I never cared for "Remember Me" "Amityville" and "Under the Influence." I'd say "Bitch Please 2" is also pretty average for being on a "classic" album.

although I do agree with Oak27 about Without Me being his best of his lead singles

if you put better beats over the Em show youll have his true classic...

esp you add the 8 mile songs, the 2 sauce disses you'll really have a classic.

that Em show 8-mile period is him at his peak.

After listening to them both, flow wise TES is better but as far as songs there is nothing touching "Stan", "The Way I Am" or "Kim" on TES.

Eminem Show is his best album, hands down.

Eminem may have been at his technical peak on Eminem Show, but the beats and subject matter was generally a step down from SS/MMLP. From that era, I'd take Eminem's feature verses over a lot of stuff from that album ("Patiently Waiting" for example).



~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." © Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

the other had one of the worst rapper-producer in the history of hip hop handling the majority of the beats

its still my fav album cause I listen to Em for the mcing he never really had OHH shit beats but Em show was the worst.

so i'll take the better mc'ing which was on Eminem Show.

I really thought that TES was his strongest effort as a producer. He mostly seemed to be attempting to create his interpretation of Dre beats. It worked really well for the album and it also fits the concept of The Eminem Show.

>Eminem Show is his best album, hands down.

and Slim Shady was fucking awesome.

Lyrical.
Witty.
Entertaining.
Fun.

The Eminem Show/8 Mile era was cool too. More serious in tone but also more focused. Still made great songs.

Em has pretty much sucked since then.

He's been mostly wack for almost 10 years.

He's downright awful now.

But yeah, Slim Shady the rapper was great and MMLP was him at his strongest.

he was in a damn zone during that era.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zvnoB56Yeo

That was on the 8 Mile bonus disc. I dig when Em makes beats like that too. Shit was just dope period.

lure you in with a happy, poppy single.
then hit you with a bleak ass, dreay album.

eminem show = MMLP without the humor.
which just makes it... kinda terrible, even though it's a great album.

but it lacked so much heart... it seemed like they sat down and said "ok, how do we legitimize eminem as a complete artist/MC and show that there's 'growth' in his music?" and then calculated how to do that... so it turned out pretty solid and achieved those goals, but it lacked the *feeling* MMLP had... "Kim" was straight up gripping (and "Stan" is almost just as great in that aspect) - it really is amazing how he doesn't ever seem like he's stretching for rhymes on story tracks like this, everything sounds like completely natural dialogue... "Bitch Please II," "The Real Slim Shady," "Drug Ballad" and "Who Knew" are more genuinely fun than anything on TES.. "I'm Back" and "The Way I Am" are only a half notch off of "'Till I Collapse" and "Say What You Say" on an MCing/rhyming level.. i dunno, MMLP in a landslide for me

(oh and i see people mentioning TES as Em's lyrical peak and that's def. gotta be Relapse.. and his creative peak on MMLP... stature peak on TES)

>(oh and i see people mentioning TES as Em's lyrical peak and
>that's def. gotta be Relapse.. and his creative peak on
>MMLP... stature peak on TES)

As in, he was still witty and funny, still able to put together a listenable song, while still being an absolute lyrical MONSTER throughout. Whereas, the technical rapping may be slightly better on Relapse but the song structure and flow wasn't as engaging.

Just my 2 cents.

On one song Em says "na na na nana, na na na nana".

The other is "The Real Slim Shady".

I don't wanna quit, but shit, I feel like this is it
For me to have this much appeal like this, is sick
This is not a game, this fame, in real life this is sick
Publicity stunt my ass, conceal my fucking dick
Fuck the guns, I'm done, I'll never look at gats
If I scrap, I'll scrap like I ain't never whupped some ass
I love my fans, but no one ever puts a grasp
On the fact I've sacrificed everything I have
I never dreamt I'd get to the level that I'm at
This is wack, this is more than I ever could of asked
Everywhere I go, a hat, a sweater hood or mask
What about math, how come I wasn't ever good at that?
It's like the boy in the bubble, who never could adapt
I'm trapped, if I could go back, I never woulda rapped
I sold my soul to the devil I'll never get it back
I just wanna leave this game with level head intact
Imagine going from being a no one to seeing
Everything blow up and all you did was just grow up emceeing
It's fucking crazy, cause all I wanted was to give Hailie
The life I never had, instead I forced us to live alienated

>Imagine going from being a no one to seeing
>Everything blow up and all you did was just grow up emceeing
>It's fucking crazy, cause all I wanted was to give Hailie
>The life I never had, instead I forced us to live alienated

Soon as a verse starts, I eat at an MC's heart
What is he thinking? How not to go against me, smart
And it's absurd, how people hang on every word
I'll probably never get the props I feel I ever deserve
But I'll never be served, my spot is forever reserved
If I ever leave Earth, that would be the death of me first
Cause in my heart of hearts I know nothing could ever be worse
That's why I'm clever when I put together every verse
My thoughts are sporadic, I act like I'm an addict
I rap like I'm addicted to smack like I'm Kim Mathers
But I don't want to go forth and back in constant battles
The fact is I would rather sit back and bomb some rappers
So this is like a full blown attack I'm launching at 'em
The track is on some battling raps who want some static?
Cause I don't really think that the fact that I'm Slim matters
A plaque and platinum status is wack if I'm not the baddest

Bitch I'ma kill you! Like a murder weapon, I'ma conceal you
in a closet with mildew, sheets, pillows and film you
Buck with me, I been through hell, shut the hell up!
I'm trying to develop these pictures of the Devil to sell 'em
I ain't "acid rap," but I rap on acid
Got a new blow-up doll and just had a strap-on added
WHOOPS! Is that a subliminal hint? NO!
Just criminal intent to sodomize women again
Eminem offend? NO! Eminem insult
And if you ever give in to him, you give him an impulse
to do it again, THEN, if he does it again
you'll probably end up jumping out of something up on the 10th
(Ah!) Bitch I'ma kill you, I ain't done this ain't the chorus
I ain't even drug you in the woods yet to paint the forest
A bloodstain is orange after you wash it three or four times
in a tub but that's normal ain't it Norman?
Serial killer hiding murder material
in a cereal box on top of your stereo
Here we go again, we're out of our medicine
out of our minds, and we want in yours, let us in



~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." © Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

Windows tinted on my ride when I drive in it
So when I rob a bank, run out and just dive in it
So I'll be disguised in it
And if anybody identifies the guy in it, I'll hide for 5 minutes
Come back, shoot the eyewitness
Fire at the private eye hired to pry in my business
Die, bitches, bastards, brats, pets
This puppy's lucky I didn't blast his ass yet
If I ever gave a fuck, I'd shave my nuts
Tuck my dick in between my legs and cluck
You motherfuckin' chickens ain't brave enough
To say the stuff I say, so just tape it shut
Shit, half the shit I say, I just make it up
To make you mad so kiss my white naked ass
And if it's not a rapper that I make it as
I'mma be a fucking rapist in a Jason mask


Also, the final verse on Amityville he spazzes too.

That's why the city is filled with a bunch of fucking idiots still (still)
That's why the first motherfucker popping some shit he gets killed (killed)
That's why we don't call it Detroit, we call it Amityville ('Ville)
You can get capped after just having a cavity filled (filled)
Ahahahaha, that's why we're crowned the murder capital still (still)
This ain't Detroit, this is motherfucking Hamburger Hill! (Hill!)
We don't do drive-bys, we park in front of houses and shoot
And when the police come we fucking shoot it out with them too!
That's the mentality here (here) that's the reality here (here)
Did I just hear somebody say they want to challenge me here?? (huh?)
While I'm holding a pistol with this many calibers here?? (here??)
Plus a registration that just made this shit valid this year? (year?)
Cause once I snap I can't be held accountable for my actions
And that's when accidents happen
When a thousand bullets come at your house
And collapse the foundation around and they found you
And your family in it (AH!)
GOD DAMNIT HE MEANT IT WHEN HE TELLS YOU

This is probably my fav song on MMLP. Such a crazy beat. This is when Dre was really trying to cater to Em's craziness and he experimented a little more with the beats.

I have to roll with TES with this one. He was truly rhyming and delivering on another level on this album. Soldier, White America, Til I Collapse...he rips almost every song on here. The more I go back and listen to MMLP, the more I realize that my reverence for it was more sentimental to me (similar to how CD was my favorite Kanye for a long time due mostly to sentiment). He is still sharp on there, and this is where we really got to see into Marshall's mind. It's a personal record, whereas TES is him as an artist making good songs and technically destroying every beat.

where he's naming all the rappers that want to rap with him, and then tells canibus he doesn't want it. i love that. "don't want no parts of me."

Yeah you laugh til your mothafuckin' ass gets drafted
While you're at band camp thinkin' the crap can't happen
Till you fuck around, get an Anthrax napkin
Inside a package wrapped in Saran wrap wrappin'
Open the plastic and then you stand back gaspin'
Fuckin' assassins hi-jackin' Amtracks, crashin'
All this terror, America demands action
Next thing you know you've got Uncle Sam's ass askin'
To join the army or what you'll do for their Navy
You just a baby gettin' recruited at eighteen
You're on a plane now, eatin' their food and their baked beans
I'm 28, they gonna take you 'fore they take me

I've always recognized how dope that verse was (and that particular part about the draft) but the way it reads off the screen is just as good.

this might be the last Em mcing I enjoyed for a long time...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPgO_Gscpm8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9bd0oD6YjY

so yeah, it's not close.

Doesn't make I Am better than those albums, or even a good album at all.

>Doesn't make I Am better than those albums, or even a good
>album at all.
True but MMLP is a great album.

"Album A's best song is better than any song on Album B so that makes Album A better" argument

are the fucking posse cuts with D12

They just kept getting worse and worse too:

Under The Influence
When The Music Stops (Em's opening verse on this is legit though)
One Shot Two Shot

Bizarre (one of the worst rappers of all time) comes through and almost ruins Amityville as well. Luckily he only got 8 bars and Eminem followed that up with one of the best verses on MMLP to save the song from complete irrelevance.

to include 2001 and the first D12 album. He's got some GREAT verses on that album too, such as "Fight Club" and "Revelations"

(granted i was like 16, so what did i know... but that verse blew my mind)

that verse is crazy.