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"The Eminem Show" Review
Slim's new album reveals an artist on the cusp of greatness.
By B.G.

It's becoming harder and harder to remain a detractor of Eminem. While the pop sensibilities of "The Slim Shady LP" and the shock value tactics of "The Marshall Mathers LP" made pigeonholing him into the dreaded "gimmick" category reasonably unproblematic, his latest effort makes denying his talent almost impossible. Although it's not a flawless album, "The Eminem Show" presents an artist ascending towards the heights of hiphop's Parthenon.

With his customary "faggot" references and TRL-oriented tracks kept to a minimum, it's tempting to say that Slim has done a little maturing between albums. To be more precise, the most noticeable difference between "The Eminem Show" and his previous efforts is that he now seems to care passionately about every topic he discusses. The mushroom-induced tales of chasing around fat bitches have been exchanged for ruminations on his place within the hiphop hierarchy. His cartoonish offensiveness has been replaced with, well, purposeful offensiveness. It is Marshall's consistently tangible tone of earnestness that is the strength of "The Eminem Show".

It goes without saying that the racial dynamic of a White artist's commercial success in a Black artform is the 900-lb gorilla with its feet propped up on the living room table. Many of the criticisms aimed at Eminem have often seemed less about his music and more about the preferential treatment he has received because of his whiteness. Dr. Dre certainly knew how to play the race card, but on the album's guitar-heavy opening cut, "White America", Em's insights into the politics of his success are refreshingly honest. "Let's do the math, if I was black, I would have sold half", he spits, "Kids flipped when they heard I was produced by 'Dre/ That's all it took and they were instantly hooked right in/they connected to me too, because I looked like them."

By continuing to acknowledge the advantages that his complexion has unfairly earned him, Eminem sucks the wind from the sails of critics who wish to toss him into the same appropriationist category as Elvis. Unlike many of his platinum-selling contemporaries, Slim has enough nerve to talk about the myriad issues that swirl around hiphop, race and commercial success.

Eminem's self-examination appears again on the Nate Dogg assisted banger "Til I Collapse" where he ranks his own place among current (and deceased) hiphop luminaries. Presenting himself as not only an artist but also as an average fan, Eminem successfully escapes the pedestal of celebrity and portrays himself as just another hiphop head who loves to spark those inevitable "top ten" arguments with the rest of the crew. "I got a list", he says, "…it goes Reggie, Jay-Z, Tupac and Biggie/ Andre from Outkast, Jada, Kurrupt, Nas and then me/ But in this industry, I'm the cause of a lot of envy/ So when I'm not put on this list, the shit does not offend me."

Whereas "The Marshall Mathers LP" found Eminem violently struggling with his newfound celebrity, he now seems more reflective than simply confused. Still at odds with his critics, Slim remains unapologetic, sensitive and paranoid - but his barbs are now aimed with precision rather than flung with reckless abandon. On "Sing for the Moment", which utilizes a healthy chunk of Aerosmith's "Dream On ", Em spews passionately, "These prosecutors want to convict me/ Strictly just to get me off of these streets quickly/ But all their kids be listening to me religiously/ So I'm signing CD's while police fingerprint me/…It's all political, if my music is literal/ then I'm a criminal - How the fuck can I raise a little girl?"

As on his first two albums, Em's relationships with his "little girl", the child's mother and his own mother are discussed prominently on "The Eminem Show". If Slim is irritated by the media's intrusions into his personal life, his continued insistence on airing his family's dirty undergarments on vinyl certainly isn't going to quell public interest in his private affairs. Perhaps he finds it somehow therapeutic, but Eminem again expends a tremendous (almost inordinate) amount of energy in rattling on about the three most important women in his life. The most bizarre moments on the album are found on the bouncy "My Dad's Gone Crazy" where Eminem does a duet with his pre-pubescent daughter (who chimes in with the hook, a few ad-libs and a nice little chain-saw sound effect) and, in addressing those who questioned his sexual preference, says sarcastically "I'm out the closet - I've been lying my ass off/ All this time me and 'Dre been fucking with hats off."

While he used to simply issue blanket statements of general ill will towards his mama and babymama, Eminem now devotes approximately half the album to giving point-by-point breakdowns of their transgressions. Even the raunchy safe-sex song "Drips" takes a quick turn into personal business as Em recounts a strangely familiar situation, "What would you do if she was telling you she wants a divorce/ She's having anther baby in a month and it's yours/ And you find out it isn't cause this bitch has been visiting/ someone else and sucking his dick/ and kissing you on the lips when you get back to Michigan."

After hearing the parking lot gun-waving incident described several times on "The Eminem Show", one begins to see that Em subscribes to the Tupac Shakur methodology of celebrity music-making: drop a few controversial songs, get involved in a few legal problems/beefs, drop more controversial songs about said legal problems/beef. When the public sees incidents in a rapper's life beginning to mirror their words, the elusive mantle of street authenticity is quickly bestowed. Em's fascination with Tupac runs deeps throughout the album - he mentions the dead rapper's name several times in reverential tones and, at points, shows a few Don Killuminati-esque vocal inflections ("Soldier" sounds like it belongs on "All Eyes on Me"). It almost seems that Eminem is attempting to head off any Shakur-biting allegations by readily admitting that "Tupac's influences" are apparent in the snarling, hyperactive and over-enunciated flow he uses on approximately one-third of "The Eminem Show".

But other comparisons to Tupac are indeed in order. Like 'Pac, Biggie and Chuck D., Eminem has shown a remarkable ability to profoundly communicate with a sizable audience in a way that many other talented artists never master. While Eminem's listeners are likely a demographic unlike any the genre of hiphop has ever known, the non-traditional status of his fan base does not detract from his importance. By stripping away a few layers of the court-jester outfit he donned for his first two albums, "The Eminem Show" allows Em to scream his opinions, concerns and insults with an honesty rarely found in the realm of hiphop. A few pedestrian beats, mediocre hooks and redundant song topics keep "The Eminem Show" from greatness, but, as an artist, Eminem is close to achieving it.


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