Eminem

The Marshall Mathers LP

Hate Rap But "Credit Where Credit Is Due"

Review Score:

(10/10)
Firstly, I should state that I despise rap music in general. I think that while the best rappers have a great deal of talent and lyrical prowess, a vast majority of the nonsense on the radio is simply regurgitated songs from proper artists with a bit of speech over it.
Eminem is different. By far the most witty, intelligent rap artist in the world, he uses his own experience to blurt insults and coherent jibes at those his arguments are pointed to. He uses violent terminology, but instead of making it the core of his art, he mocks violence in his own way... I almost get the feeling he is making fun of other "gangsta" rappers when he sang songs such as "Kym" and "Kill You".
Maybe I like him because, as a white rapper he has blown the whole genre open, ripping apart a largely (racially-orientated) black music and giving it new breath.
Don't misunderstand me; by saying I hate rap it doesn't mean I am uninterested or unacquainted. I have owned, at various points, Wu Tang, Snoop, 2Pac, Dre, Eminem, NERD cds and my friend is so ridiculously into rap and hip hop he should really wise up. Still, I think Eminem deserves the biggest credit of all rappers for having the guts to stick with something he loved in an almost completely Afro-American dominated genre. It must have been daunting, but through determination, intelligence and (to the greatest extent) immeasurable talent, he has come through to produce rap music that white and black kids alike can be influenced by. That he uses violent, drug-related imagery has made him into a pariah of right-wing puritans, but that just makes it all the more funny... There's nothing more entertaining than watching these religious, blinkered witless morons complain about artists like Eminem, claiming they insight violence and hatred, when those very people are the ones wasting their time moaning and saying how they "despise" these artists.
That's exactly where Eminem's strength somes from... He is consciously targeting people like that so that he (and we) can make fun of them (very subtely sometimes) and watch them get their pants in a twist over what boils down to some words and music.
Anyway, as for this cd, it is definitely Eminem's most focussed and impressive effort, coupling superbly written content with a musical ear not usually heard in this style of music. Of course there are misses on the album, but by and large the tunes are superb, from Stan to Drug Ballad and beyond. Well recommended, even to those of you who don't particularly like rap or hip-hop.

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