The Slim Shady LP [Explicit Lyrics]

I am for the most part a very conservative person, and those who know me would probably never imagine that I am a devoted Eminem fan. When The Slim Shady LP came out in 1999, I heard a lot about it, but I had almost no exposure to the music itself. The only song I really heard at the time was the radio version of My Name Is, and that little ditty seemed to have "gimmick" written all over it. I expected Eminem to disappear from the music scene after a few months. I, like many people, was uninformed and wrongly dismissed this artist out of hand. Then, I actually listened to the man's music, and I soon realized that Eminem was in fact a musical genius. This first album is a little more bare-bones and gritty than The Marshall Mathers LP and The Eminem Show, but it is nonetheless nothing short of amazing. I am not exactly a big fan of rap or hip-hop, although I have wandered down those lanes a few times in my past, but Eminem actually transcends rap, creating a musical genre all his own that reaches out to even the most unlikeliest of places to win fans like me. Sure, the lyrics are explicit, but what I have come to realize is this: Eminem does not use the explicit lyrics to attract notoriety and sell albums; he uses explicit lyrics because he is expressing himself in a shockingly honest way, and what he gives us is his own version of truth and reality. He really does have something to say, and he says it in a way that speaks not only to the culture of the streets but also to boring conservative individuals like me.

I can't find a bad song on this album, although I'm not that fond of the Ken Kaniff sketch. Eminem does things with beats and rhymes that I have never heard anyone else do, using the very rhythm of his music as a further means of communicating his ideas and feelings. 97 Bonnie and Clyde is rightfully well-known, a song which addresses real issues that many people deal with every day; it's much more than a song about someone killing his wife. Guilty Conscience is a notable track, with Eminem and Dr. Dre playing devil and angel to folks encountering real, albeit, extreme situations. One of the greatest things about Emimen is his denial of himself as some kind of role model or superman; you can't pin him down to anything, as he shifts back and forth between a "don't do like I do" message (such as can be found in Role Model) and a celebration of the parents' nightmares he is creating. His life hasn't been easy, as he relates in Rock Bottom and further expounds upon in Brain Damage. As the World Turns is a great song with pop appeal, but my favorite has to be My Fault. Lounge, the preamble of My Fault, is just amazing because its Beach Boys-esque sound is quite unexpected and a perfect lead-in to what has to be the funniest song on the album. There's all kinds of variety here, including the designated "dance track" [Come] on Everybody. "Still Don't Give a" is the perfect ending to this emotionally complex diatribe of an album, summing up in the introductory words the very essence of Eminem.

There are many individuals who would never agree with me, but I truly think there is a little Eminem in all of us. As an introvert who tries to avoid conflict, I can't help but idolize Eminem for his fearlessness, boldness, and complete dedication to individualism. His reputation guarantees a legion of men and women who will never even consider listening to his music or consider him anything more than a moral cancer on the younger generations, but I think Eminem has already proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that he is a talented musician capable of influencing the music of today and tomorrow in ways that many people will probably never even realize. While I enjoy his next two albums a little bit more than this one, The Slim Shady LP serves as an absolutely crucial piece to the fascinating puzzle that is Eminem.

I still say that this is Eminem's masterpiece, his darkest album, and the soundtrack of his darkest hour. It also ploughs the sinister and disturbing recesses of Marshall Mathers' mind, spilling them all out with a lack of reservation which is stunning.

As is so often the case, Dr. Dre's production is impeccable, and what he can do with electronic sound is akin to what some artists can do with paint. Instantly recognisable 'My Name Is' often gets a panning by the artist himself, but it's his signature tune with good reason, being an expert masterclass in uncompromising lyrics, an assault of bad taste and shocking statements, one after the other: BANG, BANG, BANG!

And then Marshall gives us a sad and truly heartbreaking insight into his past in 'Brain Damage', all the while giving us clues as to why he ended up being one of the most aggressive, angry men in the history of music. 'If I Had' is also sober and thought-provoking, giving us more of an insight into the psyche of Marshall Mathers than most of his recent output. Drugs, frustration, anger, sorrow and boredom are all there, as well as poverty and a sense of humour, making this a classic of modern times, easily one of the best and most honest post-modern rap albums.

But key to this fantastic honesty and unflinching realism was the fact that this was recorded whilst Eminem was still relatively unknown, living a life of abject hardship with only a dream of something better to keep him warm - in fact that tone is all over this album.

Dark humour adorns 'Role Model', whilst heart-rending despair paints 'Rock Bottom' a murky grey, and in one of the finest moments of his career, Eminem gives us empathy and truly highlights the plight of the USA's underclass. Rap just doesn't come any better than this.

Eminem's trademark nonchalance and defiance are all over 'I Just Don't Give A F**k', whilst 'Still Don't Give A F**k' amuses with it's gobbiness, and 'Bad Meets Evil', featuring Royce Da 59 shows yet more dark humour and smart-assed rapping. The most disturbing song on the album is '97 Bonnie and Clyde', a grim fantasy of separation from his other half, of the permanent kind. It shows at least how willing Eminem is to voice the thoughts which most of us never would. People accuse Eminem of misogyny but never bother to dig beneath the surface - of course a man whose mother didn't raise him properly has issues with women, just as a women who has a bad father would have issues with men... makes sense, really. But above all that, Eminem's love for his daughter shines through.

This is an incredlbly important album, and around album three, the grit and realism of it looked further and further away. Eminem is capable of genius, in the form of this album, and I am certain that at some point in his career, if he wants to, he can return to it.

Eminem is one of the most contraversial, verbally shocking and talented rappers in years. The message behind his album is not one of killing, destruction and mayhem but a sly, sarcastic look at pop culture as it exists today. Don't take his lyrics at face value and PLEASE buy the uncensored version of the album as if you don't know what he's saying, you miss out on what he's all about.