The Slim Shady LP by Eminem
A roman statesman, orator and philosopher by the name of Cicero is credited as being the one who said historia vitae magistra, which is loosely translated to "history is life's teacher." His reasoning was correct when perception is taken into account; no person can learn enough from a specific situation or thing in time, as our perception is forever changing. It's deep stuff when you think of it; it becomes a more complex matter as the concepts of a future present is accounted for. We know the future of a historical event and the outcomes - we may not know every consequence, as we are still living the consequences of certain major historical events - but some can be properly evaluated. The impact of an album such as The Slim Shady LP by Eminem, released in 1999, can easily be dissected and analysed as it celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.
An external analysis of the project begins with the iconic album cover. The purple picture of a man overlooking the pier, as you see the feet of his victim in the back of the car is arguably chilling. It's so weirdly simple, but that may be the most disturbing part: connect all of those previously established elements of the sloppy writing of "Slim Shady" and the darkness of it all only leads to wondering what does this album have planned for the listener. Otherwise, the album is produced by Dr. Dre, Eminem, Mark & Jeff Bass as well as Mel-Man. I do personally like the idea of having a small production team to put together an album instead of a large team, as it helps to keep the vision of the project from being sullied. Finally, it's an album that goes an approximate hour - I took the liberty to listen to the entire project during my morning commute.
The entire project begins with a very fitting skit titled 'Public Service Announcement', in which he expresses that all of these thoughts shouldn't be taken seriously - a reality few would take to heart during his career. The album picks up by jumping into two of its singles from the get go, in 'My Name Is' and 'Guilty Conscience' featuring Dr. Dre. Both are quintessential songs in Eminem's discography, portraying the bar-heavy wordsmith as well as the storyteller that he can be. The good times don't end with neither 'Brain Damage', 'If I Had', '97 Bonnie & Clyde' and 'Role Model' which explore darker themes of pain, fame and love in ways that we would eventually become accustomed to from him, but that was novel in 1999. While I did listen to the skits inside the projects, I don't count them in my overall evaluation, as they generally don't serve much in the creation of a full album and serve as either filler or breather.
The album continues an impressive clip of lyrical masterpieces, that exemplify the syllable work that Eminem would eventually be known for. In personal favorite of the album, 'My Fault', he perfectly blends his ability to weave a story with his syllable work, giving a well thought out track that, in terms of storytelling for Eminem, can only really be surpassed the eventual megahit, 'Stan'. The next songs on the project, such as 'On Everybody', 'Just Don't Give A', 'As the World Turms' 'I'm Shady', 'Bad Meets Evil' featuring Royce da 5'9 and finally 'Still Don't Give a' serve as stark reminders of how dark and sardonic Eminem can be when pushed: the character of Slim Shady isn't a man that can be played with on these tracks.
The Slim Shady LP now holds a near mythical and legendary status in the Hip-Hop genre due to its influence in horrorcore and lyrical based rhyming with good reason. Eminem is relentless on the project, using every line to get his point across that the character of Slim Shady was the worst humanity could produce. One of the things that astounded me as I listened is the lack of reliance to featuring spots, with only three officially listed features that don't do much in terms of carrying the track with either it being Shady doing the work or a 50/50 work load. It is a marvelous display of lyrical versatility and to be frank, pure skill.
In conclusion, The Slim Shady LP gets one of the highest rankings I can personally give with a 9.5 grade out of 10. It is a sonically impressive album that holds its own with the best the game has to offer today thanks to Dr. Dre's production. As lauded previously, Eminem flexes his rhyming ability throughout the entire album without ever feeling the need to relax. The only thing that lowered the score from being a perfect album is a very little thing - the run time could've been shortened by removing some of the last few songs. The Slim Shady LP was better than what was expected back then and continues that trend in the present. The album is called iconic for very good reason.