Eminem - Slim Shady LP [Import Bonus Disc] (CD)

All Music Guide

In all the press surrounding the release of Eminem's debut The Slim Shady LP, journalists, critics, and Em himself went out of the way to clarify that the songs on the record were not autobiographical -- he was merely playing a corrupt character called Slim Shady. Such a practice is common in hip-hop, but it seems disingenuous coming from the mouth of Marshall Mathers, a white-trash kid from the streets of Detroit whose fictional creation is a white-trash kid from the streets of Detroit. The line between fact and fiction seems a little blurry, and it would be more so if Eminem's lyrics weren't ridiculous, violent fantasies. That doesn't quite excuse the endless dreams of rape, murder, and dope that provide the core of The Slim Shady LP, but the cartoonish exaggerations do explain why certain journalists were eager to embrace the record as an inspired, surrealistic parody of Jerry Springer-fueled pop culture and gangsta rap. It also helps that Eminem was endorsed by Dr. Dre, not only be...cause he provides a strong, Beasties-meets-Wu-meets-Dr. Octagon musical backdrop, but because his presence is almost code, proving that Mathers is not a racist. Eminem is clearly a gifted rapper, twisting and turning his words with ease, knowing how to accentuate the strengths of the music with the rhythm of his rhymes. Still, that doesn't erase the uneasiness that his grotesque caricatures and stories leave behind. For many discerning listeners -- especially the countless teens who have been raised on a diet of WWF, Faces of Death, slasher films, porn, and No Limit records -- it's clear that this is all intended as a joke. That may be, but it's hard to escape the impression that if a black artist had released The Slim Shady LP, it wouldn't have been embraced as satire. [The 2001 reissue includes a three-track bonus disc that features "Hazardous Youth," "Get You Made," and "Greg."] - Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide Read more Less