The most sobering moment on the album, though, comes during the closer, asВ Em delivers an emotionally-drained, fourth wall-breaking rumination on his possible death (вЂњ Hell yeah, IвЂ™m afraid of deathвЂ¦I donвЂ™t want to die yetвЂќ) before finally declaring the closest thing he can call an ethos: вЂњ But if I offended you, good / вЂCause I still donвЂ™t give a fuck.вЂќ For Marshall Mathers, the man who would eventually sell-out again to make radio-friendly hits, this remainsВ probablyВ the most electrifying statement of hisВ career - one that registered with enough righteous anger to transform the no-name rapper into a commercial juggernaut, cementing his position in the hip-hop pantheon. Supporting players pop-up as counter-points to SlimвЂ™s villainy the innocent bystanders who serve as victims to his evil ways that range from his (at the time) estranged wife Kim, whoвЂ™s murdered and subsequently buried on the devilish nursery-rhyme вЂњвЂ97 Bonnie and Clyde,вЂќ to the fictitious, ex-heroin addict Susan who O.D.вЂ™s on вЂњMy Fault.вЂќ Or these guests serve as encouragement to theВ abuse, like Royce da 5вЂ™9вЂі, who instigates (вЂњ We can get in two cars and accelerate at each other/To see which oneвЂ™ll swerve firstвЂќ), much to ShadyвЂ™s delight (вЂњ So please leave me with the keys to your Jeep EagleвЂќ), on the Ennio Morricone-sampling вЂњBad Meets Evil.вЂќ Outlandish moments like these that make tracks like вЂњRole ModelвЂќ even more perversely humorous - anВ audaciously transgressive white devil scoffs at the ideas of children taking his raps literally, screaming вЂњ I got genital warts and it burns when I pee / DonвЂ™t you wanna grow up to be just like me?вЂќ EmвЂ™sВ voice practically drips with resentment over DreвЂ™s carefully arranged guitar strings. ThereвЂ™s вЂњGuilty Conscious,вЂќ where Slim Shady is pitted against his mentor, Dre, in a warring battle between moral rationality and cathartic release (spoiler: the bad guys win), and on tracks like вЂњBrain DamageвЂќ and вЂRock Bottom,вЂќ the violent alter-ego is revealed to be a byproduct of real-world injustices. The Slim Shady LP operates more as a Shakespearean tragedy than as provocative edge-baiting, withВ each song finding new ways to creatively place EmвЂ™sВ monstrous invention in conversation with the world around him. Registered with enough righteous anger to transform the no-name rapper into a commercial juggernaut, cementing his position in the hip-hop pantheon.

Even now, itвЂ™s a song that practically begs you to dislike it, seemingly repelling listeners with cartoonishly graphic images of Shady stapling his high-school teachers testicles together one minute and killing his absentee-father the next - yet, itвЂ™s throughВ this perversion thatВ EminemвЂ™s found his real talent as an MC: taking Middle AmericaвЂ™s most repressed feelings of indignation and blowing them up to darkly comic dimensions. Lead single вЂњMy Name IsвЂќ served as EminemвЂ™s fresh introduction to the world, with his intentionally irritating vocal delivery and eye-catching lyrics (вЂњ Got pissed off and ripped Pamela LeeвЂ™s tits off / And smacked her so hard I knocked her clothes backwards like Kris KrossвЂќ) serving as his new default modus operandi. Dre took a chance on the impoverished white boy (who at the time still lived in a trailer park with his mom) and took EmвЂ™sВ newly created character to even greater malicious heights, on 1999вЂ™s The Slim Shady LP. Dre, who had just founded the already fledgling Aftermath Records. EmвЂ™ dabbled with portraying this new alter ego slightly on his 1997 follow-up, The Slim Shady EP, which earned himВ the attention of former-NWA member and Death Row Records escapee Dr. Instead of giving up, Mathers got mad, and in retaliation crafted the nastiest persona he could imagine: the sadistic, misogynistic, and overall villainous Slim Shady. Titled Infinite, it featured relatively uninspired production, unmemorable bars delivered with a mimicked Nas-flow, and lazy attempts at crafting wannabe radio hits - it was a major flop, both critically and commercially. After signing to independent label Web Entertainment, he was about to finally get his shot with the release of a debut record that was destined to make or break the young MC. Under the moniker of Eminem, he had been making waves in DetroitвЂ™s underground battle rap scene for about half a decade, supporting his family with various odd jobs with the hope his dedication would one day pay off. In the winter ofВ 1996, Marshall Mathers putВ everything on the line.

Slim shady album art