The Marshall Mathers LP – 2000
The Marshall Mathers LP is the third studio album by American rapper Eminem. It was released on May 23, 2000, by Aftermath Entertainment, Interscope Records, and Eminem’s newly founded label, Shady Records in the United States, and on September 11, 2000, by Polydor Records in the United Kingdom. The album was produced mostly by Dr. Dre and Eminem, along with The 45 King, the Bass Brothers, and Mel-Man. Released a year after Eminem’s breakout album The Slim Shady LP, the record features more introspective lyricism including the rapper’s response to his sudden rise to fame and controversy surrounding his lyrics.
The album sold more than 1.76 million copies in the US in the first week alone, becoming the fastest-selling studio album by any solo artist in American music history. This record was later broken after 15 years following the release of the album 25 by Adele, which sold over 2.433 million albums within three days of release in November 2015. In 2001, the album won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album and was nominated for Album of the Year. Eminem lost the latter to jazz-rock duo Steely Dan and their album Two Against Nature. The album was certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America in March 2011 for shipping 10 million copies in the United States. By May 2015, the album had sold over 11 million copies in the United States and more than 32 million copies worldwide.
A sequel to the album, The Marshall Mathers LP 2, was released on November 5, 2013.
Inspired by the disappointment of his debut album, Infinite (1996), Eminem created the alter ego Slim Shady, whom he introduced on the Slim Shady EP (1997). After placing second in the annual Rap Olympics, Eminem was noticed by the staff at Interscope Records and eventually CEO Jimmy Iovine, who played the Slim Shady EP for hip hop producer Dr. Dre. Eminem and Dr. Dre then recorded The Slim Shady LP (1999), which was noted for its over-the-top lyrical depictions of drugs and violence. The Slim Shady LP was a critical and commercial success, debuting at number two on the Billboard 200 chart and selling 283,000 copies in its first week. At the 42nd Grammy Awards in 2000, the record won Best Rap Album, while the album’s lead single “My Name Is” won Best Rap Solo Performance.
The Slim Shady LP turned Eminem from an underground rapper into a high-profile celebrity. The rapper, who had previously struggled to provide for his daughter Hailie, noted a drastic change in his lifestyle. In June 1999, he married his girlfriend Kimberly Ann “Kim” Scott, the mother of Hailie, despite the fact that the song “’97 Bonnie & Clyde” from The Slim Shady LP contains references to killing her. The rapper became uncomfortable with the level of fame he had achieved, and reflected, “I don’t trust nobody now because everybody I meet is meeting me as Eminem…I don’t know if they are hanging with me ’cause they like me or because I’m a celebrity or because they think they can get something from me.” Eminem also became a highly controversial figure due to his lyrical content. He was labeled as “misogynist, a nihilist and an advocate of domestic violence”, and in an editorial, Billboard editor in chief Timothy White accused Eminem of “making money by exploiting the world’s misery”
The Marshall Mathers LP was recorded in a two-month-long “creative binge”, which often involved 20-hour-long studio sessions. Eminem hoped to keep publicity down during the recording in order to stay focused on working and figuring out how to “map out” each song. He described himself as a “studio rat” who benefited creatively from the isolated environment of the studio. Much of the album was written spontaneously in the studio; Dr. Dre noted, “We don’t wake up at two in the morning, call each other, and say, ‘I have an idea. We gotta get to the studio. ‘ We just wait and see what happens when we get there. ” Eminem observed that much of his favorite material on the album evolved from “fucking around” in the studio; “Marshall Mathers” developed from the rapper watching Jeff Bass casually strumming a guitar, while “Criminal” was based on a piano riff Eminem overheard Bass playing in studio next door. “Kill You” was written when Eminem heard the track playing in the background while talking to Dr. Dre on the phone and developed an interest in using it for a song. He then wrote the lyrics at home and met up with Dr. Dre and the two recorded the song together.
“Kim” was the first song the rapper recorded for the album, shortly after finishing work on The Slim Shady LP in late 1998 Eminem wrote “Kim” at a time in which he and his wife were separated, and he had just watched a romantic movie alone at a theater. Originally intending to write a love song for her while using ecstasy, the rapper hoped to avoid overt sentimentality and thus began writing a song of hate. With the track, the rapper aimed to create a short horror story in the form of a song. Once the couple reconciled, Eminem recalls, “I asked her to tell me what she thought of it. I remember my dumb ass saying, ‘I know this is a fucked-up song, but it shows how much I care about you. To even think about you this much. To even put you on a song like this’. ” The song “Stan” was produced by The 45 King. Eminem’s manager, Paul Rosenberg, sent Eminem a tape of the producer’s beats, and the second track featured a sample of English singer-songwriter Dido’s “Thank You”. Upon hearing the song’s lyrics, Eminem felt they described an obsessed fan, which became the inspiration for the song. The writing process for “Stan” differed greatly from Eminem’s usual strategy, in which song concepts form during the writing: “‘Stan’ was one of the few songs that I actually sat down and had everything mapped out for. I knew what it was going to be about. ” Dido later heard “Stan” and enjoyed it, and observed, “I got this letter out of the blue one day. It said, ‘We like your album, we’ve used this track. Hope you don’t mind, and hope you like it. ‘ When they sent ‘Stan’ to me and I played it in my hotel room, I was like, ‘Wow! This track’s amazing. ‘”
The record label speculated that Eminem would be the first artist to sell one million copies in an album’s first week of release. These expectations placed a large burden on Eminem, who recalled, “I was scared to death. I wanted to be successful, but before anything, I want respect. ” After the album was finished, the record label felt that there were no songs that had potential to be a lead single. Feeling pressured, Eminem returned to the studio and wrote “The Way I Am” as his way of saying, “Look, this is the best I can do. I can’t give you another ‘My Name Is. ‘ I can’t just sit in there and make that magic happen. ” However, after the song was added to the album, Eminem felt the urge to write another song, and gave a hook to Dr. Dre for him to create a beat, and went home to write new lyrics; the song eventually became “The Real Slim Shady”. The song also discusses Eminem killing Dr. Dre. The producer reflected, “It was funny to me. As long as it’s hot, let’s roll with it … in my opinion, the crazier it is the better. Let’s have fun with it and excite people.
Track listing
No. Title Writer(s) Producer(s) Length
1. “Public Service Announcement 2000” (skit) Eminem 0:25
2. “Kill You”
Eminem Dr. Dre Mel-Man
Dr. Dre Mel-Man
4:24
3. “Stan” (featuring Dido)
Eminem Dido Paul Herman
The 45 King Eminem (co.)
6:44
4. “Paul” (skit) Eminem 0:10
5. “Who Knew”
Eminem Dr. Dre Breeden Mike Elizondo
Dr. Dre Mel-Man
3:47
6. “Steve Berman” (skit) Eminem 0:53
7. “The Way I Am” Eminem Eminem 4:50
8. “The Real Slim Shady”
Eminem Dr. Dre Tommy Coster Mike Elizondo
Dr. Dre Mel-Man
4:44
9. “Remember Me?” (featuring RBX and Sticky Fingaz)
Eminem Dr. Dre RBX Sticky Fingaz
Dr. Dre Mel-Man
3:38
10. “I’m Back”
Eminem Dr. Dre Breeden
Dr. Dre Mel-Man
5:10
11. “Marshall Mathers”
Eminem Jeff Bass Mark Bass
Bass Brothers Eminem
5:20
12. “Ken Kaniff” (skit) Eminem 1:01
13. “Drug Ballad” (featuring Dina Rae)
Eminem J. Bass M. Bass
Bass Brothers Eminem
5:00
14. “Amityville” (featuring Bizarre)
Eminem J. Bass M. Bass Bizarre
Bass Brothers Eminem
4:14
15. “Bitch Please II” (featuring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit and Nate Dogg)
Eminem Dr. Dre Breeden Mike Elizondo Snoop Dogg Xzibit Nate Dogg
Dr. Dre Mel-Man
4:48
16. “Kim”
Eminem J. Bass M. Bass
Bass Brothers 6:17
17. “Under the Influence” (featuring D12)
Eminem Mr. Porter Von Carlisle Ondre Moore Johnson Proof
Bass Brothers Eminem
5:21
18. “Criminal”
Eminem J. Bass M. Bass
Bass Brothers Eminem
5:15
19. “The Kids” (bonus track)
Eminem J. Bass M. Bass Steve King
Bass Brothers Eminem
5:06
Total length:
77:07