For a few weeks now, we’ve been daring to take a look back at musikexpress.de and name ten groundbreaking hip-hop albums from the nineties. This time, after 2Pac and his double album ALL EYEZ ON ME, we take a look at Eminem and his album THE SLIM SHADY LP.
Early attempts at walking
“As soon as I stopped caring about what I said, people started to care. It was like a reverse effect.” mused a then 26-year-old Eminem (real name: Marshall Mathers) after the release of his debut 1999 on the Aftermath label by Dr. Dre (real name: André Romelle Young).
The SLIM SHADY LP was not the actual debut work of the Detroit, Michigan rapper. It was released three years earlier on November 12, 1996 and was titled INFINITE. However, the album left no lasting impression. INFINITE was no more than musical mediocrity and a commercial failure. As a result, Eminem, who was already a father, had to keep his head above water with frustrated odd jobs for the young family.
Although Em had long since had the ability to feed his texts with puns and to spit flawlessly into the microphone, he still lacked a unique selling point. After all, he wasn’t yet rapping under his pseudonym Slim Shady—a second artistic identity that brimmed with lyrical madness and would soon rock the media landscape.
The gift of absurdity
The year is 1997. Since INFINITE, Em’s alter ego Slim Shady had emerged on the EP of the same name. Eminem rapped wilder, more ruthless on the SLIM SHADY EP, ramping up the grotesque and insane moments in his music. There was a first media frenzy about Mathers and the scene magazine The Source reported in its March 1998 Unsigned Hype column about the Detroit rapper.
A stroke of luck also gave him the boost he needed on his way to becoming a rap superstar: an intern for music producer and then-President Interscope Jimmy Iovine saw Eminems Appearance at the 1997 Rapolympics and forwarded the SLIM SHADY EP to Iovine. This eventually made Dr. Dre drew attention to Marshall Mathers. The start of a hugely successful collaboration – Eminem has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide since signing with Aftermath in 1998.
Dr.Dre refines the recipe
In addition to the commercial success, André Young and Marshall Mathers also harmonized artistically. Eminem has repeatedly shared in the past the unique chemistry between him and Dre in the studio. And this collaboration bore its first fruits as early as 1999: Dr. Dre created the beat to Eminem’s first hit single, “My Name Is.” The track went through the roof and Slim Shady became an overnight star. The starting signal was successful and the accompanying album THE SLIM SHADY LP was also a huge success. It has sold over 18 million copies to date.
Bass Brothers
André Young served as executive producer on the album – he only produced three songs himself. Besides the aforementioned “My Name Is” there was “Role Model” (together with Mel-Man) and “Guilty Conscience”, on which Dre also rapped . The Bass Brothers (consisting of Jeff and Mark Bass) or Jeff Bass were solely responsible for the remaining songs. Eminem knew this before the Aftermath deal. They previously produced the song “If I Had…” in 1997 and served as executive producers on the SLIM SHADY EP. Eminem also lent a helping hand to the production of 11 of 20 tracks, an activity he would expand on to later albums.
While the story that Dre helped the Detroit rapper break through with his genius may be true as inspiring him and his main producers, the necessary sound foundation was laid before that through the collaboration between Eminem and the Bass Brothers. The original versions of “As the World Turns” and “Just Don’t Give a Fuck” were already on the SLIM SHADY EP. Also includes the Mommy skit and Just the Two of Us, which later led to 97′ Bonnie & Clyde.
Angel on the left, devil on the right
Nonetheless, the interaction between Dr. Dre and Eminem essential to the later success of the record. On “Guilty Conscience” they offered a kind of rap radio play and delivered one of the most exciting tracks on the album. The listeners expected various protagonists and scenarios with realistic background noises – including a narrator who led through the story. Here, Slim Shady played the devil on the left, while Dre played the angel on the right. dr Dre tried his best to give each character the smoothest possible way out of trouble, but Eminem poked fun at the Doc’s moral objections and influenced the characters in questionable and humorous ways. Eventually, Dre caved in and the story ended badly.